BECKENHAM, soon after the battle of Hastings, with a greater part of the County of Kent, was granted by William the Conqueror to his half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux in Normandy and Earl of Kent, who had accompanied him to England. It was described later as a Parish within the Hundred of Bromley, the Lath of Sutton-at-Hone, in the County of Kent.

Early historians recorded, quite erroneously, that Beckenham was divided into four Manors. Beckenham and Foxgrove are authenticated as Manors in various documents, but there is absolutely no justification for now continuing the old legend that Langley and Kelsey were Manors; they never were but were later developed as Estates.

A document dated 1791 would lead us to believe that in the 12th and 13th centuries there were no records of local history, but more recent local historians, having perused hundreds of documents at Maidstone, have provided us with a wealth of material of that period of history.

The MANOR OF BECKENHAM extended on both sides of Bromley Road, from the Parish Church to Wickham Road, along Southend Road and up Stumps Hill to part of Beckenham Place; and on the west side of Beckenham Road and the High Street, taking in the lands of ‘Kent House’, ‘Clock House’ and ‘Village Place’, with the Manor House opposite the Parish Church.

The MANOR OF FOXGROVE was on the east side of Southend Road, beyond the Parish Church, and over the hills of the present Foxgrove Road and The A venue to the Ravensbourne at Shortlands, with the Manor House at Foxgrove Farm, near the present Foxgrove Avenue.

The LANGLEY ESTATE was an extensive, rambling estate covering an area from Hayes Lane up to Pickhurst and across to Eden Park and EImers End.

The KELSEY ESTATE occupied the west side of Wickham Road, adjoined Langley and came down to the High Street.