CROYDON, a market-town and parish in the first division of the hundred
of WALLINGTON, county of SURREY, 9 miles (S.) from London, containing
9254 inhabitants. This place, called by Camden Cradeden, and in
ancient records Craindene and Croiden, derives its present name from
Croie, chalk, and Dune, a hill, denoting its situation on the summit
of an extensive basin of chalk. By some antiquaries it has been
identified with the Noviomagus of Antonine; and the Roman road from
Arundel to London, which passed through that station, may still be
traced on Broad Green, near the present town. At the time of the
Conquest it was given to Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, whose
successors had for several centuries a residence here, which is said
to have been originally a royal palace. During the war between Henry
III. and the barons, in 1264, the citizens of London, who. had taken
up arms against their sovereign, after having been driven from the
field at Lewes, retreated to this town, where they endeavoured to make
a stand; but part of the royal army, then stationed at Tonbridge,
marching hither, attacked and defeated them with great slaughter. The
archiepiscopal palace, which in 1278 was in its original state, built
chiefly of timber, was enlarged by Archbishop Stafford, and
subsequently improved by his successors in the see, of whom Archbishop
Parker, in 1573, had the honour of entertaining Queen Elizabeth and
her court for several days in this palace; which, having afterwards
fallen into a state of dilapidation, was alienated from the see by act
of parliament, and sold in 1780; the remains are now occupied by the
proprietor of a calico-manufactory, who has converted the gardens into
bleaching-grounds. With the produce of the sale, and other funds
vested in the see of Canterbury, was purchased, in 1807, for about
£25,000, Addington park, three miles and a half from Croydon, with a
noble mansion built by the late Alderman Trecothick, on the site of an
ancient edifice said to have been a hunting-seat belonging to Henry
VIII.; this mansion, which has been considerably enlarged and
improved, is now the residence of the archbishops. Croydon is
pleasantly situated on the borders of Bansted downs, and near the
source of the river Wandie, a small stream abounding with excellent
trout, which, in its course through Beddington, Carshalton, and
Mitcham, is considerably increased, and falls into the Thames at
Wandsworth. The town consists principally of one long street, and is
tolerably well paved, lighted with gas, and watched, under the
direction of commissioners appointed by an act passed in the 10th of
George IV. for its general improvement; the houses are mostly
substantial and well built, and many of them are handsome and of
modern structure; the inhabitants are plentifully supplied with water.
There is a theatre, but it is seldom opened. The barracks, at the
entrance into the town from Mitcham, were erected in 1794, as a
temporary station for cavalry during the preparation of troops for
foreign service; they form a neat range of building, originally
consisting of six wings, three of which were taken down in 1827, and
contain complete accommodation for three troops of cavalry, with an
hospital for thirty-four patients, infirmary, stabling for twelve
horses, a storeroom for one thousand sets of harness, with field
equipments, riding-house, and other requisite offices; they are at
present the depfit of the royal wagon train, established here in 1803;
and, in addition to their previous, accommodation for cavalry, contain
sheds for three hundred carriages, and sadlers', smiths', and
wheelwrights' shops, in which is made a variety of implements and
carriages for the service of the troops in and out of the field.
Within the. distance of a mile east by north of the town is Addiscombe
House, formerly the residence of the first Lord Liverpool, which in
1809 was purchased by the Honourable the East India Company, for the
establishment of their military college, previously formed at Woolwich
common, for the education of cadets for the engineers and artillery,
but since 1825 open to the reception of cadets for the whole military
service of the company, with the exception of the cavalry; there are
generally from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and fifty
students, under the inspection of an officer of high rank in the
company's service, assisted by an officer of distinction in his
Majesty's corps of engineers or artillery, to whom is entrusted the
examination of the cadets previously to their obtaining commissions;
there are fourteen professors and masters employed in the several
departments of instruction; and two public examinations take place
annually, at which the chairman and deputy-chairman of the Court of
Directors preside, assisted by some of the superior officers of the
state. Under the auspices and patronage of the Hon. the Court of
Directors, this establishment has obtained a rank equal to that of any
military institution in the kingdom; and the services performed in
India, by which many of the officers educated at Addiscombc have
distinguished themselves, bear honourable testimony to its claims to
that high reputation which it has already acquired. The buildings
which have been at various times added to the original mansion, for
the completion of the college, and for its adaptation in every respect
to the intended purposes., have cost the proprietors more than
£40,000. The trade is principally in corn; the calico-printing and
bleaching, which were formerly carried on extensively, have materially
declined; there is a large brewery, which has been established more
than a century. An iron rail-road from Wandsworth passes through the
town to Merstham, near Reigate; and a branch communicating with the
Grand Surrey canal, near the Thames, affords a facility of water
carriage. The market is on Saturday; fairs are held on July 6th for
cattle, and October 2nd for horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs; at the
latter, which is also a large pleasure fair, a great quantity of
walnuts is sold. The town is within the jurisdiction of the county
magistrates, of whom those acting for the division hold a petty
session weekly; a head constable, two petty constables, and two
headboroughs, are appointed at the court leet of the Archbishop of
Canterbury, who is lord of the manor. A court of requests, for the
recovery of debts under £ 5, is held every alternate week, under an
act passed in the 47th of George III., the jurisdiction of which
