The Manor of Bromley

During the Middle Ages, church officials of various kinds tended to come from opposite ends of the social spectrum. Bishops were generally born of rich and wealthy families and therefore extremely well educated. They were highly regarded in as much as they were seen as a vital link between God and the people. However, not only did they conciliate or mediate on matters of religion but they were regularly prone to interfering in politics too.

It was in the 8th century that King Ethelbert II granted Eardwulf, Bishop of Rochester six sulings of land, a suling being the equivalent of approximately 220 acres. This land, which at the time would have been an area of around 1,320 acres, became known as the Manor of Bromley. Although considered and described as ‘poor, with neither pasture nor arable land being worth much’ it is said that a manor house was built on the grounds in or around 1100.  Primarily it was thought that Bishop Gundulph was the imminent architect involved in the commission, but the idea was thought highly unlikely as Gundulph was renowned for his penchant for grand, majestic builds of ‘enduring character’ and by the time of Bishop Waleran, who died in 1184, records show that Bromley Palace, as it was then known, had fallen into a shocking state of disrepair.

Bishops were able to enjoy an extravagant lifestyle due to the huge amounts of both land and livestock owned by the church and the tithes and taxes paid by the peasants, a tithe being a tenth part of either agricultural produce or personal income owned by the peasant. Serfs were also expected to provide free labour for at least a couple of days a week for whoever owned the manor at the time, be it the church or a lord. The manor house or palace was also a place where the Bishops could conduct their business whether it be levying taxes or perhaps issues such as wedding annulments. With the church being very much under his jurisdiction, the Bishop as Lord of the Manor would also play an important role in regards to civic matters. Enterprising and resourceful, the Bishops realised that markets were a particularly good source of income and revenue and so a charter was granted by King John in 1205 whereby a market was permitted to be held every Tuesday. This gave Bromley an enormous boost in the way of development and prosperity. A second charter in 1447 changed the market day to Thursday and so it remains today. Known as Bromley Charter Market, it is situated in Station Road car park from 9am to 2pm and sells a wide and diverse range of goods including fruit and vegetables, haberdashery, household goods and fashion.

There was much confusion and chaos in church affairs across the country with the outbreak of Civil War in 1642 with Bromley being no exception. In the same year Bishop John Warner was forced to leave his residence at Bromley Palace. Deprived of his home, he spent a number of years moving around Wales and the West Country often staying with friends and relatives. He finally returned to Bromley and having experienced the rigours of being homeless decided to use part of his considerable wealth to provide for the widows of clergy who had been killed in the Civil War supporting the King. John Warner died at Bromley in 1666 and in accordance with his will, £8,500 was left to build ”hospital or almshouses for twenty poor widows of orthodox and loyal clergy men.’ Bromley College is the oldest building in Bromley and is situated no more than 300 yards from the main shopping centre and today still provides accommodation for retired Anglican clergy, as well as their spouses, widows, widowers and unmarried daughters.

Educated at Queens College, Oxford, John Thomas was ordained Bishop of Rochester on 13 November 1774. He marked his episcopacy by renovating and restoring the Bishop’s Palace at Bromley, by which time the building was in dire need of repair. A plain brick mansion with a moat was erected in its place and finished in 1777. Bromley Palace today forms part of the extensive Bromley Civic Centre and stands about a quarter of a mile from the town centre located on the brow of a hill looking towards Beckenham and Hayes. Bishop Thomas died at Bromley on 22 August 1793. The last bishop to be based in Bromley moved away in 1845 and the property was sold to wealthy coal merchant, Coles Child who went on to have it renovated yet again in 1863 by Richard Norman Shaw and again  in 1903 by Ernest Newton. It became a girls’ finishing school in the 1920’s and the Stockwell Teacher’s Training College in 1933 and has been the site of the Bromley Civic Centre since 1982. The grounds are currently managed by Thyme Out, a horticultural project working for people with learning difficulties. Much of the once extensive parkland was eventually sold for housing and road construction and what remains of the former park that is south of the old palace ruins, includes the lake which was once part of the medieval moat, two Pulhamite rockeries and a Folly that incorporates medieval stonework designed and created for Coles Child.