Anerley is a district within the south east of London inside the London Borough of Bromley. It's west of Bromley and is 7 miles south south-east of Charing Cross. It's the former site of the Crystal Palace.
Anerley has not been its own independent entity, but always a general district. Before 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 until the nineteenth century. In 1827, a Scottish silk manufacturer, William Sanderson, bought land on the former Penge Common, and constructed the first residence in the area. He named it 'Anerly', which is a Scottish word for 'solitary' or 'only', and also the road then became referred to as Anerley Road in addition to the surrounding area.
There are plenty 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 via Anerley Road, but Mayor Boris Johnson cancelled the £170m extension in November 2008.
Notable persons that lived in Anerley include Thomas Crapper, who promoted the flush toilet, in his retirement; Walter de la Mare, famous poet and author of ghost stories; and James Leavey, award-winning Punch magazine columnist.