Did you know that Hazelwood in Bromley wasn’t always a quiet hamlet? Picture this a bustling farm at the end of a muddy track. That’s Hazelwood Farm. Around a hundred years before the New River Canal arrived roughly where New River Crescent and Hazelwood Lane meet today sat the farm. Walkers could cross a small bridge over the canal into the countryside. They might have even visited Huxley Farm further along.
Hazelwood was more than just a farm. It was a 60-acre estate. Developed in the early 1900s it expanded between Hazelwood Lane and Hedge Lane. However the area east of Hamilton and New River Crescents remained rural until the 1920s. This area retained its charming countryside feel.
One intriguing building survived much longer than the farm itself. Hazelwood House. It appears on maps dating back to 1867. In 1936 it was home to Claude Wells Woolaton a physician and surgeon. This is just one example of Hazelwood’s interesting past. Another Hazelwood House near Green Lanes and Hedge Lane briefly housed the future congregation of St Monica’s Church in 1911.
Hazelwood’s history is full of unexpected details. These stories show a rich tapestry of life in this Greater London hamlet. The farm the houses the residents. All tell a unique story of Hazelwood’s evolution from a rural area to a part of Greater London. So next time you walk through Hazelwood remember the stories it holds. The stories of the farm the houses and the people who lived there. Their lives shaped Hazelwood into the place it is today.