Bromley Culture and Theatre

Located in Greater London, the Borough of Bromley boasts a rich culture and thriving theatre scene. Historically, Bromley was a market town founded in 1158. Today, the town has grown into one of the most significant retail and commercial districts outside London.

Theatre Scene

Bromley is home to a number of theatres, but the Churchill Theatre is the most popular. Located in the centre of town, the Churchill opened in 1977 by HRH Prince of Wales, and is run on contract by the Ambassador Theatre Group.

Productions at the Churchill often transfer to West End or tour nationally.

Bromley also has another theatre: Bromley Little Theatre.

Empire Cinemas is also in town, which has four cinema screens. One screen has a huge viewing capacity of 392 people. Two screens have disabled access.

Library

Within the same building as the Churchill Theatre is a library that boasts a large collection of books, Wi-Fi availablity and a studies department. The library is a part of the Bromley Borough Libraries Service.

Morris Team and Popular Culture

The Ravensbourne Morris Men is a distinctive part of Bromley’s local culture.

The Morris team was founded in 1947 as a post war revival team after a meeting at a cafe near Bromley South Station.

Bromley is also the location of the Green Midget Café, a fictional cafe from the famous Monty Python Spam sketch. Nearly every item on the cafe’s menu contained spam.

The town was also mentioned in another Monty Python sketch, where it was said all seven continents could be seen from Bromley’s Kentish Times building.

The Mall made an appearance on the cover of the Sounds Like Bromley album by Billy Jenkins.

Sport

Bromley is home to four Non-League football clubs: Bromley F.C., Greenwich Borough F.C., Cray Wanderers F.C. and Holmesdale F.C.

Bromley F.C. and Cray Wanderers F.C. play their home games at the Haynes Lane Stadium. The other two football clubs play at Oakley Road.

The Cray Wanderers F.C. are three divisions below the Bromley F.C., which is just one division below the Football League.

Along with football clubs, Bromley also has rugby clubs: Parkhouse FC, Old Elthamians, Bromley RFC and Beckenham RFC.

The Beccehamians RFC was founded in 1933, and plays rugby at the Sparrows Den at Corkscrew Hill in West Wickham.

City Landmarks

There are several well-known landmarks in Bromley that play a part in the city’s culture.

One of the most famous and historic buildings is Bromley College. There are also several noteworthy open public space in town, including: Martin’s Hill, Queen’s Garden, Library Gardens, Church House Gardens and College Green.

Bromley has a number of churches. The church of St Peter and St Paul, situated on Church Road, was destroyed in 1941 by enemy fire, but was rebuilt in the 1950s using materials from the original building.

St Mark’s, another parish church, is the third church of the name in Bromley. The original church was built in 1884 just a short distance from its current site. The church was built to accommodate the town’s growing population. Land for the first St Mark’s church was donated by Eley Soames. The road name St Mark’s preserves the church’s original location.

The second church was built on the present-day site by Evelyn Hellicar. The church was completed in 1898 in the Perpendicular Gothic style. The tower would not be completed until 1904.

Unfortunately, the second St Mark’s was largely destroyed in the London Blitz. The tower was the only surviving structure. The church would eventually be rebuilt using much of the original material.

Notable Bromley Residents

The famous residents of Bromley also play a role in local culture. While there are several notable resident of the town – past and present – one in particular stands out in the crowd: author H. G. Wells.

Known as the father of the sci-fi genre, Wells produced several notable works, including: The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The First Men on the Moon, The Shape of Things to Come and The Invisible Man.

Wells’s father was the owner of the Bromley Cricket Club, and he spent the first 12 years of his life in town. The famous author attended the Tomas Morley’s Bromley Academy.

An H. G. Wells Centre is located in Masons Hill on the south end of High Street.

Wells was nominated four times for the Nobel Prize in Literature, and continues to be an influential writer even to this day.

Other notable Bromley residents include Captain W.E. Johns, Pixie Lott, David Nobbs, Reginald Perrin, David Bowie, Charles Darwin, Billy Idol, Hanif Kureishi, Andrew Murray and Michael York.