St Mary Cray
Encyclopedia
St Mary Cray lies on the River Cray
and is part of the London Borough of Bromley
. St Mary Cray, like St Paul's Cray
, has been somewhat overshadowed by the growth of nearby Orpington
, which now provides local communities with their main shopping and business facilities. The area is now mostly uburban housing, and features St Mary Cray railway station
, a High Street
with a small parade of shops (at one time a longer high street, with more shops, than Orpington) and St Mary the Virgin church, after which the village was named. It was originally called South Cray, identifying it as the southernmost settlement on the river.
A dominant feature of St Mary Cray and St Paul's Cray are the industrial estates on Cray Avenue and Sevenoaks Way. A lot of these grew as part of the new 'light electrical industries' which were springing up. Throughout the 1950s the area now known as The Nugent housed two large Morphy Richards factories. Their business began in the small factory which used to be by the railway embankment, on the opposite side of the road. They eventually moved out of the area in the 1960s. Other areas are now home to retail outlets such as PC World
, Comet, Land of Leather
, Homebase, JJB Sports, MFI, Currys
, Carpet Right and Arco. These retailers list their stores as Orpington
branches. The art deco
tower of the Allied Bakery, formerly Tip Top Bakeries, is a local landmark. Just along from the bakery is Lagoon Road so named because in the early part of the 1900s there was an outdoor lido called the Blue Lagoon. Cray Wanderers, the local football team, are the oldest senior side in London
. They are hoping to move back into the crays with a newly built stadium.
St Mary Cray has the largest settled Roma and Irish traveller
community in the UK. In the past, hop and soft fruit farms in the area employed large numbers of itinerant workers.
Joseph Hume
lived in the district for a time, and his son Allan Octavian Hume
was probably born there.
It is home to a large working class population.
Orpington and the surrounding area was rural, with many farms. Kent had many hop and fruit farms, so Orpington became, along with other areas such as Erith
, a stopping area or atchin tan. One of the stopping areas was Corkes meadow or 'Corkes Pit', and Ruxley Pit another. Corkes Pit no longer exists, having been built on, but was near to the gas works in Sevenoaks Way. The other area, Ruxley Pit, was located at the top of Chalk Pit Avenue.
Many Romany families from all over the UK, not just the Kent Travellers, stopped at Corkes Pit in the 1960s. The hop farms started to use machinery to pick the hops and didn't require the labour from the travellers, and they started to use labour from abroad. It was now becoming hard to find stopping places, and the council made it hard for travellers to stop. The council had to provide permanent stopping areas for these travellers. One such area is the Star Lane site, which is one of the largest in the UK, and St Mary Cray has the largest group of Romany travellers. The lucky families got plots on these sites and others took houses (kenners), resulting in a great upset around the Corkes Pit area (Lesson Hill). Others moved from Kent, and continued to struggle to get work and find kushti atchin tans. After the farm work dried up and the travellers could not follow the seasons for picking fruit such as apples (pobble), cherries (gulos), potatoes and hops, and when it became demeaning for the women and men to 'hawk', the men started to look for local labouring work and many families settled. Many of the young travellers are very far detached from the old nomad
ic life of the Romany people who left India over 1000 years ago, and some are worried that the Romany jib or language will be lost as time goes by. Even travellers in their forties cannot speak (roker) full Romany.
The travelling life is now really over for the travellers, but they still stay in touch with some of their past. Along with fruit picking, the women would make and sell pegs and flowers door to door, which is called 'hawking', and would take things to sell in baskets called kels. This way of selling is now illegal, and has been lost. The Brazil family in Marden, along with others throughout Kent, are trying to show young travellers the past.
Some of the families from Kent who would have stopped at Corkes Pit are: Rutherford, Baker, Buckley, Saunders, Scamp, Lee, Love, Jackson, Chapman, Arnold, French, Ripley, Stanley, Crittenden, Price, Webb, Marley, Smith, Roberts, Jones, Philips, Renolds, Brazil, Ball, Elliot, Taylor, Tracey, Driscol, Mead, Pateman, Bignell and many more. Most of the families still live in Orpington, and others live in Kent or London.
Famous Romanies from Orpington include: Rose Lee, Gilderoy Scamp, Mark Ripley, Johnny Love, Private Pateman.
