Bickley

The area's name is first recorded in 1279, the 'ley' or 'lea' referring to a forest clearing, and 'Bicca' either meaning a pointed ridge, or else a personal name.[3] The area remained rural, save for a small hunting lodge belonging to the Wells family dating to 1759.[3] The Lodge was gradually enlarged to become Bickley Hall, a classical house designed by Robert Mylne, FRS, for John Wells, shipbuilder, in 1780 (demolished 1963). His brother William, shipbuilder and a director of Greenwich Hospital, inherited the estate, and his son John commissioned additions by Robert Smirke in 1810. John Wells began selling part of his lands in 1841 following due to financial difficulties, and by the late 1850s a few large houses had been built in the area, aided by the opening of Bickley railway station (formerly named Southborough Road) in 1858 and Chislehurst station in 1865.[3] Much of the area was purchased and developed by George Wythes, who commissioned numerous large houses for the wealthy classes, most of them designed by Richard Norman Shaw and Ernest Newton and, in the early part of the following century, C. H. B. Quennell[3] St George's Church was built in 1865, and a cricket ground in 1868.[3] Smaller-scale development continued throughout the early 20th century, and several of the older, larger properties demolished or sub-divided.[3] The area today remains a wealthy one, characterised by large detached housing.[3]

Schools in Bickley

• Bickley Park (Independent)
• Bickley Primary School
• Breaside Preparatory School (Independent)
• Bromley High School (Independent)
• Bullers Wood School for Boys
• Scotts Park Primary
• St. George's Bickley Primary

Bickley station serves the area with services to London Victoria, Kentish Town, Orpington and Sevenoaks via Swanley. Bickley is also served by several Transport for London buses, connecting it with areas including Beckenham, Bexleyheath, Bromley, Catford, Chislehurst, Eltham, Locksbottom, Orpington, Petts Wood and Sidcup.

• St George's Church
• St. Augustine's Church
• Southborough Lane Baptist Church[5]

• David Bowie (1947-2016), musician, lived at 106 Canon Road from 1953 to 1954.[6]
• Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge (1932–2000) Cricket player, lived on Hawthorne Road until about 1965.
• Florence Farr (1860–1917), religious writer and playwright, was born in Bickley.[7]
• Evelyn Hellicar (1862–1929), architect.
• Gertrude Hermes (1901–1983) wood engraver, print maker and sculptor, born in Bickley.[8]
• Ethel Hurlbatt, principal of Bedford College, London, born in Bickley.[9]
• Pixie Lott (born 1991), singer-songwriter, spent part of her childhood in Bickley.[10]
• Ernest Newton (1856–1921), architect who designed many houses in the area.[3]
• Charles Henry Bourne Quennell (1872–1935), architect of the Bickley development and writer, lived at 9 The Avenue.[3]
• Marjorie Quennell née Courtnay (1884–1972), artist, writer and museum curator, wife of CHB Quennell.[11]
• Peter Quennell (1905–1993), biographer, literary historian, editor, essayist, poet, and critic, son of CHB Quennell.[11]
• John Wells (1761–1846), of Bickley Hall, High Sheriff of Kent. MP for Maidstone.[3]

• 
  Bickley sign on Bickley Park Road
• 
  Woodlands Road, lined by substantial detached properties
• 
  The Elms, Bickley
• 
  The grade II listed St George's Church, built 1863-65 (with the spire rebuilt in 1905-06)[12]
• 
  A typical house in the area
• 
  Bickley train station

• Chislehurst, Petts Wood & Bickley Village News
• Bickley Park Cricket Club
• Bromley Councillors
• 162 bus timetable
• 208/N47 bus timetable
• 269 bus timetable
• 314 bus timetable
• 336 bus timetable
• R7 bus timetable