In the spotlight

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Above: .

Shops and the Churchill Theatre are most people’s first ports of call when they head into the busy centre of Bromley. But less than half a mile from the hustle and bustle of the busy High Street and Market Square shopping precinct lies an architectural gem that even long-term residents know little about.
A small, unassuming pair of gates off a busy suburban street marks the entrance to Sundridge Park, a stunning Grade I mansion set in 275 acres of rolling parkland, right in the middle of Bromley.
Much of the land belongs to the championship Sundridge Park Golf Club, but travel a little further along a private road and there is the ornate house with its distinctive rotunda, designed by John Nash and Samuel Wyatt, in eight acres of grounds created by Sir Humphrey Repton.
So well hidden is the 18th-century mansion, where Edward VII and Napoleon III stayed, that an open day last August attracted hundreds of Bromley visitors, keen to know more about the property.

Sundridge Park
For many years Sundridge Park was a hotel and conference centre, but now it is on the market as a private residence for the first time in 85 years, with a hefty price tag of £8.5 million.
From the grand ornate marble entrance, doors open one after another to rooms each more beautiful than the other. Elaborate painted and gilded plasterwork, Corinthian columns, glass domes, pediments and plain stucco walls ­ Sundridge Park has it all, and all within 10 miles of Canary Wharf.
Just outside the town is another famous building, Holwood House, which found itself back in the headlines a couple of months ago. The 74-acre property once belonged to the then Prime Minister William Pitt and it was where he and leading reformer William Wilberforce agreed to abolish slavery in the British Empire while sitting under a large oak tree.
The 200th anniversary of the passing of the Slave Trade Act was marked in March this year ­ and although the famous oak disintegrated in the 1990s, another tree, named Pitt’s Oak, continues to flourish nearby.
The last phase of a new housing development of prestigious homes and apartments is now nearing completion on the estate, but it has been built a relatively small area of land and most of the area is still covered with trees.

Shop til you drop
Back in the town centre it becomes easy to see why Bromley is so popular with visitors, particularly shoppers. The largest of London’s 32 boroughs, Bromley has around 400 retail businesses and more than 80 restaurants, cafés and bars.
The High Street is dominated by The Glades shopping centre, which offers more than 130 shops and restaurants in 421,00sq ft. of prime retail space, with major anchor stores such as M&S, Virgin, Waterstones, Debenhams and Boots.
Recent developments have included new lifts opposite Marks and Spencer, replacing the old stairs and leading to brand new, state-of-the-art, eco-friendly toilet and baby changing facilities.
Stage 2 is now in progress on The Glades High Street development, bringing new retailers to Bromley and and in the region of 40, 000sq ft. additional retail space. The new shops will be ready for occupation by early 2008.
The borough covers about 59 square miles and takes in Crystal Palace Park and Biggin Hill Airport.
Bromley is also home to the popular Churchill Theatre, that used to sit off the High Street, but is now part of the pedestrianised shopping area. It faces the town’s small, but picturesque park, Church House Gardens, where, to the delight of visitors, semi-tame squirrels often run about looking for titbits.

Bromley takes pride in its theatre, and rightly so

Just yards from the shops, the gardens are a haven of peace for office workers to enjoy their lunch hour in or others, looking for a break from retail therapy.
Undulating paths take visitors down to an unusual square pond where time can be whiled away listening to the musical sounds of two fountains tinkling away in the background.
Bromley takes pride in its theatre, and rightly so. Many Churchill productions transfer to the West End while many receive both their national ­ and sometimes world - premieres there.
This July, the 785-seat theatre will be celebrating its 30th anniversary with a week-long festival featuring 30 special events. The Churchill was opened on 19 July 1977 by the Prince of Wales, having been built on the side of a hill to disguise the number and size of the lower levels, but giving the impression from the outside that it is smaller than it actually is.
The theatre is a favourite with many actors and actresses, partly because it is near many of their London homes, but also because of the reception they get from Bromley’s famously enthusiastic audiences.
Joan Collins, Rula Lenska, Christopher Timothy and Lesley Joseph are among those who hold the theatre in high regard, echoing the comment of Richard Lane, president of Bromley Business Focus, who described the Churchill as “the priceless jewel in the London borough of Bromley’s crown.”


Famous residents of Bromley

•  Author HG Wells was born in Bromley in 1866 and a plaque commemorating him can be found on the former Allders department store, now Primark, in the Market Square shopping precinct.

•  Richmal Crompton, author of the Just William books, made her home in the town. She taught at a high school, which was then next to Bromley South station, but was replaced by an American bank. After getting married, another children’s author, Enid Blyton also lived for a while in the town, opposite Shortlands Library

•  David Bowie and Peter Frampton, of The Herd, both went to Bromley Technical High School, now Ravenswood School and the former Clash drummer Topper Headon lived in the town.

•  Ballerina Dame Antoinette Sibley, who danced with the Royal Ballet, was born in Bromley in 1939.

•  McLaren test driver Gary Paffett and racing driver and 2006 British Formula Three champion Mike Conway have also made Bromley their home.

• Talbot Rothwell, who wrote most of the Carry On films, was born in Bromley.