New Beckenham is bounded by sports grounds and Kent County Cricket Club in the north and west, Beckenham Place Park in the east and the High Streetat Beckenham Junction in the south. To the north, lies the original village of Beckenham, alongside the sports grounds of several large companies – such as HSBC and the Royal Bank of Scotland. South of the area, below the railway line, lies the high street, with an assortment of facilities, such as the Grade II* listed Odeon building, several independent stores, and the 900-year old St. George’s Church, ‘recently’ refurbished in the late-1800s. The area itself (in Zone 4) is decently-connected to the city centre, with trains every 15 minutes to Brixton and Victoria from Kent House and Beckenham Junction, taking about 15 and 20 minutes respectively. Beckenham Junction also has trains every half an hour to London Bridge, taking about 35 minutes, and Tramlink Route 2, which connects to West Croydon in 30 minutes. New Beckenham railway station sees trains to Charing Cross and Hayes.

Beckenham was part of Kent up until 1965, when by the London Government Act of 1963, it was transferred to the newly-formed London Borough of Bromley. The area is highly connected to the Cator family, with John Cator having purchased a large piece of land in Stumps Hill, later building a large mansion known as Beckenham Place. John Cator became Lord of the Manor of Beckenham in 1773. The Cator family had many more lands in the neighbourhood, such as Cator Park. When the railways came in 1857, John Cator’s sons realised the potential for development in the area, and soon large houses were built around the station, each surrounded by gardens, lending the area its leafy suburban feel today.

The legendary David Bowie lived here for four years in his twenties at 42 Southend Road from 1969-1973, attending Bromley Technical High School, along with Peter Frampton, three years younger than him – who would also go on to be an international musician.

More than a hundred years back, Colour Sergeant Frank Bourne was also a former resident of the area. For two whole days in Rorke’s Drift, South Africa, 1879, C. Sgt Bourne and his garrison held off multiple Zulu attacks, and was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (the second highest award in the British Army after the Victoria Cross). He would later go on to be portrayed by Nigel Green in the film Zulu.
He lived at 16 King’s Hall Road.

St. George’s Church, while not without its history, was actually rebuilt in 1885-1887. However, its lychgate (which we are told is a special kind of gateway to a church covered with a roof) has survived far longer than the church it is meant to lead to – in fact it dates back to the 13th century, and is claimed to be the oldest lychgate in England. Every summer – from end-June to early-July, people go through the gate for an arts festival within the church compound.

While New Beckenham in general has a quiet and friendly charm to it, it should be noted that the high street has one of the highest vacancy rates in the borough, at 9.5%, indicative, perhaps, of how the community feel of many high streets around the UK have been affected with recent development - however this is still substantially below the national average of 14.5%. Furthermore, Bromley Council has been making improvement work in Beckenham in an effort to make the high street more attractive and regenerate business.

The recent £4.4m regeneration of Beckenham High Street by Bromley Council in partnership with TfL, which saw the resurfacing of roads and payments, as well as improved street greening and lighting, landscaping, architecture and safety features, has brought with it increased footfall, new businesses and more facilities to the area. There has also been planning permission granted in 2019 for the building of 133 flats spread over 6 buildings at nearby South Eden Park Road along with 200 underground parking spaces. The development has caused issues with local residents as it will building over a large local green space. That said, the rest of the area is incredibly green so it shouldn’t feel like too much of a loss. Nearby Beckenham Place Park is scheduled for improvement across it’s eastern edge by summer 2023.