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SECTION A
ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND CONTROL
The Borough lies on the outskirts of London and occupies part of
the extreme North-west corner of Kent. It has an area of 5,935 acres of
which 2,000 acres are open spaces consisting of Parks, Recreation Grounds,
Playing Fields and privately owned Sports Grounds. It contains 270 acres
of public open spaces of various kinds, and over 300 acres of other open
land without full public access.
From North to South of the Borough is a chain of open spaces while
farmland and woods to the South form a green belt. The Town extends from
the Crystal. Palace Grounds to the fringe of the Kentish farmlands and its
neighbours are Lewisham (Sydenham and Catford) to the North, Bromley and
Hayes to the East - Penge and Croydon to the West and Orpington to the
South.
The contours fall in height from South to North, so that the district
of West Wickham on the south side of the "borough averages 21.0 feet above
sea level, whereas Beclcenham itself averages 150 feet above sea level.
Running from South to North are four streams - the Ravensbourne,
the Beck, the Chaffinch Brook, and Pool River. These are culverted
through the greater part of their course which is through beds of "valley
gravel",, Half of the area geologically consists of "Blackheath Pebble Beds",
and the remaining half of "London Clay". These valleys create a series of
undulations. The Ravensbourno in the East forms part of the boundary
between Bromley and Becker-ham, but otherwise lies outside the borough. The
Pool River is a stream formed by the junction of the Boundary Brook with
the Beck. It leaves the borough in the Worsley Bridge Area. The Chaffinch
Brook is formed from the South Norwood and St. Jamas tributories in the
South of the Borough and joins the Beck in Cator Park*
The climate is comparatively mild, and the annual rainfall is low.
The total for 1964 was 21.07 inches,.
The population has grovm from 26,330 in 1901 to 74,334 in the 1551
Census (Estimated population In June, 1.964- was 78,230). Areas of West
Wickham and Hayes were added to the former Urban District in 1934 and in
1955 the Registrar General estimated the population of the West Wickham
area as 20,600.
Beclcenham is now a coherent and well-ordered borough with a wide
variety of houses most of which are owner occupied and have been built
between the wars. Many of the larger older houses have been converted or
replaced by self-contained flats or maisonettes.
The Borough has a total of approximately 700 shops which are
largely sited along the four main roads in the Borough in two main shopping
centres.
The water supply of the Borough is a mixture of well water from
West Wickham9 Orpington, Shortlands, and Merton Abbey mixed with River
Thames derived filtered water. The wells are in chalk strata and the
Shortlands well is 250 feet deep.
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