Editing Penge (section)

===Pensgreene and the Crooked Billet===
Penge was an inconspicuous area with few residents before the arrival of the railways. A traveller passing through Penge would have noticed the large common with a small inn on its boundary. Penge Green appears as Pensgreene on Kip's 1607 map.<ref>''in'' Abbott, Peter (2002) ''Book of Penge, Anerley and Crystal Palace: The Community, Past Present and Future, p18'' Halsgrove. {{ISBN|1-84114-210-7}}</ref> The green was bounded to the north by [[Penge Lane]], the west by Beckenham Road and the southeast by the [[Crooked Billet, Penge|Crooked Billet]]. On a modern map that is a very small area, but the modern-day Penge Lane and Crooked Billet are not in their original locations, and Beckenham Road would have been little more than a cart track following the property line on the west side of Penge High Street. Penge Lane was the road from Penge to [[Sydenham, London|Sydenham]] which is now named St John's Road and Newlands Park. There was also an old footpath crossing the Green leading to Sydenham, that was known as Old Penge Lane. After the [[London, Chatham and Dover Railway]] was built, Penge Lane crossed the line by level crossing. When this crossing was closed, Penge Lane was renamed and Old Penge Lane became the present-day Penge Lane.

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Penge Inclosure Act 1827
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for dividing, allotting, inclosing, and exonerating from Tithes, Lands in the Hamlet of Penge, in the Parish of Battersea in the County of Surrey.
| year                  = 1827
| citation              = [[7 & 8 Geo. 4]]. c. ''35'' {{small|Pr.}}
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 14 June 1827
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
The 1868 [[Ordnance Survey]] map shows the Old Crooked Billet located to the southeast of the current location. This earlier location was on the eastward side of Penge Green, which disappeared as a result of the '''{{visible anchor|Penge Inclosure Act 1827}}''' ([[7 & 8 Geo. 4]]. c. ''35'' {{small|Pr.}}) which enclosed the whole green. This left the Crooked Billet with no frontage to Beckenham Road; hence, new premises were constructed on the present site in 1827, and subsequently replaced in 1840 with a three-storey building. This was severely damaged by enemy action in the [[World War II|Second World War]], and subsequently rebuilt.<ref>Abbott, Peter (2002) Book of Penge, Anerley and Crystal Palace: The Community, Past Present and Future, p48 Halsgrove. {{ISBN|1-84114-210-7}}</ref>

[[File:Crooked Billet in Penge.jpg|thumb|The Crooked Billet Pub in Penge]]

The Crooked Billet (pictured above) is by far the oldest public house in Penge. Peter Abbott<ref>Abbott, Peter (2002) Book of Penge, Anerley and Crystal Palace: The Community, Past Present and Future, p10 Halsgrove. {{ISBN|1-84114-210-7}}</ref> states that it was there in 1601, and speculates that it might be much more ancient. In modern times it is particularly well known for lending its name to a bus route terminus. From 1914, General Omnibus routes 109 and 609 operated, along different paths, between Bromley Market and the Crooked Billet. The 109 was renumbered 227 by London Transport, and continued to terminate at the Crooked Billet. (Route 609 was shortened, terminating in [[Beckenham]]). Around 1950, some services were extended past the Crooked Billet to Crystal Palace. Eventually nearly all buses travelled the extended route. The 354 buses now use the terminus, as do short-running buses on routes 194 and 358.

[[File:The Crooked Billet, on Penge Common.JPG|thumb|The Crooked Billet, as seen by Hone in 1827]]

[[William Hone]] wrote about a visit to the Crooked Billet in 1827<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=PzsHAAAAQAAJ "The Crooked Billet, on Penge Common"], ''The Every-day Book and Table Book; or, Everlasting Calendar of Popular Amusements, Sports, Pastimes, Ceremonies, Manners, Customs, and Events, Each of the Three Hundred and Sixty-Five Days, in Past and Present Times; Forming a Complete History of the Year, Months, and Seasons, and a Perpetual Key to the Almanac, Including Accounts of the Weather, Rules for Health and Conduct, Remarkable and Important Anecdotes, Facts, and Notices, in Chronology, Antiquities, Topography, biography, Natural History, Art, Science, and General Literature; Derived from the Most Authentic Sources, and Valuable Original Communication, with Poetical Elucidations, for Daily Use and Diversion. Vol III.'', ed. William Hone, (London: 1838) p 669-74.</ref> and included a detailed sketch of the last building on the original site.