Editing New Addington (section)

==History==
Until the 1930s, the area now known as New Addington was farmland and woodland in the southeast of the ancient parish of [[Addington, London|Addington]]. The farms were called Castle Hill, Addington Lodge (later Fisher's Farm).<ref name=adhistory>{{cite web|url=http://www.croydononline.org/history/places/newaddington.asp |title=History Section - New Addington |publisher=Croydononline.org |access-date=7 January 2018}}</ref>
At the time, central Croydon and London more generally had overcrowded slums causing concern to the authorities. In 1935, the First National Housing Trust purchased {{convert|569|acre|km2|lk=in}} of Fisher's Farm with the intention of erecting a '[[Garden city movement|Garden Village]]', with 4,400 houses, shops, two churches, cinema, and village green.<ref name="Willey">{{cite book |last1=Willey |first1=Russ |title=The London Gazzetteer |date=2006 |publisher=Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd |page=335}}</ref> The Chairman of the Trust was [[Charles Boot]], hence the earliest part of New Addington is sometimes called ''The Boot's Estate''.<ref name=adhistory />

By 1939, when the outbreak of [[World War II]] suspended construction, 1,023 houses and 23 shops had been built. The new estate was popular, but the provision of amenities had not kept pace with the house building. Only one of the proposed schools and few of the shops were in operation. For employment, decent shopping and entertainment, the residents had to travel off the estate. This heralded a long history of isolation for the estate, then nicknamed ''Little Siberia'', because it is much colder than the rest of Croydon.<ref>{{cite news |last1=George |first1=Sarah |title=21 things only people who grew up in New Addington will understand |url=https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/new-addington-grew-up-understand-15465216 |date=24 August 2020 |work=MyLondon News |publisher=Reach |access-date=29 April 2025}}</ref> The isolation was partly remedied 60 years later with the arrival of [[Tramlink]] route 3, mentioned below.<ref name="Willey"/> Tramlink runs alongside Lodge Lane, the main (northern) road access. There is only one other point of access by road, where King Henry's Drive connects with minor roads to the south.

After the war, there were concerns about the amount of [[Green Belt|green space]] being used for building around London and much of the countryside around the developing estate was designated as [[Green Belt]] land.<ref name="Willey"/> The County Borough of Croydon bought the unused First National Housing Trust land and a further {{convert|400|acre|km2}} to add to it, for extensive further development.<ref name="Willey"/> Many dozens of single-storey, detached, prefabricated houses (commonly known as "[[prefabricated building|prefabs]]" of the "Arcon" type using corrugated cement asbestos panels fixed to a bolted steel frame as photographed in "A 1950s metal UK prefab at the Rural Life Centre, Tilford, Surrey.") were built in the Castle Hill area of the estate. These were inhabited until the 1960s when they were demolished and replaced with brick-built two-storey homes.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} At the same time as the smaller prefabs were built, larger two-storey semi-detached houses were also built. These houses, which had metal upper skins, still survive around the King Henry's Drive area near Wolsey School. This was more development than had originally been envisaged but it brought about the structure of the estate as seen today.

Many more houses, blocks of flats, churches, factories and Central Parade with its shops, were built. The London Borough of Croydon obtained permission for a further 1,412 houses, which were completed in 1968.<ref name="Willey"/> This area, at the Croydon end, is known as the Fieldway Estate and has developed its own identity to an extent.<ref name=adhistory />
The total population counted by the 2011 Census was 22,280, of which 10,801 were in New Addington ward, with 11,479 in Fieldway ward.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}