Valley Primary School

Bromley
Market Square, Bromley
Bromley Bromley shown within Greater London
Population	71,983 (five wards 2011)
OS grid reference	TQ405695
• Charing Cross	9.3 mi (15.0 km) NW
London borough	Bromley
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BROMLEY
Postcode district	BR1, BR2
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
EU Parliament	London
UK Parliament	Bromley and Chislehurst
London Assembly	Bexley and Bromley
List of places UK England London 51°24′25″N 0°01′16″E / 51.4070°N 0.0210°E / 51.4070; 0.0210Coordinates: 51°24′25″N 0°01′16″E / 51.4070°N 0.0210°E / 51.4070; 0.0210

Bromley is a district of south east London England, located 9.3 miles (15.0 km) south east of Charing Cross. It is the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Bromley, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan.

Bromley was historically a market town chartered since 1158 and an ancient parish in the county of Kent. Its location on a coaching route and the opening of a railway station in 1858 were key to its development, and the economic history of Bromley is underpinned by a shift from an agrarian village to commerce and retail. As part of the suburban growth of London in the 20th century, Bromley significantly increased in population and was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1903. It has developed into one of a handful of regionally significant commercial and retail districts outside central London and has formed part of Greater London since 1965. Most of Bromley including the town centre falls under the BR1 postcode district, whereas areas to the west and south like Shortlands, Bromley Common, Hayes and Keston are part of BR2 instead.

Bromley is first recorded in a charter of 862 as Bromleag and means 'woodland clearing where broom grows'. It shares this Old English etymology with Great Bromley in Essex, but not with the Bromley in Tower Hamlets.

The history of Bromley is closely connected with the See of Rochester. In AD 862 Ethelbert, the King of Kent, granted land to form the Manor of Bromley. It was held by the Bishops of Rochester until 1845, when Coles Child, a wealthy local merchant and philanthropist, purchased Bromley Palace (now the hub of the Bromley Civic Centre) and became lord of the manor. The town was an important coaching stop on the way to Hastings from London, and the now defunct Royal Bell Hotel (just off Market Square) is referred to in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It was a quiet rural village until the arrival of the railway in 1858 in Shortlands, which led to rapid growth, and outlying suburban districts such as Bickley (which later overflowed into Bromley Common) were developed to accommodate those wishing to live so conveniently close to London.