5 reasons why Croydon isn’t crap: part one, architecture

O.k., so I know Croydon hasn’t exactly got a great reputation. It’s a bit of a joke place, like Neasden or Catford or…Cricklewood. Think Croydon and what comes to mind is post-war brutalism, Allders, the failed department store and the Home Office. When you enter Croydon on the train, after taking in the scenic views from Blackfriars station, speeding past beautiful Brockwell Park, the scene gradually becomes gloomier; you are greeted by the drab frontage of Selhurst Rail Depot, followed by the foreboding sign ‘Welcome to East Croydon: Home of Nestlé’.

Over the past few months though, I’ve grown to love Croydon, and here are a few reasons why. Reasons 1 and 2 (architecture) appear today, and the next installments, reasons 3 and 4 (cuisine) and reason 5 (culture) will follow shortly. Keep your eyes out.

1. Whitgift Alms Houses: Described by Queen Elizabeth II as ‘a haven of tranquility’, these relics of her antecedent (the better Elizabeth) are not tucked away in a back street, but are actually slap bang in Croydon’s main shopping centre, on George Street, next to Allders and opposite Primark. For several hundred years the Archbishops of Canterbury had a summer residence in Croydon, and John Whitgift (c.1530-1604) set up a school and Hospital in Croydon. The alms houses are what was originally Whitgift’s Hospital of the Holy Trinity. The alms houses faced demolition in 1923, but were saved by the intervention of the House of Lords. Whitgift’s other legacy to the town is the precinct shopping centre he founded…

No 1 Croydon: This is my favourite work of Croydon post-war architecture. It really is beautiful. It stands out like a Beacon, rivaling the Crystal Palace TV mast as South London Suburbia’s vast mascot. Formerly known as the NLA building, this 24-storey, 82m high tower was nicknamed the 50p building by local residents long before the ‘Gherkin’ or the ‘Helter Skelter’ showed up on our radars, because, well, it looks like some 50ps stacked up. No 1. was completed in 1970 by R. Seifert and Partners.

In the next installment, culinary Croydon: Cockney’s of Croydon and the Surrey Street Market