Pratt's Bottom
| Pratt's Bottom | |
| Kent | |
|---|---|
 Shorter's Oast in Pratt's Bottom | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ471622 |
| Location: | 51°20’23"N, 0°6’46"E |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Orpington |
| Postcode: | BR6 |
| Dialling code: | 01689 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Bromley |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Orpington |
Pratt's Bottom is a village in Kent, to the southeast of Orpington. It lies close to the edge of the metropolitan conurbation but mercifully little affected by it. The village has frequently been noted on lists of rude or unusual place names.[1]
It is a small village, consisting of a main road (Rushmore Hill) on which is situated a school, a village shop (the post office was closed as part of the widespread branch closures of June 2008) and the Bulls Head pub, two small churches and a few side roads. There is a village hall behind the green.
History
The village has its name first recorded as Spratts Bottom in 1773 and by 1791 it had changed to the present form. The meaning is likely to be valley of a family called Pratt.[2] It formed part of the ancient, and later civil, parish of Chelsfield in Kent.[3]
A tollgate stood in the village for many years. The turnpike cottage was demolished in the 1930s but is still seen as emblematic of the village, so much so that it is the basis of the recent village sign placed on the green.
Sue Short has written a book about the history of the village titled Pratts Bottom: A Journey Through Life.[4]
Pratt's Bottom was declared to be the 'sister city' of Wellington, New Zealand in 2009 by then-Mayor, Kerry Prendergast. Whether anyone asked the City of Wellington is not stated.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Pratt's Bottom) |
References
- ↑ Lyall, Sarah (22 January 2009). "No Snickering: That Road Sign Means Something Else". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/world/europe/23crapstone.html?_r=0. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
- ↑ Mills, A., Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names, (2001)
- ↑ Vision of Britain - Chelsfield parish (historic boundaries)
- ↑ Short, Sue (2009). Pratts Bottom: A Journey Through Life. BPR Publishers. ISBN 978-0-9554336-1-0.
