St. Paul's Churchyard, London - 020 7332 3456 Piccadilly Circus Underground - 0343 222 1234 visit@cityoflondon.gov.uk

Until the arrival of the railway in 1862, Thornton Heath was focused on an area 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south west of the Whitehorse manor house (now a school), at the locality on the main Sussex road A23 known as Thornton Heath Pond. Between the manor house and pond there was an isolated farmhouse. Eventually it would become the site for the railway station and the main expansion hub.

In the 50-year period 1861-1911, Thornton Heath saw a complete transformation from isolated rural outpost to integrated metropolitan suburb. In its infancy, a new railway station sited in the eastern farmlands enabled that immediate area to evolve around a central point. In the late 19th century, the western part of Thornton Heath, which lay directly on the main London-Sussex road, demonstrated a classic form of suburban ribbon development. In the process, it became the final piece in an urban chain linking two major centres, London and Croydon, completing the greatest metropolitan expansion in the world at that time.

Architecturally, Thornton Heath is predominantly Victorian in both its residential and commercial sectors. There are a number of imposing, even grand, buildings surviving from this period.

Two examples are St Paul's Church and St Alban's Church. St Alban's is an Anglican church and is listed Grade II. Built in 1889, it was the first church designed by the late Victorian architect Sir Ninian Comper. It is situated on a busy junction (of Grange Road and the High Street), as can be seen in the photograph. It is described as being of a red-brick perpendicular style with stone dressing.

At the junction of the High Street and Parchmore Road, on a site previously called Walker's Green, stands the Clocktower, which was built in 1900, financed partly by public subscription.

However, the Victorian baths did not survive, and were replaced by a modern sports and leisure centre in 2004.