History of Croydon.

History of Croydon

Croydon is a town that lies 10 miles south of Central London. It is the tenth largest town in England, and has a population of over 331,000. It is also the sixth largest commercial office location in England, making it an important centre for business. The areas surrounding Croydon have been populated since pre-historic times, although the history of Croydon only goes back to the Saxon times, when it was a settlement. At this time however, the name was Crogdene, and was derived from ‘croh’ which means saffron, and ‘dene’ which means valley. The literal translation is ‘the valley of the saffron’, and it was an agricultural town

Croydon is in the Doomsday book of 1086, where it was recorded to have a church, a mill and 365 inhabitants. The Archbishop of Canterbury (Lanfranc) was Lord of the Manor. His residence, which is still standing, became a summer palace. King Henry VIII was a regular visitor to the palace (now Old Palace School), also Queen Elizabeth I also stayed there.

Six Archbishops of Canterbury were buried in Croydon Parish Church, and five more at the church of St. Mary in Addington. It had the first public goods railway in the world in 1803. It was called the Surrey Iron Railway. In 1839 the London – Croydon passenger line was opened. In the 19th century, Croydon became a place of luxurious villas.

Her Majesty the late Queen Mother opened Fairfield Halls, a theatre, which has hosted some memorable performances. It now boasts a new £200 million 28km Tramlink system which serves the borough and provides travel links to Wimbledon and Beckenham.

Broad Purpose of the Study

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Broad Purpose of the Study

The broad purpose of the study on Croydon is to find out how Croydon Central Business District’s environmental standards meets with the expectations of the citizens who use Croydon as their Shopping centre, administrative centre or just as a route to travel to and from their destination. I intend to find out the general opinions of the Croydon public and what they think should be done to make Croydon a better region. I will also decide for myself if the areas of Croydon that I cover have a decent enough environment.

Why it is an Appropriate Investigation

Croydon is an area that is definitely worthy of study because it is the biggest shopping centre in South London. Recently, Croydon has been given 26th place in the Shopping centres of London and its surrounds. There are scores of shopping centres in the London area.

Croydon is an area that vastly depends on its retail sector and offices. There are many big brands deciding to locate their outlets here. If Croydon’s shops had to close down due to a ‘health hazard’, Croydon, as a district and an economy would suffer a huge blow. This is why it is imperative for Croydon to keep its environment hygienic and pure. If Croydon were a place where there was a great deal of graffiti and litter, it would repel a lot of people coming to the area. I think if the air was polluted, walls were full of graffiti, and grounds covered in litter, people would not feel safe and secure.

The council must employ a high number of cleaners, and road sweepers to keep Croydon’s environment uncontaminated. I think this has justified my claim that Croydon Central business district is commendable for this coursework.

THE HYPOTHESES

Graffiti decreases with distance away from the CBD

I am trying to find out if this statement is true: “as one gets away from the Central Business District, there will be less graffiti. This means that the people who do graffiti usually ‘perform’ near the Central business district.”

Pedestrian flow is highest where there is the most pleasant environment

I am trying to find out if this statement is true: “where there is the least amount of litter and graffiti and smell, there will also be many pedestrians passing by. People like the cleaner environment, and are less like likely to be the object of a crime being in a high crowd.”

Shoppers like the Croydon Central business district environment

I am trying to find out if this statement is true: “people who shop in the Croydon Central Business District generally like the environment in the area. They feel secure, and not at risk to assault. They don’t think it is noisy, they find that the ground is free of litter, it smells nice and they don’t see any rats while looking round.

Litter decreases when there are more cars, and increases when there are more pedestrians

I am trying to find out if this statement is true: ”as the traffic flow increases, the amount of litter found decreases. In an area of high traffic flow, there would be less pedestrians who would drop litter. In a highly pedestrianised area, although there are more bins around, there will not be enough to stop people from throwing their litter on the floor”

The day was very nice. The sun shined. It was slightly cloudy. Less people would be shopping if the weather conditions were bad.