extends over the hundred of Wallington. The summer assizes for the
county are held here and at Guildford alternately. The town-hall was
erected in. 1807, at an expense. of £10,000; defrayed by the proceeds
of the sale of waste lands belonging to the parish; it is a neat stone
.edifice surmounted by a cupola, comprising in the upper part a
convenient court for the trial of civil causes at the assizes, with
roqms for the judges, sheriffs, and grand jury, and for holding the
court of requests; and in the lower part, a court for criminal causes,
and an area which, except when the assizes are held, is appropriated
to the use of the corn market. The prison was erected by subscription
among the inhabitants, on the site of the old town-hall; it is a large
and substantial building, of which the lower part, containing several
rooms, is used as the town gaol, and for the confinement of prisoners
during the assizes, and the upper part let for warehouses; behind it
is a house occupied by one of the beadles, who has the care of the
prisoners; near the town-hall is a convenient edifice for the butter
and poultry market. The living is a discharged vicarage, rated in the
king's books at £21.18. p., and in the peculiar jurisdiction and
patronage of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church, dedicated to
St. John the Baptist, was begun by Archbishop Courteney, and completed
by Archbishop Chicheley; it is a spacious and elegant structure of
freestone and flint, in the later style of English architecture,
having a lofty square embattled tower with crocketed pinnacles; within
are some interesting monuments to the memory of Gundall, Whitgift,
Sheldon, and other archbishops whose remains were interred here; of
these, the monument to Archbishop Sheldon, from the excellence of the
sculpture for the period of its execution, has been erroneously
attributed to a foreign artist; the finely painted windows of the
church were wantonly destroyed during the Commonwealth. Two new
chapels have been erected, partly by grant;and partly by a loan of
£7000, to be repaid by instalments, from the parliamentary
commissioners; one near Croydon common, in the later style of English
architecture, with a small campanile tower, containing one thousand
two hundred sittings, four hundred of them free, for the erection of
which the commissioners granted £3500; and one at Beaulieu Hill,
Norwood, also in the later style of English architecture, with four
turrets^ containing one thousand and five sittings, of which six
hundred and thirty-two are free, and toward the erection of which the
commissioners granted £3000. The livings are perpetual curacies, in
the patronage of the Vicar of Croydon. There are places of worship for
Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, and Wesleyan
Methodists. The free school, for ten boys and ten girls, was founded
and endowed in 1714, by Archbishop Tenison; the income arising at
present from the endowment, part of which is in houses and land, and
part vested in the three per cent, consols., is £130 per annum; the
children are taught by the master and his wife, who have a joint
salary of £50 per annum, and a house which, with two schoolrooms, was
erected in 1792, at an expense of nearly £1000, on a piece of land
adjoining the old school-house, which, having become unfit for the
purpose, was let by the trustees; a National and a British school are
supported by subscription. The Society of Friends have a large
establishment, removed to this place, in 1825, from Islington, where
it had existed for more than a century, supported by subscription, for
the'maintenance and education of one hundred and fifty boys and girls.
A free school originally founded and endowed by Archbishop Whitgift,
in conjunction with the hospital of the Holy Trinity, is now the
parish charity school. The hospital of the Holy Trinity was founded
and endowed by that primate, in 1596, for a warden, schoolmaster,
chaplain, and any number above thirty and not exceeding forty, of poor
brothers and sisters, not less than sixty years of age, of the
parishes of Croydon and Lambeth, who were to be a body corporate and
have a common sealj it is under the inspection of the Archbishop of
Canterbury, as visitor; the income arising from the endowment, in land
and houses, originally not more than £200 per annum, has increased to
£2000 per annum; there are thirty-four brothers and sisters now in the
hospital. The building, occupying three sides of a quadrangle, in
which is a small chapel, is a handsome specimen of the style of
domestic architecture prevailing at the time of its foundation; the
schoolroom is at present occupied by the children of the National
school. Davy's almshouses, for the reception and maintenance of seven
aged men and women, were founded in 1447, by Elys Davy, citizen and
mercer of London, who endowed them with lands and tenements in the
parish, now producing about £130 per annum; the premises were rebuilt
about sixty years since. The Little almshouses, containing originally
nine rooms, were erected principally with money given by the Earl of
Bristol, in consideration of lands enclosed on Norwood common; they
have been enlarged by the addition of fifteen apartments, erected at
the expense of the parish, for the residence of the poor. A school of
industry for female children is supported by subscription; the chapel
belonging to the archiepiscopal palace has been appropriated to its
use. In 1656, Archbishop Laud gave £300, which sum having been
invested in the purchase of a farm and in the funds, produces £62 per
annum, which, according to the intention of the donor, is applied to
the apprenticing of poor children. Henry Smith, Esq., of London, in
1627, left lands and houses producing £213 per annum, of which about
£150 is distributed among the inmates of the Little almshouses; there
are various other charitable bequests for the relief of the poor. On a
hill towards Addington is a cluster of twenty-five tumuli, one of
which is forty feet in diameter; they appear to have been opened, and,
according to Salmon, to have contained urns; and on Thunderfield
common is a circular encampment, including an area of two acres,
surrounded by a double moat. In 1719, a gold coin of the Emperor
Domitian was found at Whitehorse farm, in this parish, where also,
within the last four or five years, a gold coin of Laelius Csesar, in
good preservation, and several others, were discovered; and in digging
for a foundation in the town, in 1791, two gold coins of Valentinian,
and a brass coin of Trajan^ were found.