Getting to know Orpington

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Orpington

Farming in the district

Even 100 years ago Orpington hadn’t quite developed into the suburban town it is now. It was going through huge change in the 1920s and 1930s that would see large housing developments arrive. This wasn’t any different to other areas in what we call now call Greater London.

To build these residential areas, land was needed. Farmland was being sold off all over the area, and in this article we look at some of the bigger farms that existed in the district, those that were lost and those that managed to hold on and remain in what would become the green belt. Orpington and its District owes its success to its farms. Land within the various Manors was carefully managed for centuries. The District farms were typical to those in Kent and the Southeast. The better weather allowed good conditions for soft fruits, hops and other sunloving vegetables to flourish. All local farms produced these, with some specialising in poultry, dairy and pigs. Farms in the district, one year in the late 1800s, produced more strawberries than any other in the country - one-fifth of the country’s production! Orpington also produced a fair number of hops which supported The Oak Brewery at Green St Green. The picking of the produce offered an annual holiday away from the pollution of life in London, and ‘pickers’ were a common sight in Orpington, St Mary Cray, Farnborough and Chelsfield right up to the mid-20th century.

There are too many to list, but you may remember and recognise some of these:

Farmland surrounding Farnborough, Chelsfield, St Mary Cray and St Paul’s Cray to the east still exists and operates successfully, mainly as a result of rules around development being put in place - and that modern day farming can use land without necessarily having the overheads that individual farms once had.

• Orpington - Perry Hall Farm - Soft fruits, Hops and grains - Lost in the 1920s • Orpington - Court Lodge Farm - Soft fruits, Hops and grains - Lost in the 1920s • Orpington - Home Farm - Soft fruits, Hops and grains - Lost in the 1920s • Orpington – Tubbenden - W H Cook Poultry - Lost in the 1940s • Orpington – Ramsden - Dairy, Soft fruits, Hops and grains - Lost in the 1950s • Orpington - Place Farm - Soft fruits, Hops and grains - Lost in the 1960s • St Mary Cray - Manor Farm - Soft fruits, Hops and grains - Lost in the 1950s • St Pauls Cray - Grays Farm - Soft fruits, Hops and grains - Lost in the 1950s • Farnborough - Viners Farm - Soft fruits, Hops and grains - Lost in the 1990s • Farnborough - Woodlands

Farm - Soft fruits, Hops and grains - Still operating • Orpington - Tripes Farm Pigs, Dairy and Grains - Still operating • Chelsfield - Hewitt’s Farm - Soft fruits, Hops and grains - Still operating • Chelsfield - Court Lodge Farm - Soft fruits, Hops and grains - Still operating

Circa 1900: Hop picking at Court Lodge Farm Orpington

Did you know?

Circa 1900: Fruit picking at Perry Hall Farm Orpington

Pigs at Tripes Farm were fed leftovers from the Savoy Hotel!

1941 Alma Barn at Tripes Farm was 400 years old

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