About The Bromley Area
Bromley is known as THE London Borough. And often voted the best London Borough to live in for all its green spaces and for fast journeys into London and to the South Coast of England.
Chislehurst Caves
The caves have been carved out over hundreds of years. The caves were dug for chalk used in lime burning and brick making for the Building of London, as well as for flints to fire the tinderboxes and flintlock guns of years ago.
First open to the public in 1900 as a showplace, the guides told the Victorians history of Romans, Druids and Saxons, Smuggling and Murder. The last 100 years has added munitions storage for the Woolwich Arsenal in the 1914-18 war, Mushroom growing in the 1920 and 1930’s and becoming an underground town as the largest deep air-raid shelter outside London, protecting over 15000 people every night during the Blitz.
In the 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s the caves were used as a venue for dances and concerts, presenting the foundations of Jazz, Skiffle and Folk music to the most famous names in pop and rock.
Now the caves are open as a tourist attraction and education centre with a gift shop and Café catering for visitors, group outings, private functions and children’s parties.
Glades Shopping Centre
Downe House – The home of Charles Darwin which remains much as it was when he lived there. Exhibition/Tearoom. Tel. 01689 859119.
Chislehurst Caves – Miles of dark mysterious passageways hewn by hand from the chalk forming a labyrinth covering more than 6 hectares 30 metres deep, beneath the woodlands of Chislehurst. Tel 020 8467 3264
Bromley Museum – The museum is housed in the medieval Orpington Priory covering early times to the 20th Century in the area Tel. 01689 873826.
Crofton Roman Villa – The remains of ten rooms can be seen. Tel. 020 8460 1442
Golf at Orpington Golf Centre 01689 839 677 & Chelsfield Lakes Tel: 01689 896266
High Elms Country Park (great walks and lovely cafe)
Shopping – INTU Bromley (Large shopping centre incl. M&S, Nike and Apple Store) Bluewater and Lakeside (huge centres 20 mins drive)
Other places of interest
Crystal Palace (with the Dinosaurs), Leeds Castle, Hever Castle (Anne Boleyn), Penshrst Place, Emmetts Gardens, Sissinghurst Gardens, Chartwell (Churchill’s home) & Lamberhurst Vineyard, Tunbridge Wells, The south coast, Hastings etc. (1 hour drive)
High Elms Country Park
High Elms Country Park offers 250 acres of countryside to explore combined with a 150-acre golf course, which together form the High Elms Estate, originally the country home of the Lubbock family.
The estate is 15 miles from central London, located on the ridge of the North Downs on the rim of the Thames basin. Visitors to the estate can enjoy the woodlands, nature centre, ice well, formal gardens and wildflower meadows.
The site is also home to BEECHE (Bromley Environmental Education Centre at High Elms) which is a sustainable education and visitor centre with a café and two large multi-functional rooms for use by community groups, local businesses and schools.
High Elms is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Local Nature Reserve, enjoying the support of local environmental groups as well as the Friends of High Elms, Natural England and the Forestry Commission. There are chalk meadows and woodlands that support a variety of wildlife including species that are rare in London
Visit Down House
With a unique place in the history of science and evolution, Down House was Charles Darwin’s family home – and today it is a site of outstanding international significance.
Step into the very rooms where Charles Darwin worked and lived, including the study where he wrote On the Origin of Species, and trace his story with a fascinating exhibition about his life and work. The house is surrounded by beautiful gardens that acted as Darwin’s ‘living laboratory’ - see recreated experiments and discover how his observations helped him develop his groundbreaking theories.
There’s plenty for everyone to enjoy, with a family trail, Victorian clothes to try on and lots of space to play on the lawn outside.