Editing Penge (section)

==History==
Penge was once a small [[Hamlet (place)|hamlet]] attached to the manor of Battersea; it became independent from the manor in 1888.<ref name=":0" />

===Pensgreene and the Crooked Billet===
Penge was an inconspicuous area with few residents before the arrival of the railways. A traveller passing through Penge would have noticed the large common with a small inn on its boundary. Penge Green appears as Pensgreene on Kip's 1607 map.<ref>''in'' Abbott, Peter (2002) ''Book of Penge, Anerley and Crystal Palace: The Community, Past Present and Future, p18'' Halsgrove. {{ISBN|1-84114-210-7}}</ref> The green was bounded to the north by [[Penge Lane]], the west by Beckenham Road and the southeast by the [[Crooked Billet, Penge|Crooked Billet]]. On a modern map that is a very small area, but the modern-day Penge Lane and Crooked Billet are not in their original locations, and Beckenham Road would have been little more than a cart track following the property line on the west side of Penge High Street. Penge Lane was the road from Penge to [[Sydenham, London|Sydenham]] which is now named St John's Road and Newlands Park. There was also an old footpath crossing the Green leading to Sydenham, that was known as Old Penge Lane. After the [[London, Chatham and Dover Railway]] was built, Penge Lane crossed the line by level crossing. When this crossing was closed, Penge Lane was renamed and Old Penge Lane became the present-day Penge Lane.

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Penge Inclosure Act 1827
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for dividing, allotting, inclosing, and exonerating from Tithes, Lands in the Hamlet of Penge, in the Parish of Battersea in the County of Surrey.
| year                  = 1827
| citation              = [[7 & 8 Geo. 4]]. c. ''35'' {{small|Pr.}}
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 14 June 1827
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
The 1868 [[Ordnance Survey]] map shows the Old Crooked Billet located to the southeast of the current location. This earlier location was on the eastward side of Penge Green, which disappeared as a result of the '''{{visible anchor|Penge Inclosure Act 1827}}''' ([[7 & 8 Geo. 4]]. c. ''35'' {{small|Pr.}}) which enclosed the whole green. This left the Crooked Billet with no frontage to Beckenham Road; hence, new premises were constructed on the present site in 1827, and subsequently replaced in 1840 with a three-storey building. This was severely damaged by enemy action in the [[World War II|Second World War]], and subsequently rebuilt.<ref>Abbott, Peter (2002) Book of Penge, Anerley and Crystal Palace: The Community, Past Present and Future, p48 Halsgrove. {{ISBN|1-84114-210-7}}</ref>

[[File:Crooked Billet in Penge.jpg|thumb|The Crooked Billet Pub in Penge]]

The Crooked Billet (pictured above) is by far the oldest public house in Penge. Peter Abbott<ref>Abbott, Peter (2002) Book of Penge, Anerley and Crystal Palace: The Community, Past Present and Future, p10 Halsgrove. {{ISBN|1-84114-210-7}}</ref> states that it was there in 1601, and speculates that it might be much more ancient. In modern times it is particularly well known for lending its name to a bus route terminus. From 1914, General Omnibus routes 109 and 609 operated, along different paths, between Bromley Market and the Crooked Billet. The 109 was renumbered 227 by London Transport, and continued to terminate at the Crooked Billet. (Route 609 was shortened, terminating in [[Beckenham]]). Around 1950, some services were extended past the Crooked Billet to Crystal Palace. Eventually nearly all buses travelled the extended route. The 354 buses now use the terminus, as do short-running buses on routes 194 and 358.

[[File:The Crooked Billet, on Penge Common.JPG|thumb|The Crooked Billet, as seen by Hone in 1827]]

[[William Hone]] wrote about a visit to the Crooked Billet in 1827<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=PzsHAAAAQAAJ "The Crooked Billet, on Penge Common"], ''The Every-day Book and Table Book; or, Everlasting Calendar of Popular Amusements, Sports, Pastimes, Ceremonies, Manners, Customs, and Events, Each of the Three Hundred and Sixty-Five Days, in Past and Present Times; Forming a Complete History of the Year, Months, and Seasons, and a Perpetual Key to the Almanac, Including Accounts of the Weather, Rules for Health and Conduct, Remarkable and Important Anecdotes, Facts, and Notices, in Chronology, Antiquities, Topography, biography, Natural History, Art, Science, and General Literature; Derived from the Most Authentic Sources, and Valuable Original Communication, with Poetical Elucidations, for Daily Use and Diversion. Vol III.'', ed. William Hone, (London: 1838) p 669-74.</ref> and included a detailed sketch of the last building on the original site.

