History
Before the area was built up in the late 19th century, the principal buildings in this part of Brockley were Brockley Farm, Brockley Hall and the Brockley Jack public house. The area expanded rapidly in the 1890s with the opening of a new railway line (informally known as the Catford Loop) and railway station which opened in 1892. It was the naming of the station which gave the area its modern and invented name of 'Crofton Park'. Despite this being the historic heart of Brockley, that name had already been used for two earlier railway stations further north - Brockley Station and Brockley Lane Station.
The rapid pace of expansion of the area continued pre-World War I, with the building of more shops and facilities to support the growing population. A handsome Edwardian public library was built next to the railway station in 1905 and, eight years later, a local Cinema - the Crofton Park Picture Palace - first opened its doors. This later became the Rivoli Ballroom.
Read more about this topic: Crofton Park
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“I am ashamed to see what a shallow village tale our so-called History is. How many times must we say Rome, and Paris, and Constantinople! What does Rome know of rat and lizard? What are Olympiads and Consulates to these neighboring systems of being? Nay, what food or experience or succor have they for the Esquimaux seal-hunter, or the Kanaka in his canoe, for the fisherman, the stevedore, the porter?”
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