Strolling around this leafy, picturesque area, dotted with attractive houses and pleasant outdoor spaces, it’s hard to believe you’re only eleven miles from central London. The area has a villagey feel to it, but with all the trappings of an urban centre. This part of Chislehurst is home to several popular eateries, including Bengal Lancer, serving ‘good, real Bangladeshi food’. The Village Store delicatessen occupies a building that appears to come from a by-gone era, and sells local produce, homemade bread, and a range of other delicacies. The Royal Gallery hosts original artworks; and the National Trust’s Petts Wood and Hawkwood Estate, which extends into this postal sector, offers an ‘oasis of peace and tranquillity’.

Chislehurst’s history goes back over 1000 years. It is believed to have been settled before the Norman Conquest. Local archaeological excavations have revealed some Palaeolithic, Neolithic and Iron Age traces. Richmal Crompton, author of the Just William children’s series of books lived (and died) here, and Siouxsie Sioux, of Siouxsie and the Bandits fame, grew up here (in a somewhat turbulent household).

Rush Pond, adjacent to Chislehurst Common, has been plagued by green algae since some unthinking local plonked a load of Crassula – a prolific non-native species – in it some years ago, along with some terrapins, which have been causing havoc in this otherwise sleepy spot ever since!

The neighbourhood itself doesn’t have a train station which may frustrate some commuters. However, St. Mary’s Cray which goes directly to London Victoria is a short distance to the south east and Elmstead Woods, on the Charing Cross line, is at the sector’s Northern end. Chislehurst’s ‘posh’ reputation means houses here don’t come cheap. However, it is beautiful and leafy (not to mention far cheaper than more central areas of London!). Furthermore there really is something here for everyone. Local mothers agreed that: ‘Chislehurst is a lovely area with good nurseries and schools, both state and independent’.

Plans are afoot to re-develop the old Chislehurst Library site after Bromley Council put the freehold for the site up for sale in 2015. However, following years of attempted negotiation, the council and their development partner at the time terminated their plans following disagreements. The Council has now recommended that the library not be redeveloped but locals still wish to see the existing facilities improved and modernised. There is also a proposal to redevelop the Flamingo Park site in a way that respects its green belt location and optimises its potential contributions to the community. The land to the right of the site has already been cleared in readiness for the much needed proposed and approved housing development that forms part of the new plans for the site’s regeneration. The site also offers a new home for Cray Wanderers FC, and enables the club to further develop its community hub, which it already operates across the neighbourhood.

Bromley Council has also completed a residential development off Bushell Way in Chislehurst containing 25 modern one- and two-bedroom affordable apartments; some of the first to be developed under the council’s recently launched ‘Bromley Homes for Bromley People’ initiative. Contractors M-AR worked in partnership with the Council to deliver these homes, as well as 10 more apartments on a site adjacent to Anerley Town Hall. A proposal was also submitted to the council in 2021 for a scheme that intends to build a zero-carbon, flower-shaped housing development made up of 13 homes on the grounds of a historic farm in Chislehurst. Designed by Lipton Plant Architects, the vision for the development is of 11 properties arrayed around a central pond, and the proposal also involves the refurbishment of a Grade-II listed building on Frogpool Manor Farm.