Croydon, United Kingdom

The church had been established in the middle Saxon period, and was probably a minster church, a base for a group of clergy living a communal life. A charter issued by King Coenwulf of Mercia refers to a council that had taken place close to the monasterium (meaning minster) of Croydon. An Anglo-Saxon will made in about 960 is witnessed by Elfsies, priest of Croydon; and the church is also mentioned in Domesday Book. The will of John de Croydon, fishmonger, dated 6 December 1347, includes a bequest to "the church of S John de Croydon", the earliest clear record of its dedication. The church still bears the arms of Archbishop Courtenay and Archbishop Chichele, believed to have been its benefactors.

In 1264, the only battle reputed to have been fought in Croydon is said to have occurred. Following the defeat of Henry III at the Battle of Lewes, a London contingent was reportedly intercepted at Norbury by Royalist troops from Tonbridge and killed. One account suggests that the king’s forces lay in ambush in Norwood Forest and that the clash took place near Hermitage Bridge, close to an enclosure long known as Battle Close. However, this interpretation is based on later tradition rather than contemporary documentary evidence.

In 1276 Archbishop Robert Kilwardby acquired a charter for a weekly market, and this probably marks the foundation of Croydon as an urban centre. Croydon developed into one of the main market towns of north-east Surrey. The market place was laid out on the higher ground to the east of the manor house in the triangle now bounded by High Street, Surrey Street and Crown Hill. By the 16th century the manor house had become a substantial palace, used as the main summer home of the archbishops and visited by monarchs and other dignitaries. However, the palace gradually became dilapidated and surrounded by slums and stagnant ponds, and in 1781 the archbishops sold it, and in its place purchased a new residence at nearby Addington. Nevertheless, many of the buildings of the original Croydon Palace survive, having been occupied from 1889 to 2025 by Old Palace School.

Croydon had numerous inns from at least the 15th century. The oldest of these was the Greyhound, which occupied a site on the High Street from at least 1493 until it was demolished in 1962 to make way for St George’s Walk, although the building itself had been rebuilt over time. The inn had previously stood in Old Town before relocating to the present town centre alongside the wider trading community. Among its notable guests was General Sir Thomas Fairfax, the Parliamentarian commander during the English Civil War, who used the inn as his headquarters while his troops were billeted in the town between 1645 and 1647. In 1926, the Greyhound also became home to the Greyhound Theatre, described at the time as the smallest theatre in Croydon. Using the hotel’s ballroom and stage, it ran a repertory season (mainly comedies) from April to October, presenting weekly productions, many of which had previously been successful in the West End. Ticket prices ranged from 1s 2d to 3s 6d. In July 1928 the Croydon Repertory Association was formed to support the theatre, and its membership grew from a small initial group to more than 3,000 by the start of the 1930 season. The company remained at the Greyhound until 1932, when it relocated to 23 Wellesley Road, at the junction with Poplar Walk, where it reopened as the Croydon Repertory Theatre.

The parish church (now Croydon Minster) is a Perpendicular-style church, remodelled in the 1850s but destroyed in a great fire in 1867, after which only the tower, south porch, and outer walls remained. A new church was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, one of the greatest architects of the Victorian age, and opened in 1870. His design loosely followed the previous layout, with knapped flint facing and retaining many of the original features, including several tombs. The church is the burial place of six Archbishops of Canterbury: John Whitgift, Edmund Grindal, Gilbert Sheldon, William Wake, John Potter and Thomas Herring. Historically part of the Diocese of Canterbury, Croydon is now in the Diocese of Southwark. In addition to the suffragan Bishop of Croydon, the Vicar of Croydon is a preferment.

Addington Palace is a Palladian-style mansion between Addington Village and Shirley, in the London Borough of Croydon. Six archbishops lived there between 1807 and 1898, when it was sold. Between 1953 and 1996 it was the home of the Royal School of Church Music. It is now a conference and banqueting venue.