Living in Chislehurst: area guide to homes, schools and transport links
One of the greenest suburbs in the capital, pretty Chislehurst, only 10 miles from central London, is known for its surrounding commons and National Trust-owned land.
Local estate agent Adrian Lawrence, of Hunters, calls it “the nicest village in the borough of Bromley”, adding: “Half suburban and half countryside, it has good schools and easy access to the city.”
The commons were saved from development by an Act of Parliament in 1888 after a residents’ campaign. More recently, the Chislehurst Society bought the freehold of the commons, which had been in private ownership for 900 years, for £160,000 from a Russian royal, Princess June Lobanov-Rostovsky.
Chislehurst’s most famous resident Napoleon III lived in exile at Camden Place, a house restyled like a French château, from 1871 until his death in 1873. His wife, Empress Eugenie, who lived to 94, stayed on at Camden Place until 1888
In 1879 her son Prince Louis Napoleon was killed aged 23 in South Africa in the Zulu War. Some 400,000 people watched as the cortège passed through the streets of Chislehurst, and Queen Victoria attended the funeral in the small Catholic church.
Chislehurst’s most famous almost-resident was King of Pop Michael Jackson who rented 24,000sq ft Foxbury Manor, a Victorian gothic mansion, ahead of his 50-night planned residency at the O2, due to open in July 2009. He died the month before, aged 50.
Lawrence says the village has changed little in 20 years, except for the greater range of shops, cafés and restaurants in the High Street. Chislehurst is close to the A20 with New Eltham and Mottingham to the north; Sidcup to the east; Orpington to the south and Bromley to the west.
PROPERTY SCENE
With Bromley’s biggest conservation area, Chislehurst homes range from period cottages to Victorian and Edwardian houses and smaller terrace homes. Arts and Crafts houses by Edward J May and Ernest Newton are sought after.
There are large modern mansions in leafy streets where older houses have been knocked down and rebuilt; Thirties detached houses, some in the mock Tudor style by renowned local builder Frederick Love; detached and semi-detached houses built in every decade since the Twenties including Sixties townhouses, and modern flats.
The most expensive house for sale now is 10 years old and has six bedrooms, an indoor swimming pool, gym and sauna. In Wilderness Road, it is priced at £4.95 million. There are two Frederick Love houses for sale, one with six bedrooms in Chislehurst Road at £2.75 million, the other with five bedrooms in Leesons Hill for £1.1 million to £1.2 million.
NEW BUILD
McCarthy & Stone’s retirement flats at Shepheard’s House in Manor Park Road are proving popular. The first phase is selling off-plan, with one-bedroom homes from £447,950 and two-bedroom flats at £553,950. Call 0800 201 48211.
In New Eltham, near Chislehurst, Linden Homes is building Waterford Place in Avery Hill Road, with 135 two, three, four and five-bedroom homes, including 43 affordable. Four-bedroom semi-detached houses start at £749,950. Call 020 3811 4895.
London Square Orpington in Broadwater Gardens offers 116 one and two-bedroom flats and three and four-bedroom houses, with 10 for social rent and five shared ownership. Four-bedroom terrace houses remain in phase one, at £685,000. Phase two launches next year. Call 01689 499 756.
AFFORDABLE HOMES
HOMES TO RENT
Chislehurst is not a large rental area, with five times as many homes for sale as there are to rent. Homes to rent currently range from a one-bedroom period conversion flat in Kemnal Road for £900 a month, up to a five-bedroom detached house in Norlands Crescent for £2,800 a month.
TRANSPORT
Commuters from Chislehurst station have the choice of half-hour trains to Charing Cross that call at London Bridge in 20 minutes and Waterloo East in 25 minutes, or Cannon Street trains taking 27 minutes that also stop at London Bridge in 20 minutes.
Passengers starting their journeys from Elmstead Woods, the next station up the line, can shave a few minutes and a travel zone off their journey. Chislehurst station is in Zone 5 and an annual travelcard costs £2,328, while Elmstead Woods station is in Zone 4 and an annual travelcard will set you back £1,960.
STAYING POWER
Chislehurst is a family area where people put down roots. Local estate agent Adrian Lawrence, of Hunters, says he recently valued a house the seller had been living in since she bought it new in 1976.
