Editing London Borough of Croydon (section)

==History==
{{for|the history of the original town|Croydon#History}}
The name Croydon comes from Crogdene, or Croindone, named by the [[Saxons]] in the 8th century when they settled there, although the area had been inhabited since prehistoric times.<ref name="History of Croydon">{{cite web|year=2006|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43053|title=Croydon: Introduction and Croydon Palace|via=British History Online|access-date=12 October 2007}}</ref> It is thought to derive from the [[Old English|Anglo-Saxon]] ''croeas deanas'', meaning "the valley of the [[crocus]]es". This may indicate that, like [[Saffron Walden]] in Essex, it was a centre for the collection of [[saffron]].

At the time of the Norman invasion, Croydon had a church, a mill, and around 365 inhabitants, as recorded in the Domesday Book.<ref name="Croyweb History">{{cite web|year=2006|url=http://www.croyweb.com/Basic/history.htm|title=Local history of Croydon|publisher=Croyweb|access-date=5 June 2008}}</ref> The [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], [[Archbishop Lanfranc]] lived at [[Croydon Palace]]. Visitors included [[Thomas Becket]] (another Archbishop), and royal figures such as [[Henry VIII]] of England and [[Elizabeth I]].<ref name="History of Croydon book">{{cite book|last=Malden|first=H.E.|title=A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4|year=1912|publisher=Victoria County History}}</ref> The royal charter for [[Surrey Street Market]] dates back to 1276.

Croydon continued as a market town, producing charcoal, tanned leather, and beer. Croydon was served by the [[Surrey Iron Railway]], the first public railway (horse-drawn) in the world, in 1803, and by the [[Brighton Main Line|London to Brighton]] rail link in the mid-19th century, helping it to become the largest town in what was then [[Surrey]].<ref name="Croyweb History"/>

In the 20th century, Croydon became known for industries such as metalworking, car manufacturing, and its aerodrome, [[Croydon Airport]]. Starting out during [[World War I]] as an airfield for protection against [[Zeppelin]]s, it was merged with an adjacent airfield, and the new aerodrome opened on 29 March 1920. It developed into one of the busiest airports in the world during the 1920s and 1930s and welcomed the world's aviators in its heyday.<ref name="Battle book">{{cite book|last=Cluett|first=Douglas|author2=Joanna Bogle|author3=Bob Learmonth|title=Croydon Airport and The Battle for Britain|year=1984|publisher=London Borough of Sutton Libraries and Arts Services|isbn=0-907335-11-X|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/croydonairportba0000clue}}</ref> [[British Airways Ltd]] used the airport for a short period after redirecting from [[RAF Northolt|Northolt Aerodrome]], and Croydon was the operating base for [[Imperial Airways]]. It was partly due to the airport that Croydon suffered heavy bomb damage during [[World War II]]. As aviation technology progressed, and aircraft became larger and more numerous, it was recognised in 1952 that the airport would be too small to cope with the increasing volume of air traffic. The last scheduled flight departed on 30 September 1959. It was superseded as the main airport by both [[London Heathrow Airport|London Heathrow]] and [[London Gatwick Airport]] (see below). The air terminal, now known as Airport House, has been restored and contains a hotel and museum.<ref name="Croyweb History"/>

In the late 1950s and through the 1960s, the council commercialised the centre of Croydon with massive development of office blocks and the [[Whitgift Centre]], formerly the largest in-town shopping centre in Europe.<ref name="urbanisation">{{cite journal|year=2006|url=http://usj.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/43/13/2399|title=Modernism vs Urban Renaissance: Negotiating Post-war Heritage in English City Centres|publisher=Urban Studies Journal |doi=10.1080/00420980601038206 |first1= Aidan |last1=While |journal=Urban Studies |volume=43 |issue=13 |pages=2399–2419 |bibcode=2006UrbSt..43.2399W |access-date=5 June 2008|archive-date=5 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905004224/http://usj.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/43/13/2399|url-status=dead}}</ref> The centre was officially opened in October 1970 by the [[Katharine, Duchess of Kent|Duchess of Kent]]. The original [[Whitgift School]] there had moved to Haling Park, South Croydon in the 1930s; the replacement school on the site, Whitgift Middle School, now the [[Trinity School of John Whitgift]], moved to Shirley Park in the 1960s, when the buildings were demolished.

Croydon was hit by extensive rioting in August 2011 during the [[2011 England riots]]. [[House of Reeves|Reeves]], a historic furniture store established in 1867 that gave its name to a junction and [[Reeves Corner tram stop|tram stop]] in the town centre, was destroyed by arson.<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8690213/London-riots-Croydon-residents-leap-from-burning-buildings-as-capital-burns.html |title=London riots: Croydon residents leap from burning buildings as capital burns |last=Wardrop|first = Murray |date=8 August 2011 |work = The Daily Telegraph|location=London |access-date =1 February 2015}}</ref>

