15 Facts About Brockley

Brockley is a district and an electoral ward of south London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham 5 miles south-east of Charing Cross.

Name Brockley is derived from "Broca's woodland clearing", a wood where badgers are seen or Brook by a wood .

Formerly part of the county of Kent, Brockley became a part of the Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham in the County of London in 1889, and subsequently was brought into the London Borough of Lewisham with the creation of Greater London in 1965.

Brockley Hall stood nearby and now gives its name to a road on a 1930s housing estate.

Oldest surviving house in the area of what is considered to be the northern extent of Brockley is the "Stone House" on Lewisham Way built in 1773 by the architect George Gibson the Younger.

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Some oldest houses in Brockley are the cottages and shops which form a small terrace on Coulgate Street, just east of Brockley station.

Many grand houses in Brockley were occupied by the owners and managers of factories in neighbouring industrial areas such as Deptford and Bermondsey.

Brockley contains several fine churches: St Mary Magdalen's RC Church, Howson Road, St Peter's, Wickham Rd, the Grade II listed St Andrews, Brockley Rd – originally a Presbyterian Church, which contains the modern stained glass New Cross Fire memorial window – and the Grade II listed St Hilda's, Crofton Park 1908.

Much of north Brockley was designated a Conservation Area in 1974 and in the same year the Brockley Society was formed with the aim of preserving and protecting the character of the area.

Brockley is today one of the best preserved and most coherent Victorian suburbs in Inner London and contains examples of almost every style of mid- to late 19th century-domestic architecture from vast Gothic Revival piles to modest workmen's cottages.

Brockley contains several attractive open spaces, amongst them Blythe Hill, Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries and Hilly Fields.

Since 2004 Brockley has hosted the Brockley Max performing arts festival involving many local musicians and singers.

Brockley ward is represented by three Labour councillors as of the 2022 election.

Linton Kwesi Johnson mentions Brockley in his poem "Inglan Is A Bitch" .

In 2003, the BBC1 documentary Worlds Apart showed two contrasting Brockley families living within yards of each other; one in a small council flat, the other in a large house.