Editing Catford (section)

==Built environment==
[[File:John Betjeman Reads William Horton's Petition to Save Lewisham Town Hall, 1961.jpg|thumb|[[John Betjeman]] reads [[William Newman-Norton|William Norton]]'s Petition to Save [[Lewisham Town Hall]], 1961]]

===Early developments===
[[File:Broadway Theatre, Catford, SE6 (6877523774).jpg|thumb|The Broadway Theatre]]
[[Broadway Theatre, Catford|Broadway Theatre]] is an [[art deco]] building adjoining the town hall. It is a curved stone structure decorated with shields and heraldic emblems and topped with a copper-green spire. It was opened in 1932 as the Concert Hall and is now a [[Grade II listed]] building. The interior is in art deco style. The last cinema in the borough (before the 2019 launch of Catford Mews) stood diagonally opposite the theatre until its closure in 2002. Catford also boasts a large Gothic [[police station]]. In 2006, a large blue pipe sculpture was unveiled outside [[Eros House]], which was another former cinema (The Eros Cinema), and the Lewisham Hippodrome theatre.<ref>{{cite web|title=Theatres in Lewisham and Catford|url=http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/LewishamAndCatfordTheatres.htm#hipp|publisher=The Music Hall and Theatre History Website|access-date=23 February 2016}}</ref>

The 1960s and 70s had a considerable impact on the architecture of Catford. The old [[Lewisham Town Hall|Town Hall]] of 1875, was replaced by the current Civic Suite in 1968, soon after the merger of the metropolitan boroughs of [[Lewisham]] and [[Deptford]]. Laurence House, where many of the [[Lewisham Council]] functions are housed including the offices of the [[Mayor of Lewisham]] and the Young Mayors of Lewisham, is on the site of old St Laurence's Church. The original Gothic [[Church of England|C of E]] St. Laurence Church was located where Laurence House is today (known as the Catford Cathedral), but as part of the urban renewal of Catford in the 1960s, the church is now housed in a more modern style building 200 metres down Bromley Road. [[File:St Laurence, Bromley Road, Catford (geograph 2258443).jpg|thumb|The 1968 St Laurence Church]]

In Rushey Green the old village water hand-pump from the 1850s survives.

At the end of [[World War II]], the 186-bungalow [[Excalibur Estate]] was laid out in Catford, and by 2011 was the largest surviving [[Prefabs in the United Kingdom|prefab estate]] in Britain. However, in spite of the opposition of many residents,<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/8701977/Bulldozers-home-in-on-historic-prefab-estate.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820061247/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/8701977/Bulldozers-home-in-on-historic-prefab-estate.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 August 2011 |location=London |work=The Daily Telegraph |first=Will |last=Storr |title=Bulldozers home in on historic prefab estate |date=19 August 2011}}</ref> all are due for demolition, apart from six with [[Listed building|Grade II listing]]. A new estate on the site is due for completion by the mid 2020's.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mulligan |first=Euan O'Byrne |date=20 June 2022 |title=Excalibur Estate: Catford redevelopment enters new phase |url=https://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/19455171.excalibur-estate-catford-redevelopment-enters-new-phase/ |access-date=19 November 2022 |work=www.thisislocallondon.co.uk }}</ref>

===Brutalist architecture===
A few examples of [[Brutalist architecture]] survive including the Catford shopping centre and Milford Towers, designed by the architect [[Owen Luder]] in 1974. The design was to make it ''the [[Barbican Estate|Barbican]] of the south''.

Architecture critic [[Ian Nairn]] praised Eros House (Owen Luder, 1962) as:

<blockquote>A monster sat down in Catford and just what the place needed. No offence meant: this southward extension of Lewisham High Street badly wanted stiffening. Now there is a punchy concrete focus ('you know, that funny new building') both close to and at a distance, from the desolate heights of the Downham Estate, where it stands straight to the afternoon sun. Rough concrete is put through all its paces, front convex eaves on Sainsbury's to a staircase tower which is either afflicted with an astounding set of visual distortions or is actually leaning. Again, no offence meant. Unlike many other avant-garde buildings, particularly in the universities, this one is done from real conviction, not from a desire for self-advertisement. The gaunt honesty of those projecting concrete frames carrying boxed-out bow windows persists. It is not done at you and it transforms the surroundings instead of despising them. This most craggy and uncompromising of London buildings turns out to be full of firm gentleness.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nairn |first1=I. A. |title=Nairn's London |date=2014 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=London |isbn=9780141396163}}</ref></blockquote>

In 2015 [[Lewisham Council]] decided to demolish Milford Towers, as the housing estate was in disrepair and the land could be better used to meet the needs of local residents.<ref>{{cite web|title=Milford Towers|url=http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/inmyarea/regeneration/Catford-regeneration/Pages/Milford-Towers.aspx|publisher=Lewisham Council|access-date=23 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304190601/http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/inmyarea/regeneration/Catford-regeneration/Pages/Milford-Towers.aspx|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2018 the estate was however refurbished, with demolition still planned in the longer-term.<ref>{{cite web|title='Barbican of the South', a strong example of post-war British brutalism|url=https://crl-aus.com/milford-towers.php|publisher=CRL|access-date=18 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525104217/https://crl-aus.com/milford-towers.php|archive-date=25 May 2022|url-status=dead}}</ref> 

===Landmarks===
[[File:The Catford Cat sign.jpg|thumb|The Catford Cat – a statue in Catford town centre, depicting a giant cat clawing at the Catford Centre sign.]]
One Catford landmark is the Catford Cat, a giant [[Fiberglass|fibreglass]] sculpture of a black cat above the entrance to the Catford [[Shopping mall| centre]]. There is also a street market on Catford Broadway.

Between 1932 and 2003, [[Catford Stadium]] was a successful [[greyhound racing]] track, but was closed and then destroyed by fire in 2005<ref>{{cite web |date=25 May 2005 |work=News Shopper |url=http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/599584.stadium_is_destroyed/ |title=Stadium is destroyed}}</ref> and ultimately demolished to make way for new housing.

Catford's oldest pub is the Black Horse and Harrow (now named The Ninth Life). The Catford Bridge Tavern is another heritage listed building close to the old dog track; this [[mock tudor]] pub burnt down in March 2015, but has since been refurbished and reopened in April 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.london24.com/news/huge_fire_destroys_catford_bridge_tavern_1_3975067 |title=VIDEO: Watch huge fire destroy Catford Bridge Tavern - News - London 24 |access-date=5 September 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316162300/http://www.london24.com/news/huge_fire_destroys_catford_bridge_tavern_1_3975067 |archive-date=16 March 2015 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Nearby, is [[St Dunstan's College]].

The area was once home to the [[Catford Studios]], producing films during the [[silent era]]. Catford also used to have a cinema diametric to the theatre. Catford was also satirised in ''[[The Chap]]'' magazine in a series called 'A Year in Catford' named after [[Peter Mayle]]'s best-seller ''A Year in Provence''. The magazine poked fun at Catford's mundanity.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}}