Mottingham

The earliest records of Mottingham are from 862 AD during the Anglo-Saxon era when it was recorded as Modingahema, which means the land of Moda's people and is commonly interpreted as "the proud place". In William Henry Ireland's 1830 work England's Topographer: Or A New and Complete History of the County of Kent Volume 4,{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZrDRAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA661|title=England's Topographer: Or A New and Complete History of the County of Kent; from the Earliest Records to the Present Time, Including Every Modern Improvement. Embellished with a Series of Views from Original Drawings by Geo. Shepherd, H. Gastineau, &c. with Historical, Topographical, Critical, & Biographical Delineations|first=William Henry|last=Ireland|date=28 August 2018|publisher=G. Virtue|via=Google Books}} he writes

{{block quote | Mottingham is a hamlet, lying partly in this parish (referring to Eltham), and partly in that of Chislehurst, at about a mile [1–2 km] southward from Eltham church. It was anciently called Modingham, from the Saxon words modig, proud or lofty, and ham, a dwelling.

In King Edward the Confessor's confirmation of the gift of Elthruda, King Alfred's niece, of the manor of Lewisham and its appendages, to the abbey of St. Peter's, at Ghent, in Flanders, in 1044, Modingsham is mentioned as one of them belonging to that manor; but the succeeding grants of Lewisham manor make no mention of this place. In the reign of Edward I., it passed as an appendage to the manor of Eltham, in the grant made by that king to John de Vesci; since, which, it has always been considered as part of the same, which at this time claims over the whole of this hamlet. The bounds and extent of the hamlet of Modyngham are thus described in an ancient MS. remaining among registers of the bishop of Rochester:}}

{{block quote | Memorandum, That the lordship of Modyngham begins at Readhilde, and extends to the wood of the lord bishop called Elmystediswood, towards the south; and to the field, called Charlesfield, towards the west; and to the woods and lands of the king in Eltham, towards the north-east." At the beginning of the reign of King William Rufus, Ansgotus, of Chesilhurst, the king's chamberlain was possessed of the fee of this hamlet, and gave the tithes of it to the priory of St. Andrew's in Rochester. At the beginning of the reign of Edward III., a family of the name of Legh was possessed of certain tenements, with the land and appurtenances belonging thereto, in Modingham and Chesilhurst; from one of that name it passed to Thomas de Bankwell, at whose decease in the 35th year of the same reign, it was found to be possessed of them and held of the king in gavelkind, as one of his manor of Eltham by service of 14s. 11d. per annum rent and performing service to the king's court at Eltham.{{pb}}In the 14th of Henry VI,. these premises were in the possession of Robert Cheeseman, of Lewisham and East Greenwich, who by marriage with Joane, daughter of Bernard Cavell of Chesilhurst, had considerably increased his property in this place. The family of Cavell was possessed of lands in that part of Modyngham which lies in Chesilhurst, as early as the reign of Edward I., for John Mayo, jun, by his deed in the 18th of Edward I. conveyed several premises in that part of the hamlet to Bernard Cavell sen. of Chesilhurst. The late Cheesman's who held this estate was Thomas Cheesman, whose heir Alice carried it in marriage to Robert Stoddard and his son George Stoddard, and Anne his wife in 1560 built the present mansion-house called Mottingham place, which with the lands belonging thereto, continued in their descendant till Nicholas Stoddard esq., dying in 1765 unmarried and intestate, there appeared many claimants to the inheritance. After a long litigation in the court of Chancery, this seat with the estate was adjudged to an heir by the female line, to William Bowereman esq. of Newport in the Isle of Wight, who passed away his interest therein to Mr. Dyneley, and he nearly rebuilt the seat and resided there. In the old house were the following dates and coats of arms; on the inside of a turret, 1560; on a chimney, 1561; and on an outward gate, 1635.}}

In the seventeenth century Thomas Fuller recorded in The Worthies of England a curious incident that happened on 4 August 1585:

{{block quote | ...in the Hamlet of Mottingham (pertaining to Eltham in this county) in a Field which belongeth to Sir Percival Hart. Betimes in the morning the ground began to sink, so much that three great Elm trees were suddenly swallowed into the Pit; the tops falling downward into the hole; and before ten of the clock they were so overwhelmed, that no part of them might be discovered, the Concave being suddenly filled with Water. The compasse of the hole was about eighty yards, and so profound, that a sounding line of fifty fathoms could hardly find or feel the bottom.}}

The cause of the incident, referred to as a "marvellous accident" at the time, was then unknown, and it is likely that a sinkhole had developed. The area is well coursed with streams, both above and below ground, and the collapse or shifting of subsoil might be attributed to them. The site of the sinkhole is now unknown, and the incident is also largely unknown. The only body of standing water that is in the area today is a lake at The Tarn Bird Sanctuary.