===Expansion===
The London and [[Croydon Canal]] was built across [[Penge Common]] along what is now the line of the railway through [[Penge West railway station]], deviating to the south before [[Anerley railway station]]. There is a remnant at the northern corner of [[Betts Park]], [[Anerley]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ww1.familygrowsontrees.com/|title=familygrowsontrees.com&nbsp;-&nbsp;familygrowsontrees Resources and Information.|website=ww1.familygrowsontrees.com|access-date=2 January 2019|archive-date=13 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613133845/http://ww1.familygrowsontrees.com/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Following the closure of the canal, the [[London and Croydon Railway]] was built largely along the same course, opening in 1839. Isambard Kingdom [[Brunel]] built an [[atmospheric railway]] along this alignment as far as Croydon. The [[Crystal Palace pneumatic railway]], which ran underground between the Sydenham and Penge entrances to [[Crystal Palace Park]], operated for a short while but proved not to be economically viable.

In the Victorian era, Penge developed into a fashionable suburb because of the railway line and its proximity to the relocated [[The Crystal Palace|Crystal Palace]]. It became a fashionable day out to visit the Crystal Palace during the day and to take the tram down the hill to one of the 'twenty-five pubs to the square mile'<ref>Abbott, Peter (2002) Book of Penge, Anerley and Crystal Palace: The Community, Past Present and Future, p114 Halsgrove. {{ISBN|1-84114-210-7}}</ref> that Penge was reputed to possess, or the two music halls—The King's Hall (later the Gaumont cinema) and, established in 1915, the Empire Theatre (later the Essoldo cinema).<ref>[http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/bromley/penge/empire-theatre.htm http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/bromley/penge/empire-theatre.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060526022625/http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/bromley/penge/empire-theatre.htm |date=26 May 2006 }} ''idealhomes.org.uk''</ref><ref>[http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/search/reference.asp?index=565&main_query=&theme=&period=&county=&district=&place_name=London&imageUID=77020&=&JS=True http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/search/reference.asp?index=565&main_query=&theme=&period=&county=&district=&place_name=London&imageUID=77020&=&JS=True] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001162156/http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/search/reference.asp?index=565&main_query=&theme=&period=&county=&district=&place_name=London&imageUID=77020&=&JS=True |date=1 October 2007 }} ''viewfinder.english.heritage.org.uk''</ref>

By 1862, Stanford's map of London and its Suburbs<ref>[http://www.mappalondon.com/london/south-east/map-london.htm http://www.mappalondon.com/london/south-east/map-london.htm] ''mappalondon.com''</ref> shows large homes had been constructed along Penge New Road (now Crystal Palace Park Road, Sydenham and Penge High Street), Thick Wood (now Thicket) Road and Anerley Road.<ref>[http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/postcodes/places/SE20/stories/CAT122.html http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/postcodes/places/SE20/stories/CAT122.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070712125308/http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/postcodes/places/SE20/stories/CAT122.html |date=12 July 2007 }} ''museumoflondon.org.uk''</ref>
This all came to an end in 1875 and 1877, with the notorious Penge murders. In 1875 Frederick Hunt murdered his wife and children,<ref>The Penge Murder, H. Sutherland, British Medical Journal v2 (766) 4 September 1875, 316–317</ref> then in 1877 a wealthy heiress, [[Murder of Harriet Staunton|Harriet Staunton]], together with her infant son, was starved to death by her husband and his associates.<ref>The Great Penge Murder, Victorian Calendar 19 September 1877 http://victoriancalendar.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/september-19-1877-great-penge-murder.html</ref> In 1934, [[Elizabeth Jenkins (author)|Elizabeth Jenkins]] published the novel ''Harriet'', based on the case,<ref>{{cite news|author=Rachel Cooke |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/apr/15/harriet-staunton-penge-murder-jenkins |title=The Penge Mystery: the terrible story of Harriet Staunton |newspaper=The Observer |date=15 April 2012 |access-date=2014-03-08}}</ref> whilst Forbes Road was renamed to Mosslea Road because of its connection with the murders.