insideKENT Magazine Issue 85 - April 2019 | Page 37

TOWNSPOTLIGHT
SPOTLIGHT ON
PETTS WOOD
PETTS WOOD LIES ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF SOUTH EAST LONDON AND IS A PERFECTLY
PICTURESQUE EXAMPLE OF KENTISH LIFE,
WITH SHOPS, RESTAURANTS, ITS OWN RAILWAY STATION, AND A HISTORY DATING
BACK TO 1577. WALKING AROUND PETTS WOOD IS ALMOST LIKE GOING BACK IN TIME
TO THE 1930S, AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHY THE PLACE IS SO WELL LOVED AND REGARDED
IN THE SURROUNDING AREA. SUBURBAN AND COMFORTING, PETTS WOOD IS THE PLACE
WHERE THE PAST COMES ALIVE AND THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT.
PETTS WOOD © Sam Pettman National Trust
History in Brief
The wonderfully named Phineas Pett was an Elizabethan ship builder,
and he was so successful that he owned rather a lot of land – Petts
Wood was all his, and was first recorded as existing in 1577.
Over time, slowly but surely, Petts Wood turned from a privately
owned piece of land into a small village, but it wasn’t until the 1930s
that house building really took off, and many of the houses you
can see in the area today date back to that time. The reason for
this sudden upturn in building was simple: people wanted to live
in the country and commute into London, and since Petts
Wood had its own station and was close to London anyway, it seemed
the ideal spot.
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