Pratt's Bottom
Pratt's Bottom is a village in the London Borough of Bromley,[1] located at the south eastern boundary of Greater London with Kent.
It is a small village, consisting of a main road (Rushmore Hill) on which is situated a school, a post office and the Bulls Head pub, two small churches and a few side roads. There is a village hall behind the green.
History
The name is first recorded as Spratts Bottom in 1773 and by 1791 it had changed to the present form. The meaning is likely to be valley of a family called Pratt.[1] It formed part of the ancient, and later civil, parish of Chelsfield in Kent[2] and was part of the Bromley Rural District from 1894.[2] The parish was abolished in 1934 and the village became part of Orpington Urban District.[3] In 1965 it was transferred to Greater London, to form part of the London Borough of Bromley.[3]
A tollgate stood in the village for many years. The turnpike cottage was demolished in the 1920s but is still seen as emblematic of the village, so much so that it is the basis of the recent village sign placed on the green.
Local Life
The Bull's Head off Rushmore Hill is an extremely busy pub, and can be considered the heart and soul of the village. Many of the regular punters are a great gang. It has become tradition for these regulars to have a prefix attached to their names. For example, Matt is infact Mega Matt and Steve is Skanky Steve. However, aliteration does not always have to be used. The key importance is that that part of the drinkers character is reflected. For, two of the best are dubbed Hippy Alan and Caravan Dave. If you are ever passing through Pratt's Arse be sure to pop into the Bull's Head. You will be warmly received, as long as you have a suitable prefix for you name thought up! For instance, if you believe all of this, how about Gullable _____!
Nearest places
References
- ^ a b Mills, A., Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names, (2001)
- ^ a b Vision of Britain - Chelsfield parish (historic boundaries)
- ^ a b Vision of Britain - Orpington parish