Sydenham - Brief History

Brief History

Sydenham started out as a small settlement, a few cottages among the woods, whose inhabitants grazed their animals and collected wood.

In the 1640s, springs of water in what is now Wells Park were discovered to have medicinal properties, attracting crowds of people to the area. Sydenham grew rapidly in the 19th century after the introduction of the canal in 1801. Potential gas companies began to consider the Sydenham area in the 1840s after the opening of the railway.

In 1851 the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park was housed in an immense glass building, called the Crystal Palace. In 1854 the building was bought by a private company, dismantled and re-erected in Sydenham Park (Now called Crystal Palace Park). Exhibitions, concerts, conferences and sporting events were held at the Crystal Palace (until it burned down in 1936), and Sydenham became a fashionable area; many new houses were built. They could be supplied with gas from the Crystal Palace and District Gas Company's works at Bell Green, which continued in production until 1969. A large Sainsburys store now occupies part of the site.

Sydenham today is a bustling town centre with an active and engaged community, excellent public transport, schools, parks, shops and restaurants. The town centre is home to 185 small and medium-sized businesses, many independently owned and offering a wide range of goods. The town centre has a very community and villagey feel making Sydenham a well connected location where there are many independent run businesses as opposed to a more vast and informal environment with branded chain stores that neighbouring Croydon, Bromley and Lewisham home.