Penge History Group

Articles By Our Members

  • Historical Aspects of Crystal Palace Park
    by Simon Jeal
    This is a report on our first public event in March 2024. We explored three different aspects of Crystal Palace Park’s history, from its early origins to its use during the World Wars – Simon Jeal How the Railways Created The Crystal Palace Martin Spence’s talk focused on the importance of… Read more: Historical Aspects of Crystal Palace Park
  • A History of St John’s School, Penge
    by Graham Reeves
    Based on a presentation made to Penge History Group on 19 December 2023 In 1725 there were only 60 people living in Penge, which was a “detached hamlet” of Battersea, without a church of its own. Penge Chapel was opened in Croydon Road on 8 October 1837, by which time the… Read more: A History of St John’s School, Penge
  • A black and white illustration of the Croydon Canal in the early 19th century. A small stone bridge goes over the canal, and a couple of people are walking alongside it.
    Our First Year
    by Martin Spence
    In June 2023 I gave a talk on the ‘Penge Parliament’, a debating society largely forgotten now but well known in its day, which ran from the 1930s to the 1950s. By 2023, I had been presenting local history talks for the annual Penge Festival for several years, and I was… Read more: Our First Year