Bromley Borough Local History Society

WIdmore Cottage

The Old Cottage - Widmore

Anyone travelling from Bickley to Bromley along Bickley Road, near its junction with Widmore Road and Chislehurst Road, has probably noticed the stone gateway with the date 1599 on it. Although much has changed since its original construction, particularly during the 19th century and as a result of war damage, it remains a building of great interest and antiquity.

In 2012 a Bristol book seller, Gerald Baker, purchased a collection of books and artefacts from a deceased's estate and, amongst much else he found the drawings below showing very detailed views and plans of the property, probably around 1960. The material was not examined for some years but when Mr. Baker realised the location of the subject matter, he kindly donated the drawings to the Society. They are now in the Local Archives.

It appears the artist was an architect by the name of David Harvey Kitton. David was born in Bromley on 4th March 1939 and seems to have lived at 61 Ravensbourne Avenue (renumbered in 1961 to 161) nearly all his life. Probably on his retirement in 2002, he moved to Endless Street in Salisbury where he died on 15th September 2012, aged 73. His parents were Walter G. Kitton (1902 - 1959) originally from Ilford, the son of a stevedore, and Helena Mason (1902 - 1971) originally from Colchester, the daughter of a draughtsman.

One of David's interests was the Westerham Valley Railway Society of which he became Vice Chairman. This was set up after the closure of the line from Dunton Green to Westerham in 1961 with the hope of creating a private railway. To this end, David was responsible for the purchase of three Metropolitan Railway carriages which had been in use up to 1961 when the Amersham line was electrified. When the Westerham Valley project failed - with the M25 built over a good portion of the old track bed - he moved the coaches to the Worth Valley Railway in 1965 where they remain to this day.

Click on any picture to see more detail. You can then use the small arrows on either side to move through the collection