Shortlands


Shortlands is an area of South East London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley and the historic county of Kent. It is located east of Beckenham and west of Bromley.

History

Historically, Shortlands was known as Clay Hill. It became known as Shortlands around 1800, after the fields which, at this point of the River Ravensbourne, ran at right angles up the slopes on either side.
The earliest known settlement was an Iron Age hillfort at Toots Wood, where traces of a Roman Camp and pottery has also been found.
A medieval field pattern here was of sets of long and short fields, called Longelonds and Shortelonds, and the latter gave name to Shortlands house built at the start of the 18th century. The house with its extensive farmland was acquired in 1848 by a railway magnate William Wilkinson, who also built several cottages for his farm labourers.
Suburban development began in 1863 with the sale of the Shortlands House estate, making full advantage of the railway station opened in May 1858.
Pearson & Cox was a British automobile manufacturer in Shortlands, trading from 1908 to 1916. In 1913 they manufactured both steam-powered vehicles and petrol powered cyclecars.
In 1921, a war memorial, designed by W. D. Caroe in the form of a Celtic cross, was unveiled in the village, in the middle of a road junction. On 8 July 2016, a Mini car collided with the memorial, breaking it into pieces. The memorial was restored in October 2017 and re-positioned on its site.

Transport

Rail

serves the area with National Rail services to London Victoria via Herne Hill and London Blackfriars via Catford, as well as to Orpington and to Sevenoaks via Swanley. As of 2019, the station also houses a coffee shop, snack retailer and dry cleaners.

Buses

Shortlands is served by four Transport for London bus services.
The main schools in Shortlands are Valley Primary School, Highfield Infant and Junior Schools, Harris Academy Shortlands, Clare House Primary School and Bishop Challoner School. On top of Shortlands Hill towards the Chinese Garage is the Shortlands library, linked with other libraries of the Bromley borough.
The Prime Meridian runs through Shortlands.

Sports and leisure

a Rugby Union Club founded in 1933 plays competitive rugby at Sparrows Den at the bottom of Corkscrew Hill near West Wickham.

Notable people

Shortlands is most famous for Enid Blyton having lived there in the later stages of her life.
Others have included: