Anerley is a district inside 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's the former site of the Crystal Palace.
Anerley has not been its own independent entity, but just a general area. Just 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, purchased land on the former Penge Common, and built the first home 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 plus the vicinity.
There are plenty of transport links in Anerley, including 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 by means of Anerley Road, but Mayor Boris Johnson cancelled the £170m extension in November 2008.
Notable persons that lived in Anerley consist of 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.