Selsdon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Location
Selsdon


OS grid reference:	TQ355625
Latitude:	51.345346°
Longitude:	-0.0535°
Administration
London borough:	Croydon
County level:	Greater London
Region:	London
Constituent country:	England
Sovereign state:	United Kingdom
Other
Ceremonial county:	Greater London
Historic county:	Surrey
Services
Police force:	Metropolitan Police
Fire brigade:	London Fire Brigade
Ambulance service:	London Ambulance
Post office and telephone
Post town:	SOUTH CROYDON
Postal district:	CR2
Dialling code:	020
Politics
UK Parliament:	Croydon South
London Assembly:	Croydon and Sutton
European Parliament:	London
London \| List of places in London

Selsdon is a place in the London Borough of Croydon. The suburb was developed during the inter-war period during the 1920s and 1930s, and is remarkable for its many Art Deco houses. It is also well-known for Selsdon Park Hotel, the venue of the 1970 Conservative Selsdon Group, which occasioned the phrase Selsdon Man.

Small area of art deco houses in Selsdon

1 History
2 Nearest places
3 Nearest railway stations
4 See also

[edit] History

One side of the residential area of Selsdon is bordered by Selsdon Wood, and the whole area used to be part of Selsdon Park Estate, once well known as hunting and shooting grounds in the area. In the early 1920s the Estate was broken up and divided into smallholdings. After concerns were raised about the rapid development of the village a committee was formed to ensure that an area of 200 acres would be set aside and saved for a nature reserve and bird sanctuary which was opened to the public in 1936 and given to the National Trust after Coulsdon and Purley District Council and the Corporation of Croydon agreed to manage it jointly.

Selsdon Wood now consists of five large meadows surrounded by extensive woodland and ancient hedges and it still retains the character of a historical woodland.