The Orpington & Kentish Times had the headline: "Gang Battle" at Railway Station: Edwardian Youths in Half-Hour Fight: Wooden Stakes, Sand-Filled Socks as Weapons". The two gangs were from Downham
and St Paul's Cray
, and the gangs sported stovepipe trousers, crepe shoes and drape jackets. Trouble had started earlier in the evening when "a rowdy party of youths and a few girls from Downham Estate
, Bromley, arrived at St Paul's Cray Community Centre, where a dance was being held. The paper reported "a knife was drawn when a member of the band objected to being jostled" and "a man had a glass of orange juice thrown in his face during an exchange of words." The MC, George Couchman said: "I warned the crowd police were standing by and also took the precaution of the band playing calming music - no quicksteps." The crowd dispersed at 11 o'clock, but a fight broke out at the local station, and 40 youths were held over night.
River Cray
The River Cray is a tributary of the River Darent in southern England. It rises in Priory Gardens in Orpington in the London Borough of Bromley, where rainwater permeates the chalk bedrock and forms a pond at the boundary between the chalk and impermeable clay...
and is part of the London Borough of Bromley
London Borough of Bromley
The London Borough of Bromley is a London borough of south east London, England and forms part of Outer London. The principal town in the borough is Bromley.-Geography:...
. St Mary Cray, like St Paul's Cray
St Paul's Cray
St Paul's Cray lies on the River Cray and is part of the London Borough of Bromley. St Paul's Cray was once a separate village, but like its sister St Mary Cray has been incorporated in to Orpington...
, has been somewhat overshadowed by the growth of nearby Orpington
Orpington
Orpington is a suburban town and electoral ward in the London Borough of Bromley. It forms the southeastern edge of London's urban sprawl and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
, which now provides local communities with their main shopping and business facilities. The area is now mostly uburban housing, and features St Mary Cray railway station
St Mary Cray railway station
St Mary Cray railway station is in the London Borough of Bromley in south-east London, in Travelcard Zone 6. The station is operated by Southeastern, as are all trains serving it.The station is 14.7 miles from London Victoria...
, a High Street
High Street
High Street, or the High Street, is a metonym for the generic name of the primary business street of towns or cities, especially in the United Kingdom. It is usually a focal point for shops and retailers in city centres, and is most often used in reference to retailing...
with a small parade of shops (at one time a longer high street, with more shops, than Orpington) and St Mary the Virgin church, after which the village was named. It was originally called South Cray, identifying it as the southernmost settlement on the river.
A dominant feature of St Mary Cray and St Paul's Cray are the industrial estates on Cray Avenue and Sevenoaks Way. A lot of these grew as part of the new 'light electrical industries' which were springing up. Throughout the 1950s the area now known as The Nugent housed two large Morphy Richards factories. Their business began in the small factory which used to be by the railway embankment, on the opposite side of the road. They eventually moved out of the area in the 1960s. Other areas are now home to retail outlets such as PC World
PC World (retailer)
PC World is OWNED BY THE GOVERNMENT one of the WHER MA MEMORY STICK ?!?!??! United Kingdom's largest chains of mass-market computer superstores. It is part of Dixons Retail plc. PC World operates under the brand name PC City in Spain, Italy and Sweden....
, Comet, Land of Leather
Land of Leather
Land of Leather was a furniture retail store based in Northfleet, Kent in the United Kingdom. It operated in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.- History :...
, Homebase, JJB Sports, MFI, Currys
Currys
Currys is an electrical retailer in the United Kingdom and Ireland and is owned by Dixons Retail plc. It specialises in selling home electronics and household appliances, with 295 superstores and 73 high street stores...
, Carpet Right and Arco. These retailers list their stores as Orpington
Orpington
Orpington is a suburban town and electoral ward in the London Borough of Bromley. It forms the southeastern edge of London's urban sprawl and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
branches. The art deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
tower of the Allied Bakery, formerly Tip Top Bakeries, is a local landmark. Just along from the bakery is Lagoon Road so named because in the early part of the 1900s there was an outdoor lido called the Blue Lagoon. Cray Wanderers, the local football team, are the oldest senior side in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. They are hoping to move back into the crays with a newly built stadium.
St Mary Cray has the largest settled Roma and Irish traveller
Irish Traveller
Irish Travellers are a traditionally nomadic people of ethnic Irish origin, who maintain a separate language and set of traditions. They live predominantly in the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States.-Etymology:...
community in the UK. In the past, hop and soft fruit farms in the area employed large numbers of itinerant workers.
Joseph Hume
Joseph Hume
Joseph Hume FRS was a Scottish doctor and Radical MP, born in Montrose, Angus.-Medical career:He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and moved to India in 1797...
lived in the district for a time, and his son Allan Octavian Hume
Allan Octavian Hume
Allan Octavian Hume was a civil servant, political reformer and amateur ornithologist in British India. He was one of the founders of the Indian National Congress, a political party that was later to lead the Indian independence movement...
was probably born there.
