Anerley is a district within the south east of London in the London Borough of Bromley. It is west of Bromley and is 7 miles south south-east of Charing Cross. It is 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 19th century. In 1827, a Scottish silk manufacturer, William Sanderson, purchased land on the former Penge Common, and built the very first house in the district. He named it 'Anerly', which is a Scottish word for 'solitary' or 'only', and the road then became referred to as Anerley Road and also the surrounding area.
There are a lot 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 via 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, renowned poet and author of ghost stories; and James Leavey, award winning Punch magazine columnist.