45 Squared 39) KELSEY SQUARE, BR3
Borough of Bromley, 30m×10m
There are a lot of Kelseys in Beckenham. There's Kelsey House, the cocktail hotspot underneath the Travelodge. There's Kelsey Dental, the private clinic which sponsors Thornton's Corner. There's Kelsey Park, the lovely landscaped park that follows the River Beck. And halfway down the High Street there's tiny Kelsey Square, leading to Kelsey Lane which once led to the manor of Kelsey. In medieval times the manorial estate stretched from Penge to Shortlands, the first big house being built later although localhistorians can't agree when. The last owners were a banking family, the Hoares, whose baronial-style mansion was accessed down a long drive. They then sold up to a nunnery, the estate got turned over to parkland and housing, and Kelsey Square survives as a kind of heritage entrance funnel.
There are only sevenhouses, originally workers cottages for staff on the estate. They're not big but they are attractive with polychromatic Victorian brickwork, timber porches and teensy steps up to the front door. At least one resident owns a dog and it looks like no more then four of them can own a car. At the end of the square is Kelsey Lodge, a separate and much larger affair built in 1864 to oversee the start of the long drive. That's now a one-way lane bypassed by a later suburban avenue, all brightened by conservation-area-standard standard lamps. A brass plaque embedded in the pavement explains it all, should you ever fancy following the 24-stop Beckenham TownHeritage Trail.
Sorry, I was trying to get a decent photograph from the one good vantage point but I was multiply thwarted by the environment. I'd unintentionally turned up on a day when the low autumn sun aligned perfectly with the gap between the houses so ended up with full-on dazzle. Then, when the few clouds in the sky did blow over, the residents of Beckenham repeatedly conspired to stand in the way. A delivery rider hogged the foreground for at least ten minutes, then a family of seven blocked the pavement outside the cafe, then a long-haired man stopped to check his phone and failed to move until the precise moment the sun came out again. I decided Mr Moped was the least worst option.
Everyone in Beckenham knows the top of Kelsey Square as the clocktower above the barbers. It used to be the town's fire station, hence the gap alongside for an engine. The clock is by Croydon-based Gillett & Johnston, who also made the monster atop Shell Mex House, and their weight for this particular municipal creation runs all the way down into the barber's basement. That'll be Hak's Barbers, a longstanding Cypriot business that's been here since 1997 (which means they weren't here when David Bowie played at the Three Tuns nextdoor). Don't miss the old water pump on the corner, recently restored, whose water used to gush from a spout in the lion's mouth. Small but perfectly formed, just like Kelsey Square itself.