File:Southern Side of the Ice Well near the Tarn (I).jpg is a Grade II listed structure]]

Mottingham was originally a farming hamlet, with a few large houses on Mottingham Lane, one of them Fairy Hall. Development began in the mid-19th century with the building of cottages on what is now Mottingham Road and the Terrace shops. Mottingham station opened in 1866, but was originally named for Eltham. In the 1880s the West Park estate, housing intended for the middle class, was developed and St. Andrew's church was built between the station and the village.{{cite web|url=http://southwark.anglican.org/find-a-church/eltham-and-mottingham/mottingham-st-andrew-with-st-alban|title=Mottingham: St Andrew with St Alban |publisher=The Diocese of Southwark }}

The opening of the Sidcup arterial road in 1923 led to suburban development at Mottingham, with the London County Council creating the Mottingham estate, with 2,000 houses, schools and shops, on Court Farm. The estate opened in 1935. The King and Queen pub, later used as a performance venue, opened in 1937; it was replaced by housing in 1992.

In January 2019, Bromley council approved the borough's Local Plan, a document outlining how and where Bromley will be developed up to 2030. Policy 18 details the commitment to improve the vitality and viability of the Mottingham Local Centre and Kimmeridge Cross Neighbourhood Centre, and to enhance links to other areas of Bromley and adjoining boroughs, particularly in relation to centres of employment.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bromley.gov.uk/downloads/file/4768/bromley_local_plan|title=Bromley Local Plan | London Borough of Bromley|first=London Borough of|last=Bromley|website=www.bromley.gov.uk|access-date=11 July 2020|archive-date=9 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809154845/https://www.bromley.gov.uk/downloads/file/4768/bromley_local_plan|url-status=dead}}

Mottingham was originally a hamlet in Eltham parish, in the Blackheath hundred of Kent. In 1840 it was included in the Metropolitan Police District by the Metropolitan Police Act 1839. In 1866, the same year the station was opened, Mottingham was separated from Eltham as a distinct civil parish.Vision of Britain - [http://vision.edina.ac.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10223143&c_id=10001043 Mottingham CP]{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} ([http://vision.edina.ac.uk/bound_map_page.jsp?first=true&u_id=10223143&c_id=10001043 historic map]{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}) In 1881, the parish had a population of 779 and covered an area of {{convert|642|acre|ha|abbr=off}}.

When the County of London was created in 1889, Mottingham was excluded from the new county and formed a protrusion of Kent, bordering London to the west, north and east. From 1894 to 1934, it formed a 'detached part' of Bromley Rural District and had its own parish council.Vision of Britain - [http://vision.edina.ac.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10135485 Bromley RD]{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} ([http://vision.edina.ac.uk/bound_map_page.jsp?first=true&u_id=10135485&c_id=10001043 historic map]{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}) In 1931, the parish had a population of 2,120. In 1934, the rural district and the Mottingham civil parish were abolished and the area was transferred to Chislehurst and Sidcup Urban District.Vision of Britain - [http://vision.edina.ac.uk/unit_page.jsp?u_id=10193291&c_id=10001043 Chislehurst and Sidcup UD]{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} ([http://vision.edina.ac.uk/bound_map_page.jsp?first=true&u_id=10193291&c_id=10001043 historic map]{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}) In 1965, the urban district was abolished and the area was transferred from Kent to Greater London, to form part of the London Borough of Bromley. The boundary between Bromley and Greenwich,Office of Public Sector Information - [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1993/1225/contents/made Bromley and Greenwich (London Borough Boundaries) Order 1993] and between Bromley and Lewisham,Office of Public Sector Information - [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1993/1261/contents/made Bromley and Lewisham (London Borough Boundaries) Order 1993] around Mottingham was adjusted in 1994. Most of Mottingham is contained within the Mottingham and Chislehurst North ward of Bromley constituency, but the area around Mottingham Station is in the Coldharbour and New Eltham ward of Eltham constituency.{{Cite web|url=http://londondatastore-upload.s3.amazonaws.com/instant-atlas/ward-atlas-2014/atlas.html|title=Ward Atlas (2014)|website=londondatastore-upload.s3.amazonaws.com}}

File:East Face of the Mottingham War Memorial.jpg

The first church in Mottingham was St Andrew's Church on Court Road, which was established in 1884 and further helped establish Mottingham as separate from Eltham.

