Kidbrooke

Kidbrooke is a district of south east London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is northwest of Eltham and 7 1⁄2 miles (12 km) east-south-east of Charing Cross, and mostly within the Blackheath postal district of SE3.

For the house in Sussex, see Kidbrooke Park.

Kidbrooke

Nelson Mandella Road, Kidbrooke
Kidbrooke
Location within Greater London
Population14,300 (2011 Census: Kidbrooke with Hornfair Ward)[1]
OS grid referenceTQ413760
• Charing Cross7.5 mi (12.1 km) WNW
London borough
Ceremonial countyGreater London
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townLONDON
Postcode districtSE3, SE9 (part)
Dialling code020
PoliceMetropolitan
FireLondon
AmbulanceLondon
UK Parliament
London Assembly

The district takes its name from the Kyd Brook, a watercourse which runs from Orpington to Lewisham, by which point it is part of the River Quaggy. It is a tributary to the River Ravensbourne.

Housing
A map showing the Kidbrooke ward of Greenwich Metropolitan Borough as it appeared in 1916

The area contains a large amount of 1920s and 1930s domestic housing, developed partly as the Kidbrooke Park Estate, between Shooters Hill and Rochester Way.

In 1965 when the Government released the land occupied by the RAF to the Greater London Council for housing. Kidbrooke was also home to the Ferrier Estate, built from 1968, and one of the largest and most deprived council housing developments in London. The housing estate was demolished in 2012 and redeveloped as Kidbrooke Village, a development of 4,200 homes masterplanned by Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands with Design and Build MEP contractor Cilantro Engineering.

Features
Houses and gardens in Kidbrooke, January 1980

Immediately south of the former Ferrier Estate is Sutcliffe Park which includes a lake, acting as a flood defence, and created by partly releasing the Kyd Brook from concrete conduits underground in which it had run until 2006.

Rochester Way, a road which was built along much of the course of the old country lane Kidbrooke Lane, was intended as a bypass for Shooters Hill to the north. Rochester Way has itself now been bypassed by a dual carriageway – part of the A2 road – built in the 1980s over most of Kidbrooke Green. A small remaining piece of this open land, alongside the road, is now Kidbrooke Green Park, and adjacent to that, a small nature reserve managed by Greenwich Council. The nature reserve is visible, but not open to the public.

Some of the land encroached on by the dual carriageway, adjacent to the railway line serving Kidbrooke railway station, was formerly a Royal Air Force equipment store. Some of the buildings remain, south of the houses of Nelson Mandela Road, but the site is now little used.[2] Nearby to the northwest, Thomas Tallis School is built on the former site of a prisoner-of-war camp,[3] part of RAF Kidbrooke, formerly a barrage balloon centre.[4] (There are several other military facilities in the general vicinity, which is also close to a surviving base in Woolwich, long home to the Royal Artillery and now to other parts of the British Army.)

Transport

Rail

The area falls within Transport for London's "Zone 3". The nearest railway stations are Blackheath and Eltham. Kidbrooke, along with most other suburbs in south east London, is not served by the London Underground. Commuters rely on two rail lines to central London, and the road network. Trains through Kidbrooke terminate at London Charing Cross, London Cannon Street or London Victoria in a westerly direction.

Roads

The A2 road gives the area rapid access to the London Inner Ring Road, the South Circular Road, London and the M25 London Orbital Motorway.

Buses

Kidbrooke is served by Transport for London bus routes 132, 178, 286, 335 and B16.

Education
See also: Royal Borough of Greenwich § Education

Primary schools
  • Wingfield School
  • Kidbrooke Park
  • Holy Family R.C
  • Henwick Primary School
  • Ealdham Primary School

Secondary schools

Notable inhabitants

Famous residents have included comedian Jim Davidson, who grew up in Holburne Road; interior designer Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen, who lived in a bungalow on Kidbrooke Park Road until 2004; and singer Sandie Shaw. AFC Bournemouth player Junior Stanislas was born in Kidbrooke.

See also

Roads

Nearby areas

References
  1. "Greenwich Ward population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  2. Secret Bases
  3. "Barrage balloons and trainee spies in Kidbrooke". Thames Facing East. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  4. BBC "People's War"
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