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.