Sir Robert Geffrye's almshouses on Mottingham Road were built by the Ironmongers' Company in 1912 to replace the almshouses in Hoxton that are now the Museum of the Home; they were remodelled by the Greater London Council and additional housing built in the grounds.{{cite web |url=https://hidden-london.com/gazetteer/mottingham/ |title=Mottingham, Bromley/Greenwich |website=Hidden London |access-date=11 July 2020 }}

Martins Bank had a branch in Mottingham village, facing the war memorial; it was the first branch of the bank to undergo an armed raid, in 1967. It became a Barclays following their 1969 takeover of Martins, and was closed in 1992.{{Cite web|url=http://www.martinsbank.co.uk/11-20-60%20London%20Mottingham%20SE9.htm|title=11-20-60 London Mottingham SE9 |website=Martinsbank.co.uk |access-date=11 July 2020 }}

Also by the war memorial stood the Porcupine Inn public house, licensed as long ago as 1688. The premises dated from about 1800 and were replaced in 1922. The pub closed in 2013 and was acquired by German global discount supermarket chain Lidl, who tried and failed to obtain permission to develop the site.{{Cite news |first=Lachlan |last=Leeming |url=https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/18469566.decision-mottinghams-porcupine-pub-proposal-hooked-last-minute/ |title=Decision on Mottingham's Porcupine pub proposal hooked at the last minute |newspaper=News Shopper |date=22 May 2020 }} In 2022, Lidl appealed over the head of Bromley Borough and were given permission to clear the site and build their new supermarket. The new store opened for business in April 2023.[https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/23456522.first-look-brand-new-lidl-mottingham/ News Shopper, 2023-04-14]

Mottingham has a branch of the fraternal order Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity.{{Cite web|url=https://www.oddfellows.co.uk/|title=The Oddfellows. A friendlier society|website=The Oddfellows}}

Mottingham village contains a sign depicting Eltham College within the branches of a tree, a cricket bat and ball (making reference to W G Grace) and the date AD 862.{{Cite web|url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2607768|title=Close-up of Mottingham Village Sign |first=David |last=Anstiss |website=Geograph.org.uk }}

Mottingham and some of its landmarks appear in filmmaker Dewyne Lindsay's mini-documentary series London Districts.{{Cite news |first=Conor |last=Shields |url=https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/17743789.filmmaker-has-made-40-mini-docs-about-london-districts/|title=Filmmaker has made 40 mini-docs about London districts |newspaper=News Shopper |date=2 July 2019 }}Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/7sWPmRNVx-M Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200903221609/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sWPmRNVx-M Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sWPmRNVx-M |title=London Districts: Mottingham (Documentary) |website=YouTube |date=20 October 2019 }}{{cbignore}}

File:Parade of Shops along Mottingham Road (II).jpg in Mottingham Road]]

{{Cite web|url=http://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report|title=Find an inspection report and registered childcare|last=Ofsted Communications Team|date=12 March 2020|website=reports.ofsted.gov.uk|access-date=11 July 2020|archive-date=13 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913130530/https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report|url-status=dead}}

Capel Manor College is a specialist environmental college offering land-based further and higher education on a campus that was previously part of Hadlow College.{{cite news |first=Euan |last=O'Byrne Mulligan |url=https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/18148088.failing-mottingham-education-college-taken/ |title=Failing Mottingham further education college taken over |newspaper=News Shopper |date=9 January 2020 }}

Eltham College, an independent day school for girls and boys 7–18, founded in 1842 as the London Missionary Society's School for the Sons of Missionaries, has been housed since 1912 in the former Fairy Hall in Mottingham, which had earlier been the Royal Naval School from 1889 to 1910.

File:Information Board in the Southwest Area of the Tarn, Mottingham.jpg is an area of wood and parkland in Mottingham]]

Mottingham borders Eltham to the north, New Eltham to the east, Chislehurst to the south, Elmstead to the south west, Lewisham to the west and Lee to the north west. Since 2010, Mottingham has fallen within the Mottingham and Chislehurst North polling{{Cite web |url=https://www.bromley.gov.uk/downloads/file/2032/mottingham_and_chislehurst_north_ward_polling_district_map |title=Mottingham and Chislehurst North ward polling district map |publisher=London Borough of Bromley |access-date=11 July 2020 |archive-date=27 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227163216/https://www.bromley.gov.uk/downloads/file/2032/mottingham_and_chislehurst_north_ward_polling_district_map |url-status=dead }} and policing{{cite web |url=https://www.met.police.uk/a/your-area/met/bromley/mottingham-and-chislehurst-north/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706071059/https://www.met.police.uk/a/your-area/met/bromley/mottingham-and-chislehurst-north/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 July 2022 |title=Mottingham and Chislehurst North |publisher=Metropolitan Police |access-date=11 July 2020 }} districts.

