Downham Tavern

The Downham Tavern was for some years the world’s largest pub.

The Downham Tavern (2014)
Credit: Wiki Commons

The Downham Tavern was the only public house built on the area of the Downham Estate, then owned by the London County Council.

It opened on 29 May 1930 and had two saloon bars, a public lounge, a dance hall, a beer garden and a lunchroom (with waiter service).

It is rumoured that it had to be camouflaged during the Second World War to stop the Luftwaffe using it as a landmark.

In the 1990s, Lewisham Council sold the site to the Courage Brewery who in turn sold the site to the local Cooperative Society. The Co Op demolished the tavern and in its place built a supermarket together with a smaller pub in 1997 only licensed for 280 people.

Main source:	DOWNHAM TAVERN Pub of Bromley
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CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LOCALITY

Elmscott Road, BR1

Added: 4 May 2021 19:45 GMT

V1 Attack
Elmscott Road, Bromley was the site of a V1 incident in 1944

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LATEST LONDON-WIDE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT

Tony Whipple Frank Whipple Place, E14 Added: 16 Apr 2024 21:35 GMT	Frank Whipple Place, E14 Frank was my great-uncle, I’d often be ’babysat’ by Peggy while Nan and Dad went to the pub. Peggy was a marvel, so full of life. My Dad and Frank didn’t agree on most politics but everyone in the family is proud of him. A genuinely nice, knowledgable bloke. One of a kind. Reply
Theresa Penney Whites Row, E1 Added: 16 Apr 2024 18:08 GMT	1 Whites Row My 2 x great grandparents and his family lived here according to the 1841 census. They were Dutch Ashkenazi Jews born in Amsterdam at the beginning of the 19th century but all their children were born in Spitalfields. Reply
Wendy The Polygon Added: 22 Mar 2024 15:33 GMT	Polygon Buildings Following the demolition of the Polygon, and prior to the construction of Oakshott Court in 1974, 4 tenement type blocks of flats were built on the site at Clarendon Sq/Phoenix Rd called Polygon Buildings. These were primarily for people working for the Midland Railway and subsequently British Rail. My family lived for 5 years in Block C in the 1950s. It seems that very few photos exist of these buildings. Reply
Steve Charleville Circus, SE26 Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:42 GMT	Road construction and houses completed New Charleville Circus road layout shown on Stanford’s Library Map Of London And Its Suburbs 1879 with access via West Hill only. Plans showing street numbering were recorded in 1888 so we can concluded the houses in Charleville Circus were built by this date. Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London Reply
Steve Charleville Circus, SE26 Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:04 GMT	Charleville Circus, Sydenham: One Place Study (OPS) One Place Study’s (OPS) are a recent innovation to research and record historical facts/events/people focused on a single place �’ building, street, town etc. I have created an open access OPS of Charleville Circus on WikiTree that has over a million members across the globe working on a single family tree for everyone to enjoy, for free, forever. Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London Reply
Charles Hornsey Rise, N19 Added: 8 Mar 2024 20:45 GMT	My House I want to know who lived in my house in the 1860’s. Reply
NH Woodgrange Road, E7 Added: 7 Mar 2024 11:41 GMT	Telephone House Donald Hunter House, formerly Telephone House, was the BT Offices closed in 2000 Reply
Paul Cox Aldine Street, W12 Added: 5 Mar 2024 22:18 GMT	War damage reinstatement plans of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street Whilst clearing my elderly Mothers house of general detritus, I’ve come across original plans (one on acetate) of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street. Might they be of interest or should I just dispose of them? There are 4 copies seemingly from the one single acetate example. Seems a shame to just junk them as the level of detail is exquisite. No worries if of no interest, but thought I’d put it out there. Reply

LOCAL PHOTOS

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The Downham Tramway Change Pit, photographed on 17 November 1951
Old London postcard
TUM image id: 1622808220
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The Downham Wall: Alexandra Crescent Alexandra Crescent was built as a private (unadopted) road in late 1925 by the developer Albert Frampton. In a last-minute change of name, it was called after Queen Alexandra of Denmark who had just passed away in November of that year. As the Downham Estate was being built to the north in 1926, those who were just moving into the new Alexandra Crescent appointed Frampton to build a dividing wall. Frampton made a formal application to Bromley Council on 16 February 1926 to build the dividing wall. The council refused to take a decision but the seven-foot-high brick wall was built nonetheless. The ’class wall’ was the forerunner of the gated communities, barrier-walls and the use of private security which became more common decades later. The wall was removed in 1950.
Credit: Bromley Archives
TUM image id: 1600876518
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Exterior of Shroffolds Farm, c.1910
Credit: London Borough of Lewisham
TUM image id: 1515172705
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In the neighbourhood...

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The Downham Tramway Change Pit, photographed on 17 November 1951
Old London postcard
Licence:

Exterior of Shroffolds Farm, c.1910
Credit: London Borough of Lewisham
Licence:

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