Welcome to the historic Glassmill Pond. This location is one of the stops in our heritage and biodiversity trail around the green spaces in Bromley Town Centre.
Glassmill Pond
There were a number of mills recorded in the Doomsday Book along the River Ravensbourne in Bromley, but the only one that survived until the modern era is this one.
It is often called ‘Glass Mill Pond’ as there was a glass mill on the higher bank. In Georgian times it ground pre-made glass, some of which was shipped over from China, into the convex lenses that were fashionable in large houses. They scattered the light, and frequently had little paintings on the rear and fancy lattice frames.
Fun Fact“On April 19th 1869 Harry Budgen, a laundry-porter of WW Baxters, caught under the bridge a salmon-trout 23 inches long and 11 inches round.” Salmon-trout is now called a sea-trout, it is a silvery colour, but the same species as a normal trout. It would’ve been about 3.5 lbs in weight, not that large, but a respectable catch for a river the size the Ravensbourne was then (much bigger than now). A hand-written addendum to EL Horsborough. |
The mill also ground glass for scientific instruments.
Currently, Thames 21 are carrying out restoration work on the river, which will include recreating the pond, separated from the river by a bank, over which the river can wash when the water levels are high. As this section has not been dredged for 30 years, there has been a lot of silt to remove.
There is more information on Glassmill Pond at the entry on this park in the Bromley Civic Society site, here.
All the stops in the Bromley Town Centre Parks Heritage & Biodiversity trail can be found on the page about it here.
To continue the Heritage Trail, you can choose a long or short route. The long route involves going straight along the pond, crossing the road and climbing the hill to the war memorial, then going out of the gates, and in the park gates diagonally opposite, where there is a carriage drive to a pergola. For the shorter route, retrace your steps to the last stop, and climb up the terraces to the balustrade.
Browse our old photos, in 