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Orpington is known for the "Buff", "Black" and "Speckled" chickens bred locally by William Cook in the 1890s. The Buff Orpington can still be seen at Tripes Farm, Chelsfield Lane.
[edit] Orpington car
The Orpington Car, built by Frank Smith & Jack Milroy at their works in Wellington Road, was shown at the 1920 Motor Show. It was a two-seater convertible, with a dickey seat, and a 10 horsepower (7 kW) engine. Although briefly successful, Smith and Milroy could not compete with mass production, and the last car was built in 1925. Unfortunately, there are no surviving examples.
[edit] Notable residents
- Steve Bennett, football referee
- Charles Darwin, scientist in nearby Downe
- Darren M Jackson Boxer
- Emma Johnson, clarinettist, BBC Young Musician of the Year in 1984
- Josie Long, stand up comedian
- Eric Lubbock, politician
- Sir John Lubbock, banker and politician
- Gary Rhodes, chef
- Barry Knight, football referee
- David Nobbs, comedy writer, was born in Orpington
- Kim Medcalf Eastenders
- Jeremy Beadle, TV Presenter, Writer and Producer
- Leslie Grantham, Eastenders
- Frank Pullen Property Developer, Racehorse owner
[edit] TV appearances
- An Orpington curry house was featured on British television for being "one of the worst in Britain", for its practice of reusing leftover curry in the following day's menu. The next morning it had a window smashed, and closed down shortly afterwards.
- A Honda Civic advert.
- A Eurostar advert.
- Orpington has been the set for a number of episodes of The Bill, including a Christmas episode filmed on the High Street.
- The live-action opening for The Simpsons was filmed there in late 2005. It was first used on Sky One in the UK, and appeared before Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife in the U.S. The same house was also used for the national lottery Christmas draw advert 2006.
- A Kodak TV advert was filmed here in which a fighter jet was placed in the front garden of a house on Hillcrest Road.
- The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin is based on life in Orpington. Born in Orpington, its author, David Nobbs, says, "the town must be considered to have had a seminal influence on my work."
- Orpington High Street and the Walnuts Shopping Center appear in a number of scenes in the Channel 4 documentary Virgin School, first aired in May 2007.
[edit] References in popular culture
- In the classic Only Fools and Horses episode 'Yuppy Love', (which includes the famous scene of Del Boy (David Jason) falling through the bar), Rodney (Nicholas Lynhurst) and Del are arguing over the morality of Del's decision to buy, and then hopefully sell, their Peckham council flat. Rodney says: 'Del, council properties were built so the poorer classes would have somewhere to live! If they start selling them to Hooray Henrys where are they gonna go?' To which Del casually replies: 'Esher, Orpington - somewhere like that.'
[edit] Places of interest
[edit] The Parish Church
The Parish Church, "All Saints", stands upon pre-Norman foundations. Mentioned in the Domesday Book, it is Early English in style, but some Saxon work is visible. It was endowed by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1173. The tower and steeple were damaged by a storm in 1771. The rebuilt steeple was struck by lightning in 1809, and it was not replaced. The church was greatly enlarged in 1957. The present Vicar is the Reverend Alan Mustoe.
[edit] The Priory
The Priory is a fine example of a medieval 'hall house'. In 1032, Eadsy, chaplain to King Cnut, gave his estate at Orpedingetune to Christ Church Priory, Canterbury. The first Rector of Orpington, Hugh de Mortimer, held court here in 1270. The house was rebuilt, this time of stone, in 1290, and added to in 1393 and 1471. In the 17th century the house ceased to be a rectory and passed into private ownership - a timber framed extension was added, which no longer exists. The house was acquired by Orpington Urban District Council in 1947, and now it houses a museum and a public library. The garden forms an attractive public park, and contains a natural pond which is the source of the River Cray. Each year the Orpington May Queen is crowned in the gardens.
[edit] Orpington Hospital
During the first world war a large military hospital, the "16th Canadian General", was built south-east of the station, funded by the government of Ontario, Canada. It originally accommodated 1050 patients; an extra wing was added in 1917. By January 1919 more than 15,000 wounded soldiers had been treated here. Many of the 182 who died are buried in "Canadian Corner" of All Saints' churchyard. Most of the original pre-fabricated buildings remained in use for more than 80 years before a major renovation around the turn of the century. Today Orpington Hospital provides rehabilitation and therapy services, outpatient and diagnostic services (including dermatology and diabetes), but it no longer has an Accident and Emergency Unit. The nearest A&E is Queen Mary's, Sidcup, or Princess Royal University Hospital, Farnborough.
[edit] Education
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Education in Orpington is managed by the London Borough of Bromley which is the Local Education Authority. The town contains a full range of primary and secondary schools. Tubbenden Junior/Infant and Darrick Wood Secondary being the most popular schools.
Orpington College is a further education college. It is affiliated with the University of Greenwich and Canterbury Christ Church University. Orpington College is the tallest building in Orpington, and was built in 1972.
[edit] Transport and locale
Orpington railway station is a transport hub served by Southeastern trains to Charing Cross, Cannon Street, Waterloo East, London Bridge and Victoria stations.
Orpington is also a major hub on the London Bus network and is served by routes to Sidcup, Chislehurst, Bromley, Lewisham, Addington, Chelsfield, Green Street Green, Farnborough, Cudham, Downe, Knockholt, Halstead, and Biggin Hill.
Because of the developed transport system, Orpington is a popular commuter base. Rail lines from Orpington offer connections to the Eurostar station at Ashford International. There are also connections to London City (via Lewisham DLR station), London Biggin Hill and London Gatwick (via Victoria station) airports.
[edit] Nearest places
[edit] References
[edit] External links
Photographs of around town:
(Source: Wikipedia) |
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