Editing Crofton Park (section)

==History==
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Before the area was built in the late 19th century, the principal buildings were Brockley Farm, Brockley Hall, and the Brockley Jack public house.<ref name="ideal-homes1"/> 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.<ref name="kentrail1">{{cite web|url=http://www.kentrail.org.uk/crofton_park.htm |title=Crofton Park |publisher=Kentrail.org.uk |accessdate=14 July 2013}}</ref> It was the naming of the station as [[Crofton Park railway station|Crofton Park]] which gave the area its modern and invented name. Despite this being the historic heart of Brockley, that name had already been used for two earlier railway stations further north – [[Brockley railway station|Brockley Station]] and [[Brockley Lane railway station|Brockley Lane Station]].

The rapid pace of expansion of the area continued pre-First World War, with the building of more shops and facilities to support the growing population. ''[[The London Encyclopaedia]]'' describes this development as: "a mixture of terrace houses for 'clerkly classes' and local authority flats and houses."<ref name="autogenerated94">Ben Weinreb and Christopher Hibbert, ''The London Encyclopaedia'', Papermac, 1987, p. 94</ref> A handsome [[Edwardian era|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.

===Brockley Hall===
Brockley Hall, a large private residence, stood on land to the west of the road which now bears its name.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/lewisham/assets/galleries/brockley/brockley-hall |title=Brockley Hall, Brockley, 1863 &#124; Lewisham Galleries |publisher=Ideal Homes |date=29 September 2010 |accessdate=14 July 2013 |archive-date=11 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811025351/http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/lewisham/assets/galleries/brockley/brockley-hall |url-status=dead }}</ref> The property had a somewhat obscure history.<ref>Typed notes headed 'Brockley Hall' at Lewisham Local Studies and Archives Centre</ref> There was a house on the site before 1745 and probably long before that date. It was the most associated with its final owners, the Noakes family who lived there.<ref>{{cite web| title=Photograph of the Noakes family outside Brockley Hall| url= http://www.wikimyfamily.com/family.php?famid=F34| publisher=Wikimyfamily.com| accessdate=4 September 2013}}</ref> The Noakes were [[brewing|brewers]] and their ales were sold in many local pubs, including The Brockley Jack which they owned and was just across the road from Brockley Hall. The Hall's lodge stood in Brockley Grove on the approximate site of what are now the front gardens of nos. 24–28.<ref>A photograph of the lodge survives at Lewisham Local Studies and Archives Centre.</ref>

The 1901 census returns show Bertram Noakes as head of the household living in Brockley Hall with his five spinster sisters (Pauline, Elizabeth, Kate, Ada and Maude) and four servants. Lewisham Arhive's photograph of the Hall suggests at one time it was called Noakes Farm.<ref>https://boroughphotos.org/lewisham/noakes-farm-formerly-brockley-hall-3/</ref>

Maude Noakes was the last survivor. An eccentric, she was well known for her large collection of pets. The old lady would bury her pets in the grounds of Brockley Hall and give each one a marked gravestone – even her pigs and cows.<ref>George Russell, ''I remember Crofton Park fifty years ago'' (1979)</ref>

Following Maude's death in April 1931 the property was quickly sold and demolished. Brockley Hall Road, Bearsted Rise, Horsmonden Road, Sevenoaks Road and the 1930s houses in Brockley Grove were built on the site of the Hall and its grounds by the building company Wates.

===The Second World War===
In common with many areas of London, Crofton Park was damaged during the Second World War, particularly by [[V-1 flying bomb|V1 flying bombs]] and [[V-2 rocket|V2 rockets]], with the area north of Crofton Park Station on Brockley Road suffering many strikes.<ref>{{cite web|author=Stephen Henden |url=http://www.flyingbombsandrockets.com/V1_summary_se4.html |title=London SE4 Brockley Log |publisher=Flying Bombs and Rockets |accessdate=14 July 2013}}</ref> A V1 'doodlebug' hit on the evening of 18 June 1944 destroyed Brockley Road School and killed five members of the Crofton Park Home Guard. The men are commemorated by a plaque in St Hilda's Church.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lewishamwarmemorials.wikidot.com/memorial:brockley-st-hilda-ww2-memorial |title=Brockley, St. Hilda WW2 Memorial – Lewisham War Memorials |publisher=Lewishamwarmemorials.wikidot.com |accessdate=4 August 2013}}</ref>