A tributary of the River Quaggy known as the Little Quaggy flows through Mottingham; rising on the borders of Chislehurst and Mottingham,{{cite web |url=https://qwag.org.uk/river-quaggy/local-history/ |title=Local history: In search of the Quaggy |publisher=QWAG: Quaggy Waterways Action Group |access-date=11 July 2020 }} it flows through The Tarn and emerges alongside the Sidcup bypass to join the Quaggy, which continues to Mottingham playing fields (colloquially known as 'Foxes Field').{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

{{LCC cottage estates}}

London County Council bought the Court Farm estate in the early 1930s and planned a 2000 home cottage estate. The first houses were to the west of Mottingham Road and completed in 1935. The estate was fairly self-contained; the community facilities included a shopping centre and several schools.

The British gangster film Piggy was filmed around North Kent, Mottingham and London and one scene was filmed in The Prince of Wales pub on Mottingham Road.{{Cite news |first=Nikki |last=Jarvis |url=https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/9715067.pub-regulars-go-from-pork-scratchings-to-piggy-film-fame/|title=Pub regulars go from pork scratchings to Piggy film fame|newspaper=News Shopper |date=18 May 2012 }} African American boxer Frank Craig trained at the Prince of Wales for the bout he ultimately lost to Australian Dan Creedon in 1895.{{Cite web|url=http://www.dover-kent.com/2014-project-c/Prince-of-Wales-Mottingham.html|title=Prince of Wales Pub of Mottingham|website=Dover Kent Archives |date=9 November 2019 }}

In 1946 Woolwich Council built the Coldharbour Estate to the east of Mottingham Road, primarily to provide accommodation for local people made homeless by the Blitz. This completed the use of the LCC land.{{cite web|title=History of South-East London Suburbs: Mottingham|url=http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/bromley/assets/histories/mottingham|publisher=Ideal Homes|access-date=13 January 2016|archive-date=16 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216061113/http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/bromley/assets/histories/mottingham|url-status=dead}}

Mottingham railway station serves the district with Southeastern services to London Charing Cross, London Cannon Street via both Lewisham and Woolwich Arsenal, and Dartford.

• 124 to Eltham and to Catford via Grove Park
• 126 to Eltham and to Bromley via Grove Park
• 161 to North Greenwich via Eltham & Woolwich and to Chislehurst
• 273 to Lewisham Tesco and to Petts Wood
• 624 to Woolwich and to Grove Park (school bus)
• 638 to Kemnal College and to Coney Hall (school bus)

• W. G. Grace, cricketer{{Cite web|url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/w-g-grace/|title=W. G. Grace | Cricketer | Blue Plaques|website=English Heritage}}{{cite web|title= W. G. Grace (1848-1915) cricketer lived here |url=http://openplaques.org/plaques/1430 |publisher=openplaques.org | access-date=13 February 2013}}
• Eric Liddell, athlete and missionary{{cite news |first=Julia |last=Gregory |url=https://www.bexleytimes.co.uk/news/story-of-eltham-college-sporting-star-takes-to-the-stage-1-1355419 |title=Story of Eltham College sporting star takes to the stage |newspaper=Bexley Times |date=20 April 2012 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• Denis Healey, politician{{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/03/lord-healey | title = Lord Healey obituary | author = McKie, David | date = 3 October 2015 | work = The Guardian | access-date = 21 November 2020 }}
• Rob Beckett, stand-up comedian{{Cite news |first=Jim |last=Palmer |url=https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/10657646.mottingham-comedian-rob-beckett-chats-to-vibe-ahead-of-uk-tour/|title=Mottingham comedian Rob Beckett chats to Vibe ahead of UK tour|newspaper=News Shopper |date=5 September 2013 }}
• Sir John Bertram Adams, physicist{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/03/08/obituaries/sir-john-bertram-adams-63-led-european-atomic-center.html|title=Sir John Bertram Adams, 63; Led European Atomic Center|first=Walter H.|last=Waggoner|date=8 March 1984|newspaper=The New York Times }}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gUJVz23HY7cC&pg=PA1 |title=John Bertram Adams, Engineer Extraordinary: A Tribute|first=Michael C.|last=Crowley-Milling|year=1994 |orig-year=1993 |location=Yverdon, Switzerland |isbn=9782881248757 |publisher=Gordon and Breach |pages=1–2 }}
• Jeffrey Lawal-Balogun, athlete{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/14308689|title=Olympic Dreams: Jeffrey Lawal-Balogun running to 2012|date=28 July 2011|publisher=BBC Sport }}
• Charles Folkard, illustrator of the Teddy Tail comic strip{{cite web | title=Chris Beetles Gallery | website=Chris Beetles | date=1963-02-25 | url=https://www.chrisbeetles.com/artists/folkard-charles-james-1878-1963.html | access-date=2020-07-11}}
• James Cornwell, co-illustrator of the Teddy Tail comic strip

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Mottingham}}

{{LB Bromley}}

{{LB Lewisham}}

{{LB Greenwich}}

{{Public housing in the United Kingdom}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Districts of the London Borough of Bromley

Category:Districts of the Royal Borough of Greenwich

Category:Areas of London