Anerley is a district in the south east of London within the London Borough of Bromley. It's west of Bromley and is 7 miles south south-east of Charing Cross. It is the previous site of the Crystal Palace.
Anerley has not been its own independent entity, but always a general district. Ahead of the closure and relocation of the Crystal Palace to Penge Place at the top of Sydenham Hill, Anerley was an empty part of Penge Common that didn't develop till the 1800s. In 1827, a Scottish silk manufacturer, William Sanderson, purchased land on the former Penge Common, and built the first house in the area. He named it 'Anerly', which is a Scottish word for 'solitary' or 'only', and the road then became referred to as Anerley Road along with the surrounding area.
There are lots of transport links in Anerley, which includes 9 bus routes, two A roads, two rail stations and one London Overground station and aTram station at Birkbeck station. Transport for London had proposed the extension of Tramlink services from Harrington Road tram stop to the bus station on Crystal Palace Parade through Anerley Road, but Mayor Boris Johnson cancelled the £170m extension in November 2008.
Notable people that lived in Anerley consist of Thomas Crapper, who promoted the flush toilet, in his retirement; Walter de la Mare, popular poet and author of ghost stories; and James Leavey, award-winning Punch magazine columnist.