Editing Thornton Heath (section)

==History==
{{main|History of Thornton Heath}}
Until the arrival of the railway in 1862, Thornton Heath was focused on an area {{convert|1.5|mi|km}} southwest of the Whitehorse manor house (now a school), at the locality on the main London–Sussex road known as Thornton Heath Pond in the parish of [[Croydon (parish)|Croydon St John the Baptist]]. Between the manor house and pond was an isolated farmhouse. Eventually, it became the site for the railway station and the main expansion hub.

In the 50-year period from 1861 to 1911, Thornton Heath saw a complete transformation from an isolated rural outpost to an integrated metropolitan suburb. In its infancy, a new railway station in the eastern farmlands enabled the immediate area to evolve around a central point. In the late 19th century, the western part of Thornton Heath, which lay directly on the main London–Sussex road, demonstrated a classic form of suburban ribbon development. In the process, it became the final piece in an urban chain linking two major centres, London and Croydon, completing the greatest metropolitan expansion in the world at that time which cost £112 million in today's money.{{When|date=May 2023|reason=With what year's value of GBP?}}