Petts Wood

The name appeared first in 1577 as "the wood of the Pett family", who were shipbuilders and leased the wood as a source of timber. (A pub, The Sovereign of the Seas, is named after a ship built at Woolwich to a design by Phineas Pett.)Lavery, Ships of the Line vol. 1, p. 163.

The area remained rural right up until the late 19th century; in 1872 just one house ('Ladywood') stood here.{{cite book |last1=Willey |first1=Russ |title=The London Gazetteer |date=2006 |publisher=Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd |page=383}} Most of the modern suburb of Petts Wood was built in the late 1920s by the Harlow-based developer Basil Scruby together with architect Leonard Culliford who designed the layout of the roads. A number of individual builders developed individual plots, amongst others the master builder, Noel Rees, as well as Walter Reed and George Hoad. Scruby also paid the Southern Railway Company £6,000 to build Petts Wood railway station to serve the new suburb. Shops and a cinema were also built adjacent to the railway.

File:Daylight Inn - geograph.org.uk - 1098681.jpg in 2011. The pub is listed at grade II.{{National Heritage List for England |num=1427230 |desc=The Daylight Inn, Petts Wood |access-date=30 August 2015}}]]

The generally higher quality of large homes built to the east of the railway line, as compared to smaller and more densely packed development to the west, was due to the fact that Scruby's increasing financial difficulties meant he had little control over its developers, Morrell's and New Ideal Homesteads.

The area between Petts Wood and Bickley sustained heavy bombing during the Second World War because of its proximity to an important railway junction. Three bombs landed on the town centre itself.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

The Jubilee Country Park is to the northwest of the main shopping area. Before this park was created in 1977 the area was known as 'The Gun Sites', as it had been the location for anti-aircraft guns in the Second World War, and was the home of the 1st Petts Wood scout group.

According to Keith Waterhouse in his book Streets Ahead, Petts Wood was popular with Fleet Street newspaper staff in the 1950s: "… this Kent suburb, recommended in Fleet Street for the all-night train service it afforded sub-editors and reporters coming off late duty, thus giving them a round-the-clock, heaven-sent excuse for one more for the road."{{cite book | last=Waterhouse | first=Keith | title=Streets ahead : life after City lights | publisher=Hodder & Stoughton | publication-place=London | year=1995 | isbn=0-340-63267-4 | oclc=35911768 | page=69}}

In 2009, the local Woolworths store gained media attention when its manager, realising his was the last of the chain to close, gathered the remains of the pick and mix section and auctioned the bag of sweets for £14,500.{{cite news |title=Rich pickings: last bag of Woolworths pic 'n' mix fetches £14,500 on eBay |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/feb/21/woolworths-retail |access-date=28 June 2018 |work=The Guardian|agency=Press Association |date=21 February 2009}}

File:Woodland in Petts Wood (II).jpg

File:Hawkwood Estate June 2023 3.jpg

The eponymous wood itself survives and is managed by the National Trust. Originally just 88 acres (36 hectares) were bought by public subscription and donated to the Trust in 1927, after it became clear that the area would be developed for housing. This asset expanded when the neighbouring Hawkwood Estate and Edlmann Wood, comprising a further 250 acres (100 hectares), were donated to the Trust by landowners Robert and Francesca Hall in 1957.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} The woodland features oak, birch, rowan, alder, ash, hornbeam and sweet chestnut.

Petts Wood station provides the area with National Rail services to London Victoria via Bromley South and Herne Hill, Kentish Town via Bromley South and Catford, London Charing Cross via Grove Park, London Cannon Street via Grove Park and Lewisham, Orpington and Sevenoaks.

Petts Wood is served by London Buses routes 208, 273, N199, R3 and R7. These connect it with areas including Bromley, Catford, Chislehurst, Grove Park, Lewisham and Orpington.

File:Detail on the William Willett Memorial in Petts Wood.jpg in the woodland at Petts Wood]]

