Thornton Heath is one of the most multicultural areas in Croydon, home to large Asian communities besides as a significant Afro-Caribbean population. It has a wide range of temples, mosques and churches.

There’s also been a recent influx of Polish immigrants as exemplified by a large growth of Polish shops in the area, which is attractive by virtue of significantly lower house prices, making Thornton Heath more affordable than some other parts of Greater London, although being one of the most poverty stricken with 35% of households having an annual income of less than 15,000 a year. The housing there is cheaper for a reason….At Thornton Heath Pond is a London Bus garage which was a tram depot until the 1950s. Croydon’s last tram until the Tramlink scheme of the 1990s was driven to Thornton Heath by the then Mayor of Croydon and MP Fred Harris. Personally off all the Croydon areas I care for it the least myself. It has a feeling of poverty, yet its not the poorest area, it has appeared to be run down in the last 20 years and crime is quite high in the area and gun crime is becoming a more prevailing problem also, as are drugs and knife crimes. It has shop after shop of discount shops and bad takeaways. It has been termed by some as the new ‘Brixton’.

Offences

Locally

Per 1000 Population Locally Local across the nation
Robbery 1845 5.42 1.4
Theft of a motor vehicle 1788 5.26 4.5
Theft from a motor vehicle 2699 7.93 10.0
Sexual offences 352 1.03 0.9
Violence against a person 7763 22.82 16.5
Burglary 2291 6.73 6.4

Until the arrival of the railway in 1862 and the subsequent building of many houses around it, Thornton Heath was actually centered an area a mile (1.6 km) to the west, at the locality on the A23 now titled Thornton Heath Pond. The heath itself consisted of 36 acres (146,000) stretching northwards from Thornton Heath Pond towards Norbury. This was the common pasture for the manor of Norbury. There were also some farms and cottages. Colliers Water Lane, an ancient route, is believed to have been used by charcoal-burners who took water from Thornton Heath Pond.

The area was known for being godforsaken and a haunt of highwaymen, including the most celebrated of all, Dick Turpin, who was said to have lived for a time nearby. Some claim he was hung there too. A gallows was placed by the pond to execute criminals and serve as a cautionary to others. On 31 March 1722 six men were hung up there together, and a further four together the following year. The area was known as Gallows Green, the gibbet being a well-known sight along the increasingly important stagecoach route between London and the south coast. In the 18th century a coaching inn called The Wheatsheaf was established by the pond providing refreshment for travellers and their horses. In 1799 the common was enclosed and some development began around the pond along London Road. By 1900 most of the common had been constructed on. For a period after the arrival of the railway, the area around the station was called ‘New Thornton Heath’.

The pond had become a hazard by the late 19th century, a package mail coach having notably come to grief in it in 1891. To immortalise Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897, a large fountain was placed in the midst of the pond and railings were erected around it. In 1953 the pond was drained and is now a major roundabout on the London to Brighton route (the A23 road). In 1975, due to sporadic incidents of vandalism, the decision was made to fill in the pool as well. In January 2003, afresh water feature (funded by Croydon Council’s Smarter Croydon initiative) was put in place, although this was soon removed.

At the junction of Thornton Heath High Street and Parchmore Road, on a site previously called Walker’s Green, is a Clock-tower, built in 1900, and financed partly by public subscription.
Thornton Heath was the site of the Croydon Workhouse from 1865, later to become Queen’s Road Hospital, with the neighbouring Queen’s Road Cemetery, opened in 1861. Mayday University Hospital began as the Workhouse infirmary and is now one of the largest hospitals in south London. Many local people joke that the place hasn’t changed that much.

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