Since a 1999 study by town planning consultants [[EDAW]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=1998-03-12 |title=EDAW masterplan begins the transformation of Croydon |url=https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/archive/edaw-masterplan-begins-the-transformation-of-croydon |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=The Architects' Journal |language=en}}</ref> Croydon has been the subject of a series of development projects ranging from £200 million to £3.5 billion, called [[Croydon Vision 2020]]. This aims to change the [[urban planning]] of central Croydon. It aims to make Croydon "London's Third City" and the hub of retail, business, culture, and living in south London and south-east England.{{r|croydon expo 07}} The plan was showcased in a series of events called [[Croydon Expo]].<ref name="regeneration croydon">{{cite web|year=2007|url=http://www.croydonconservatives.com/news_search_results_detail.asp?StoryNo=944|title=Croydon Expo to be a Regeneration Showcase|publisher=Croydon Conservatives|access-date=5 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211100836/http://www.croydonconservatives.com/news_search_results_detail.asp?StoryNo=944|archive-date=11 February 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="bbc croydon expo">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2007/02/21/regeneration_feature.shtml |title=New look Croydon on display|publisher=[[BBC London]]|access-date=5 April 2008 | location=London | first=Evadney | last=Campbell}}</ref>

===Administrative history===
The area of the modern borough broadly corresponds to the four [[ancient parish]]es of [[Croydon]], [[Addington, London|Addington]], [[Coulsdon]] and [[Sanderstead]].

The parish of Croydon was governed by [[improvement commissioners]] from 1829 until 1849, when it was made a [[Local board of health|local board district]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Croydon Improvement Act 1829 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Geo4/10/73/contents/enacted |website=legislation.gov.uk |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=18 May 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Lawes |first1=Edward |title=The Act for promoting the Public Health, with notes |date=1851 |publisher=Shaw and Sons |location=London |page=262 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MRJXAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA262 |access-date=5 April 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Lancaster |first1=Brian |title=The "Croydon Case": Dirty Old Town to Model Town |date=2001 |publisher=Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society |isbn=978-0-906047-16-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0wIgAQAAMAAJ&q=Croydon%20improvement%20act%201829 |access-date=18 May 2024}}</ref> Croydon was incorporated as a [[municipal borough]] in 1883.<ref>{{cite web |title=Croydon Municipal Borough / County Borough |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10107830 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=5 April 2024}}</ref> When elected county councils were established in 1889, Croydon was considered large enough to provide its county-level services. It was therefore made a [[county borough]], independent from the new [[Surrey County Council]], whilst remaining part of [[Surrey]] for judicial and [[Lord-lieutenant|lieutenancy]] purposes.<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government Act 1888|year=1888|chapter=41}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Diagram of Surrey showing administrative boundaries, 1963 |url=https://maps.nls.uk/view/241244560 |website=National Library of Scotland |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=5 April 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Kelly's Directory of Surrey |date=1913 |page=97 |url=https://specialcollections.le.ac.uk/digital/collection/p16445coll4/id/85749/rec/3 |access-date=18 May 2024}}</ref> The borough was enlarged in 1928 to absorb the neighbouring parish of Addington.<ref>{{cite web |title=Croydon Corporation Act 1927 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Geo5/17-18/106/contents/enacted |website=legislation.gov.uk |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=18 May 2024}}</ref>

Coulsdon and Sanderstead were governed as [[rural parish]]es within the [[Croydon Rural District]] until 1915 when the [[Coulsdon and Purley Urban District]] was created covering the two parishes. [[Purley, London|Purley]] itself was not a civil parish, being in the parish of Coulsdon, but was included in the urban district's name on account of it being one of the main built-up settlements in the district. There were subsequent adjustments to the boundaries with neighbouring areas, notably including in 1933 when the urban district absorbed the parish of [[Farleigh, Surrey|Farleigh]], after which there were three [[urban parish]]es in the district, Cousldon, Farleigh, and Sanderstead.<ref>{{cite web |title=Coulsdon and Purley Urban District |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10186304 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=18 May 2024}}</ref>

The London Borough of Croydon was created on 1 April 1965 under the [[London Government Act 1963]], covering the combined area of the former Coulsdon and Purley Urban District and the [[County Borough of Croydon]], both of which were abolished at the same time. The area was transferred from Surrey to Greater London to become one of the 32 London boroughs.<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=London Government Act 1963|chapter=33|access-date=16 May 2024}}</ref><ref name="Arms of Croydon Online"/> The Farleigh area was removed from the borough in 1969 and transferred back to Surrey, becoming part of the parish of [[Chelsham and Farleigh]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Croydon London Borough |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10108664#tab02 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=18 May 2024}}</ref>

The borough council has unsuccessfully applied for [[City status in the United Kingdom|city status]] on several occasions: in 1965, 1977, 1992, 2000, 2002, and 2012. At present, the London Borough of Croydon is the second most populous [[local authority district|local government district]] of England without city status. Croydon's applications were refused as it was felt not to have an identity separate from the rest of Greater London. In 1965, it was described as "...now just part of the London conurbation and almost indistinguishable from many of the other Greater London boroughs" and in 2000 as having "no particular identity of its own".<ref name="beckett">{{cite book|title=City status in the British Isles, 1830–2002|series=Historical Urban Studies|last=Beckett |first=John |author-link=John Beckett (historian) |year=2005 |publisher=Ashgate|location=Aldershot|isbn=0-7546-5067-7 |pages=100, 103, 110, 122–4, 129, 131, 143, 146, 150, 166, 168, 175–6 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Results of Diamond Jubilee Civic Honours Competition announced|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/results-of-diamond-jubilee-civic-honours-competition-announced|publisher=Cabinet Office|access-date=27 March 2012|date=14 March 2012}}</ref>