Elmers End
| Elmers End | |
| Kent | |
|---|---|
 Elmers End Green | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ355685 |
| Location: | 51°23’50"N, 0°3’9"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Beckenham |
| Postcode: | BR3 |
| Dialling code: | 020 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Bromley |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Beckenham |
Elmers End is an area of the ancient parish of Beckenham in metropolitan Kent adjacent to the border with Surrey. It is located south west of Bromley.
Etymology
There are two leading theories about where the name Elmers End originated. The more romantic of the two is that a famous highwayman, Elmer, was hanged at the crossroads, making it ‘Elmer’s end’. The more historically accurate reason is that there were a number of local people who were proclaimed as an Elmerus (Anglo Saxon translation of a criminal), who were executed on the green.
Area
It has a large green space which is the centre of a gyratory. Very close to the combined railway station and Tramlink terminus bearing its name is the old sewage farm. The remains of this industrial site can still be seen. The sewage works is thought to be contaminated with heavy metals and is therefore unfit for building houses. The sewage farm has been converted into a country park (South Norwood Country Park) which extends across the county border into Surrey.
The former industrial estate on the south side of the railway track used to house the Muirhead and Twinlock factories, and can be seen from the air here. The companies vacated the sites and it remained derelict until the mid 1990s when Tesco built a new superstore. The former Bolloms paint factory site, on the opposite side of the road has been redeveloped into an industrial estate.
Elmers End station is a terminus for Tramlink services to Croydon as well as being on the National Rail route between London, Charing Cross and Hayes, Bromley.
The main Beckenham crematorium is situated between South Norwood Country Park and Birkbeck. Also known as Elmers End Cemetery, it contains the final resting places of such notable people as W.G. Grace, Frank Bourne, Thomas Crapper, Jerzy Wołkowicki, William Stanley and George Evans (VC) who won a[Victoria Cross in 1916.[1]