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
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“He wrote in prison, not a History of the World, like Raleigh, but an American book which I think will live longer than that. I do not know of such words, uttered under such circumstances, and so copiously withal, in Roman or English or any history.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“If you look at history you’ll find that no state has been so plagued by its rulers as when power has fallen into the hands of some dabbler in philosophy or literary addict.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)
“History is more or less bunk. It’s tradition. We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker’s damn is the history we make today.”
—Henry Ford (1863–1947)