St Paul's Cray
| St Paul's Cray | |
|---|---|
 St Paul's Cray
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| St Paul's Cray shown within Greater London | |
| OS grid reference | TQ466688 |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | ORPINGTON |
| Postcode district | BR5 |
| Dialling code |
01689 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| EU Parliament | London |
| UK Parliament | |
| London Assembly | |
St Paul's Cray is an area of Greater London within the London Borough of Bromley. It is located south of Sidcup and north of Orpington.
The village includes a small parade of shops, as well as part of the industrial estate on Cray Avenue that connects to its sister St Mary Cray. The former Broomwood pub is now a McDonald's and lies on the main road. Like St Mary Cray, St Paul's Cray is home to a large ex-traveller community as well as many descendants of Irish travellers who moved south from Bermondsey after the docks shut. The local football team, Cray Wanderers F.C., is one of the oldest football clubs in the world. Cray Wanderers were looking to return to the area at Sandy Lane. In September 2013, permission to develop Sandy Lane was refused by LB Bromley. Cray Wanderers announced on 6 October 2014 an intention to purchase Flamingo Park, adjacent to the A20 Sidcup by-pass, subject to receiving planning permission from LB Bromley for a football stadium and sports centre to be built there.
Though modern in appearance, St Paul’s Cray has an ancient history. Romans camped along the banks of the river, and even earlier settlements are suggested by the mysterious dene holes, caverns shaped in the chalk, which have been found on either side of the valley. Sir Simon de Cray held the manor in the time of Edward I. He took his name from St Paul’s Cray. He was knighted for his part in the Scottish wars. He became Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in 1275.
The name St Paul’s Cray has no direct connection with St Paul the Apostle; it is simply an abbreviation of St Paulinus Cray. The 11th-century church, made redundant in 1978 but now occupied by the Redeemed Christian Church of God, is sited on Main Road on the attractive riverside section of the St Paul’s Cray Conservation Area. From its structural form, it would appear to be a possibly Saxon foundation and certainly earlier than the thirteenth-century St Mary’s. A rare dedication suggests that a church could have occupied the site in the early seventh century. (Paulinus was an early Christian missionary, and a close contemporary of Augustine who subsequently became Archbishop of York and Bishop of Rochester.)
The area was known in the 16th century as Paul Crey. William Camden born in 1551 writes in a 1610 travel guide in a section on Kent: "Here the riverlet Crey, anciently called Crecan , intermingleth it selfe with Darent, ? when in his short course he hath imparted his name to five townlets which hee watereth,as Saint Marie Crey, Pauls Crey, Votes-Crey, North Crey,? and Crey-ford in former ages Crecanford, where Hengest the Saxon, the eighth yeare after his arrivall, joyned battaile with the Britans, and after hee had slaine their captaines brought them under with so great a slaughter that afterwards hee never stood in feare of them, but established his kingdome quietly in Kent."
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Wikipedia