Around nine miles south of Charing Cross, and just east of Croydon Town Centre, stands the small yet friendly neighbourhood of Addiscombe.
Whilst you can be forgiven for not having heard much about the place, it is actually steeped in history and has a growing reputation as a fantastic place to live and bring up a young family.
To help fill the knowledge gaps, we’ve pulled together a list of things you didn’t know about Addiscombe. Here goes…
There are green spaces, everywhere
Addiscombe is a parish within the London Borough of Croydon. It’s a little known fact, but Croydon is thought to be made up of one-third green space. One such example is the Addiscombe Railway Park. Located on a former railway track, this is over three acres of natural vegetation, grassland, footpaths and cycle tracks.
Then there is the Addiscombe Recreation Ground. Commonly known as Bingham Park, this is another fantastic bit of green space for local people and features a children’s playground, football pitches, tennis courts, a basketball court and some lovely scenery.
The life scores are in
Each year the Office for National Statistics (ONS) carries out a wellbeing survey within local districts. The latest one for the Croydon and Addiscombe area found that life satisfaction here is very good. Happiness is also good and the scores showed that most local residents feel like they have a worthwhile life.
Health statistics for the area are also positive, with the majority of residents having good or very good health. So, all in all, the numbers are looking good! Addiscombe appears to be a satisfying, healthy and worthwhile place to live.
Birthplace of the stars
Ok, maybe we’re being a bit dramatic here, but there really are several notable people who have come from the Addiscombe parish, including the famous model and businesswoman, Kate Moss. Yes, we’re serious. It’s practically Hollywood!
And that’s not all. Go back a few years and we have Frederick George Creed, an inventor of the teleprinter. Then there’s Paul Nihill, who won an Olympic silver medal in the 1964 Tokyo games, for the 50km walk. His achievements are commemorated by the local Nihill Place, which is named after him.
Then last, but certainly not least, is David Prowse. Or, as he was more famously known, Darth Vader in the Star Wars film series. That’s right. Darth Vader came from Addiscombe!