POSTCODE
BR7 is the Chislehurst postcode which also includes Elmstead. On the northern edge Chislehurst runs into SE9, the Eltham postcode.
BEST ROADS
Wilderness Road, Camden Park Road and Kemnal Road. In Wilderness Road and Camden Park Road many of the houses are the work of local builder William Willett, who also championed the idea of British Summer Time which was finally adopted in 1916, a year after his death.
UP & COMING
The area close to the very popular Bullers Wood School for girls, off Logs Hill, is set to become increasingly popular when the separate boys’ school opens.
COUNCIL
Bromley council is Conservative controlled. Band D council tax for 2018/2019 is £1,452.71
Lifestyle
SHOPS & RESTAURANTS
Chislehurst High Street is the main shopping street but there are also shops and cafés along Royal Parade. The High Street has a large branch of Sainsbury’s, chain coffee shops Costa and Caffè Nero, plus chain restaurants Prezzo, Zizzi and Côte.
Most other shops are independent, including Wrattens, a presence in the street since the Thirties, which now has a café and concentrates on gifts and homewares; Nene Café & Bistro; Annabel’s, a lifestyle boutique serving tea and cream cakes; and women’s boutique Fortuny.
Gusto, the first London branch of a predominantly northern chain of Italian restaurants, has replaced Café Rouge. There is a monthly farmers’ market on the third Sunday of the month.
In Royal Parade, you’ll find Michael Sim selling fine English furniture; Yves Delorme is a French bed linen brand; Walnuts Café; Ada and Albert charity boutique supporting local children; Italian restaurant Due Amici; a village store and a florist.
The Rambler’s Rest in Mill Place is a tucked-away weather-boarded pub popular with walkers.
OPEN SPACES
Chislehurst is all about open space. Chislehurst Commons stretch over 180 acres — this is where the Chislehurst & West Kent Cricket Club plays.
The National Trust has 150 acres at Petts Wood and Hawkwood to the south of the town centre, where charcoal is made and sold for barbecues. The 300 acres of Scadbury Park Nature Reserve to the east of the town centre overlooks the valley of the River Cray. The London LOOP Walk runs through Scadbury Park and Petts Wood.
LEISURE & THE ARTS
The annual Chislehurst Rocks free music festival takes place at Walden Recreation Ground and is a summer highlight of the Chislehurst year.
Chapel Films takes over the Old Chapel once a month, screening classics, recent releases, undiscovered gems, documentaries and international films.
Chislehurst Golf Club is in Camden Park Road and the clubhouse is Camden Place, Napoleon III’s home while in exile between 1871 and his death in 1873.
Schools
OFSTED'S FINEST
Rated “outstanding” by the Ofsted government education watchdog are: Mead Road Infants (up to age seven) in Mead Road; Bullers Wood (girls, ages 11 to 18) in St Nicolas Lane and St Thomas More RC (co-ed, ages 11 to 16) in Footscray Road in Eltham.
The following primary schools are judged “good”: Chislehurst CofE in School Road and Edgebury in Belmont Lane.
COMPREHENSIVE
Comprehensive schools in Chislehurst and nearby with a “good” rating are: Coopers School (co-ed, ages 11 to18) in Hawkwood Lane; Chislehurst School for Girls (ages 11 to 18) in Beaverwood Road, and Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Hurst Road in Sidcup.
PRIVATE
The private primary and preparatory schools in Chislehurst and nearby are: St Olave’s (co-ed, ages three to 11) in Southwood Road; Bickley Park (boys, ages two to 13) in Page Heath Lane; Breaside (ages two to 11) in Orchard Road, and Benedict House (co-ed, ages two to 11) in Victoria Road in Sidcup.
The private all-through and secondary schools are: Darul Uloom (boys, ages 11 to 18) in Foxbury Avenue, an Islamic boarding school; Farringtons (co-ed, ages three to 18) in Perry Street, a Methodist school; Babington House (co-ed, ages three to 18) in Grange Drive; Bromley High (girls, ages four to 18) in Blackbrook Lane; Eltham College (boys, ages seven to 18 with girls in the sixth form; the school is going co-ed in September 2020) in Grove Park Road in Eltham; St Dunstan’s College (co-ed, ages three to 18) in Stanstead Road in Catford, and Colfe’s School (co-ed, ages three to 18) in Horn Park Lane in Lee.