South Norwood

South Norwood’s heritage conservation plans were refreshed as part of the High Streets HAZ programme. As part of the project, the boundaries of the South Norwood Conservation area were extended and the new plans were adopted in 2022.

We also delivered a programme of events and activities developed with thecommunity to explore local heritage. Projects included:

• South Norwood Heritage Walk, a new bespoke heritage walk was created to accompany the refreshed conservation plan
• The Twentieth Century Society were commissioned to create a second heritage walk, South Norwood Mod Map, to showcase the post-1920s architecture of the area
• Oral histories capturing the stories and memories of the high streets, which are published on Stanley Arts’
  Framing Croydon heritage pages and in Croydon Archives
• Croydon through the Lens Charles Harrison Price, an exhibition of the work of early 20th century Croydon based photographer was supported by the programme, Croydon Natural History & Scientific Society, the Bourne Society and Stanley Arts in May 2022
• Building Essentials was a series of workshops for residents, business owners and local organisations on practical conservation construction skills and heritage building restoration projects delivered by London Historic Buildings Trust
  and Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings
• Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings visited Harris Professional Skills 6th Form to talk to construction students about specialised careers in conservation construction
• Tracing the Past of South Norwood, a short film exploring the origins of the high street, featuring local resident historians and Little Mouse Cheesemonger
• Icons representing the past-lives of the high streets were used to develop the design for the Goathouse Bridge mural with Reaching Higher and HarrisAcademy South Norwood Art students
• Harris Academy South Norwood heritage icon workshops were documented in a zine, South Norwood in Print, using the students’ prints, conversations and histories behind the icons
• Open City Accelerate hosted a series of workshops at Harris Academy South Norwood to reimagine buildings on the junction of High Street and Portland Road
• High Street Archive, a community-led project to collect and share the past lives of the high street shops, collected at public events and community workshops
• South Norwood Net’s heritage pages in 2024 were relaunched with materials from the regeneration programme
• Social media campaign with South Norwood Net to celebrate and promote their new heritage pages
• Norwood Narratives, a retrospective of the engagement programme hosted at Stanley Arts, marked the end of activities in March 2024
• High Streets Heritage Action Zone Cultural Programme - Stanley Arts delivered the High Street HAZ Cultural Programme for South Norwood. With just over £100,000 funding, they delivered 3 years of heritage-focussed cultural activities, with mini-grant projects delivered by local artists,promenade performances from Norwood Junction station to Stanley Arts,volunteer archivists, a brand new eight-part zine series The MysteriousDoors of Stanley Halls
  and a finale in August 2023 with the Carnival of Invention.

Stanley Halls at night by Recca Pitt

Mayor of London’s Good Growth Fund 

The Mayor of London’s Good Growth Fund is dedicated to supporting the regeneration and improvement of high streets across London, creating thriving businesses and empowering local people to shape the changes in their area. In South Norwood, this fund is delivering public realm improvements, creation of workspaces and creative hubs, improving the look of shop units, supporting resilient, sustainable businesses and growing the community network.

South Norwood High Street Heritage Action Zone

South Norwood is one of Historic England’s 68 new High Street Heritage Action Zones. £1.1 million has been awarded  to unlock the potential of South Norwood’s high streets, fuelling economic, social and cultural recovery and breathe new life into the area for future generations. 

South Norwood boomed in the 19th century with the arrival of the railway, and its centre is predominantly composed of original buildings, dating from the 1840s to 1910, many of which retain their original features. South Norwood’s conservation area is currently on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register and the aim of the programme is to restore it to its original vibrancy and remove it from the register.

The Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) boundary includes Station Road, Selhurst Road from the Clocktower to Samuel Coleridge Taylor Centre, South Norwood Hill up to Stanley Arts, High Street from South Norwood Clocktower to Goathouse Bridge and Portland Road starting from the junction with the High Street to the junction with Coventry Road.  

South Norwood HAZ Boundary Map. Historic England

LEAP 

The London Economic Action Partnership (LEAP) is the local enterprise partnership for London. It brings entrepreneurs and business together along with the Mayoralty and London Councils to identify strategies to support and boost economic growth and job creation in the capital.

We Love SE25

We Love SE25 sits at the heart of the vision for community cohesion in South Norwood. It is a membership organisation made up of local community organisations, businesses, faith groups, schools, resident groups and local councillors. It meets quarterly and has an executive of seven volunteers, elected by its members.

In 2018, Croydon Council worked in partnership with We Love SE25 to develop these projects into a framework for regeneration plans and published the South Norwood Community Plan. The council secured funding from the Good Growth Fund to deliver some of the initiatives, focusing on the high streets of the district centre.

South Norwood Regeneration Team

Michelle Normanly 
Regeneration Manager

Tamara Amarquaye
Business Engagement Officer

For further information please email SouthNorwoodRegen@croydon.gov.uk