Southborough, Bromley


Southborough is an area of South East London, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is located south east of Bromley.

History

A description of Southborough is given in Charles Freeman's History, Antiquities, Improvements, &c. of the Parish of Bromley, Kent, published in 1832.
Southborough is situated from Bromley nearly two miles: it contains about sixteen houses, among which are the pleasant seats of Abraham Welland, Esq., the late Governor Cameron, and others. Some of the premises here, from their appearance, would indicate their erection to have taken place many years ago.

Local tradition had it the hamlet had once been the court of a baron with the right to carry out executions, and that a gatehouse that had once stood on a farm there had been his prison. However John Dunkin, writing in 1815, believed that the fact that the Southborough had been part of a manor belonging to the Bishop of Rochester made the story "fabulous, or at least exaggerated by the mistakes of the ignorant rustics."