• Cerrie Burnell (b. 1979) – actress, singer, playwright, and television presenter, grew up in Petts Wood.{{cite web |title=Children's TV presenter Cerrie Burnell: Some attitudes to disability are based on fear|url=https://metro.co.uk/2013/06/11/cbeebies-presenter-cerrie-burnell-some-attitudes-to-disability-are-based-on-fear-3835565/ |publisher=The Metro| date=11 June 2013|access-date=22 August 2020}}
• Jack Dee (b. 1961) – comedian and winner of Celebrity Big Brother 1, grew up in Petts Wood.
• Charles De Gaulle (1890–1970) – French general, statesman and future President of France who led the Free French Forces during Second World War.{{cite web|url=http://www.pettswood.org.uk/about_history.cfm|title=Petts Wood & District Residents' Association – About Petts Wood|website=www.pettswood.org.uk|access-date=13 April 2018}} He rented a home at 41 Birchwood Road for four months before moving his family further inland to Shropshire later in 1940.{{cite news|title=De Gaulle Dead (main story) The year of exile in Salop [i.e.Shropshire] (sub-story).|work=Shropshire Star|date=10 November 1970|page=1}}
• Sir Geraint Evans (1922–1992) – Welsh baritone or bass-baritone noted for his operatic roles. Lived at 34 Birchwood Road where he is commemorated with a blue plaque.{{cite web |title=Sir Geraint Evans, Blue Plaque |url=https://visitbromley.co.uk/listing/sir-geraint-evans-blue-plaque.html |website=Visit Bromley |access-date=22 August 2020}}
• David Fletcher (b. 1942) – MBE, Military historian and author, born in Petts Wood.{{cite web |author1=David Willey |title=David Fletcher: The Man Behind the Moustache |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtzD6283GaQ |website=Youtube.com |publisher=The Tank Museum, Bovington |access-date=20 November 2021 |language=English |date=Jan 22, 2021}}{{better source needed|date=June 2024}}
• Pat Keysell (1926–2009) – TV presenter and sign language interpreter, grew up in Petts Wood.{{cite news | author = Anthony Hayward | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/pat-keysell-innovative-signer-who-made-her-name-presenting-vision-on-1851486.html | title = Obituary | newspaper = The Independent | date = 29 December 2009}}
• Pixie Lott (b. 1991) – singer and songwriter.{{cite web|url=http://www.papershd.com/pixie-lott-singer-hd-wallpapers.html|title=Pixie Lott Singer HD Wallpapers|work=papershd.com|access-date=2 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415055038/http://www.papershd.com/pixie-lott-singer-hd-wallpapers.html|archive-date=15 April 2015|url-status=dead}}
• Ian Mortimer (b. 1967) – medieval historian, grew up in Petts Wood.{{cite web |title= About Ian Mortimer|url=http://www.ianmortimer.com/about.htm |publisher=Ian Mortimer |access-date=22 August 2020}}
• David Nobbs (1935–2015) – comedy writer and the creator of the sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, grew up in Petts Wood.{{cite news|first=Charles|last=Nevin|title=When you're smiling|url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,11710,1644941,00.html|work=The Guardian|date=19 November 2005|access-date=12 August 2007}}
• Major Phil Packer (b. 1972) – British soldier who was rendered paraplegic in 2008 by injuries sustained while serving in Iraq, grew up in Petts Wood. He has since raised over a million pounds through charitable fundraising efforts which have garnered him several national awards.{{cite web|url=http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/2421421.m5ec/?from=ec&to=2421421&l=majors_million_pound_promise|title=Major's million pound promise|website=News Shopper|date=8 August 2008 |access-date=13 April 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://www.justgiving.com/philsmillion/874/eurl.axd/acbf347bdc21ef488e465b8c1b87be64|title=Page 'philsmillion' has been cancelled|first=Just|last=Giving|website=www.justgiving.com|access-date=13 April 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://www.philpacker.com/|title=Welcome to the official Phil Packer website|website=www.philpacker.com|access-date=13 April 2018}}{{Cite Twitter profile|PhilPacker}}
• Arthur Seldon (1916–2005) – economist.{{cite web |title=Arthur Seldon - eulogy|url=http://www.arthurseldon.org/content/eulogy.asp |publisher=Arthur Seldon|date=19 October 2005|access-date=22 August 2020}}
• Ivor Spencer (1924–2009) – toastmaster and promoter of the butler arts.{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/4339879/Ivor-Spencer.html|title = Ivor Spencer| date=25 January 2009 }}
• Sir Thomas Spencer (1882-1976), managing director of Standard Telephones and Cables, and his wife Lady Spencer (née the composer Ethel Edith Bilsland), lived in Tudor House. She continued to live there after his death and died in 1982.Obituary, Sir Thomas Spencer, The Times, 3 March 1976, p. 16
• William Willett (1856–1915) – promoter of Daylight Saving Time, an idea he is thought to have come up with whilst riding in Petts Wood. He is commemorated by a memorial sundial in the wood, and the pub The Daylight Inn is named in his honour.

Birchwood Road, Kingsway, and other surrounding roads, were used as a location for the 1978 feature film, Give Us Tomorrow, with Sylvia Syms.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

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Category:Forests and woodlands of London

Category:Areas of London

Category:Districts of the London Borough of Bromley

Category:District centres of London