January 2024 Meeting Report
'A Photographic tour of Swanley Village Then and Now' by Keith Whitmore
Until the mid 1800s the town of Swanley was an area of open fields, orchards and a few isolated buildings and Swanley Village was the place that people lived and worked. This changed when the railway came in the 1860’s and the town of Swanley expanded around the junction of two railway tracks, allowing Swanley Village to retain its separate identity.
In introducing his presentation ‘Swanley Village – A Photographic Journey Through Time’ at our January 2024 meeting, our member Keith Whitmore explained that the meaning of Swanley is derived from the description given by Saxon settlers - ‘ A swineherd’s clearing in the woods’.
Looking at a map dated 1865 we could see the straggling main street and buildings of Swanley Village surrounded by orchards and the hop kilns on Button Street. Our photographic journey started at Highlands Hill, past Highlands Farm which stands on the site of a Saxon homestead. Further on Vancouver House dates from the 1600’s and was originally two cottages known as Podgers Bank.
In the 1881 census, ten members of The Atkins family (Keith’s ancestors) resided there plus seven others making a total of seventeen. Hillbrow, once the butchers and Downs Cottages also date from the 1600s. The original thatched May Cottage, inhabited by a smock wearing Mr Mills, burnt down in the 1920s, caused by tinder from a passing traction engine. Several other period buildings are now gone, such as a row of Tudor cottages opposite Beechenlea Lane; Hop Kiln Cottages in Button Street bombed in 1940 and ancient Gildenhill Farm. Happily there are many interesting buildings of different ages and styles remaining to admire, including The medieval Old College and College Cottages where priests once lived; the farmhouses; the grander houses of the gentry such as Laburnham House, The Priory, The Old Place, Coldharbour, Alice Dene and also the simple homes of labourers and railway workers in WoodStreet and white ship-lap Elm Cottages on The Alley.
Keith’s photographs showed not a sleepy backwater but a busy community with several shops, ale houses - such as The Red Lion, The Hop Pole in Button Street and more modest Lamb and The Royal George - and also several businesses. The Harbers stand in front of their steam wagon and other vehicles. There was a basket works, a forge, nurseries, several shops and later fruit pulpers Beddington Nut Fruit Company. With family connections, Keith has many photographs showing his relatives and other villagers. These include guests at the marriage of great aunt Mary in their best clothes; Packman family members standing proudly in front of their shop; teachers and pupils at St. Pauls School and benefactors including tree-loving first vicar The Revd. Michael Seymour Edgell and The Eastwood family who financed the building of beautiful Swanley Village Church, The Parsonage and St. Paul’s School by The Glebe.
Christina Tyler, Programme Organiser.
Until the mid 1800s the town of Swanley was an area of open fields, orchards and a few isolated buildings and Swanley Village was the place that people lived and worked. This changed when the railway came in the 1860’s and the town of Swanley expanded around the junction of two railway tracks, allowing Swanley Village to retain its separate identity.
In introducing his presentation ‘Swanley Village – A Photographic Journey Through Time’ at our January 2024 meeting, our member Keith Whitmore explained that the meaning of Swanley is derived from the description given by Saxon settlers - ‘ A swineherd’s clearing in the woods’.
Looking at a map dated 1865 we could see the straggling main street and buildings of Swanley Village surrounded by orchards and the hop kilns on Button Street. Our photographic journey started at Highlands Hill, past Highlands Farm which stands on the site of a Saxon homestead. Further on Vancouver House dates from the 1600’s and was originally two cottages known as Podgers Bank.
In the 1881 census, ten members of The Atkins family (Keith’s ancestors) resided there plus seven others making a total of seventeen. Hillbrow, once the butchers and Downs Cottages also date from the 1600s. The original thatched May Cottage, inhabited by a smock wearing Mr Mills, burnt down in the 1920s, caused by tinder from a passing traction engine. Several other period buildings are now gone, such as a row of Tudor cottages opposite Beechenlea Lane; Hop Kiln Cottages in Button Street bombed in 1940 and ancient Gildenhill Farm. Happily there are many interesting buildings of different ages and styles remaining to admire, including The medieval Old College and College Cottages where priests once lived; the farmhouses; the grander houses of the gentry such as Laburnham House, The Priory, The Old Place, Coldharbour, Alice Dene and also the simple homes of labourers and railway workers in WoodStreet and white ship-lap Elm Cottages on The Alley.
Keith’s photographs showed not a sleepy backwater but a busy community with several shops, ale houses - such as The Red Lion, The Hop Pole in Button Street and more modest Lamb and The Royal George - and also several businesses. The Harbers stand in front of their steam wagon and other vehicles. There was a basket works, a forge, nurseries, several shops and later fruit pulpers Beddington Nut Fruit Company. With family connections, Keith has many photographs showing his relatives and other villagers. These include guests at the marriage of great aunt Mary in their best clothes; Packman family members standing proudly in front of their shop; teachers and pupils at St. Pauls School and benefactors including tree-loving first vicar The Revd. Michael Seymour Edgell and The Eastwood family who financed the building of beautiful Swanley Village Church, The Parsonage and St. Paul’s School by The Glebe.
Christina Tyler, Programme Organiser.