It is home to a large working class population.
The Romany history of Orpington
For Romany history in general, see Romani people.Orpington and the surrounding area was rural, with many farms. Kent had many hop and fruit farms, so Orpington became, along with other areas such as Erith
Erith
Erith is a district of southeast London on the River Thames. Erith's town centre has undergone a series of modernisations since 1961.-Pre-medieval:...
, a stopping area or atchin tan. One of the stopping areas was Corkes meadow or 'Corkes Pit', and Ruxley Pit another. Corkes Pit no longer exists, having been built on, but was near to the gas works in Sevenoaks Way. The other area, Ruxley Pit, was located at the top of Chalk Pit Avenue.
Many Romany families from all over the UK, not just the Kent Travellers, stopped at Corkes Pit in the 1960s. The hop farms started to use machinery to pick the hops and didn't require the labour from the travellers, and they started to use labour from abroad. It was now becoming hard to find stopping places, and the council made it hard for travellers to stop. The council had to provide permanent stopping areas for these travellers. One such area is the Star Lane site, which is one of the largest in the UK, and St Mary Cray has the largest group of Romany travellers. The lucky families got plots on these sites and others took houses (kenners), resulting in a great upset around the Corkes Pit area (Lesson Hill). Others moved from Kent, and continued to struggle to get work and find kushti atchin tans. After the farm work dried up and the travellers could not follow the seasons for picking fruit such as apples (pobble), cherries (gulos), potatoes and hops, and when it became demeaning for the women and men to 'hawk', the men started to look for local labouring work and many families settled. Many of the young travellers are very far detached from the old nomad
Nomad
Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...
ic life of the Romany people who left India over 1000 years ago, and some are worried that the Romany jib or language will be lost as time goes by. Even travellers in their forties cannot speak (roker) full Romany.
The travelling life is now really over for the travellers, but they still stay in touch with some of their past. Along with fruit picking, the women would make and sell pegs and flowers door to door, which is called 'hawking', and would take things to sell in baskets called kels. This way of selling is now illegal, and has been lost. The Brazil family in Marden, along with others throughout Kent, are trying to show young travellers the past.
Some of the families from Kent who would have stopped at Corkes Pit are: Rutherford, Baker, Buckley, Saunders, Scamp, Lee, Love, Jackson, Chapman, Arnold, French, Ripley, Stanley, Crittenden, Price, Webb, Marley, Smith, Roberts, Jones, Philips, Renolds, Brazil, Ball, Elliot, Taylor, Tracey, Driscol, Mead, Pateman, Bignell and many more. Most of the families still live in Orpington, and others live in Kent or London.
Famous Romanies from Orpington include: Rose Lee, Gilderoy Scamp, Mark Ripley, Johnny Love, Private Pateman.
Battle of St Mary Cray
On Saturday April 24, 1954 a clash between Teddy Boys or Edwardians, as they were then known, attracted attention.The Orpington & Kentish Times had the headline: "Gang Battle" at Railway Station: Edwardian Youths in Half-Hour Fight: Wooden Stakes, Sand-Filled Socks as Weapons". The two gangs were from Downham
Downham
Downham is a district located in south-east London, occupying much of the boundary between the London Borough of Lewisham and the London Borough of Bromley; it is the name of an electoral ward covering much of the area on the Lewisham side...
and St Paul's Cray
St Paul's Cray
St Paul's Cray lies on the River Cray and is part of the London Borough of Bromley. St Paul's Cray was once a separate village, but like its sister St Mary Cray has been incorporated in to Orpington...
, and the gangs sported stovepipe trousers, crepe shoes and drape jackets. Trouble had started earlier in the evening when "a rowdy party of youths and a few girls from Downham Estate
Downham Estate
The Downham Estate is a housing estate in Downham, south east London. It is mainly in the London Borough of Lewisham and partly in the London Borough of Bromley....
, Bromley, arrived at St Paul's Cray Community Centre, where a dance was being held. The paper reported "a knife was drawn when a member of the band objected to being jostled" and "a man had a glass of orange juice thrown in his face during an exchange of words." The MC, George Couchman said: "I warned the crowd police were standing by and also took the precaution of the band playing calming music - no quicksteps." The crowd dispersed at 11 o'clock, but a fight broke out at the local station, and 40 youths were held over night.