This locality is cut in half by a train line, with St. Mary Cray station at its easternmost corner. The area to the north of the rail line somewhat covers the area of St. Paul’s Cray, a modern-looking suburban neighbourhood which is centred by Hoblingwell Wood Recreation Ground. The south section is in between the areas of Petts Wood and St. Mary Cray, known as Poverest. This area is bounded by Poverest Park to the south and is intersected by Poverest Road through the middle. To the east, the area is flanked by the idyllic River Cray and the green spaces around it. In fact, the area in general is disproportionately green, even for a suburban area; north of the neighbourhood, past St. Paul’s Wood Hill road, is a lush green woodlands as well as Scadbury Park Nature Reserve, which is popular for bird watching.

Despite the fact that the area seems quite modern, with post-war suburban houses dominating the sector, the neighbourhood has actually seen activity since Roman times (and potentially before). Roman camps and settlements have been found in the area, including a bathhouse and Romano-British villas. Anglo-Saxon remains have also been found near the bathhouse, such as a burial ground that was built after the Romans had left. Still, today we see very little of its old ancient and medieval past. The first traces of the suburban landscape of today’s area came following the First World War, and in particular after the Orpington Bypass (today Cray Avenue) was built in the mid-20s. Part of the industrial estate from St. Mary Cray creeps into the area at Cray Avenue, which connects St. Paul’s Cray to St. Mary Cray. In reversal of the trend seen in so many other places in London, the late 1950s saw more open space created in the area – as the Orpington council purchased many of the houses in the Fordcroft estate and then proceeded to not build anything on those areas. Today, it is at the edge of suburban London, a huge percentage of the land being open green space.

Cray Wanderers was established in the area back in 1860, which makes it one of the oldest football clubs in the world. According to the official website, the origins of the club come with the construction of the railway line through the area, where the migrant workers would team up with the local villagers to play football.

The Fordcroft Anglo-Saxon cemetery, at the time of its discovery, was the first ‘well-authenticated’ archaeological evidence for Anglo-Saxons settlement along the River Cray; it took four years to excavate the entire site, with archaeologists having to dig between the already existing houses in the 60s.

At 22km from central London, commuting into town from the area can be frustrating. Despite reasonably regular train services, the Zone 6 location means travel is not only expensive, but also takes a long time.

The Cray Wanderers football team have been petitioning and planning their own stadium for a while now – having been sharing the lawns of other teams for the past four decades. They had planned to finish a new stadium by 2018, located near St. Paul’s Cray, near the Sidcup Bypass at Flamingo Park; however, the proposal was vetoed by the Mayor’s Office as it was to be built on the greenbelt. This is not the end of the story though! Recently, the Mayor reversed his veto and returned the issue back to Bromley Council, who then approved the development proposal. In 2022, the Cray Wanderers signed a contract with REIDsteel for the design and construction of the Wands new stadium at Flamingo Park. There is an intent to respect 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.