Suburban development following the Second World War resulted in the area becoming almost contiguous with the Greater London conurbation, but the village is still surrounded by open farmland. The area has formed part of the London Borough of Bromley local authority district since the formation of the ceremonial county of Greater London for administrative purposes in 1965.
History
The early 18th-century house at Number 5 Church Road, now Grade II listed
The village name derives from Fearnbiorginga, meaning a village among the ferns on the hill.[2] Old records date from 862 when Ethelbert, King of Wessex, gave away 950 acres at Farnborough. The village was not included in the Domesday Book of 1086, but the manor existed in the Middle Ages and was held in the 13th century by Simon de Montfort.[3][2]
The village evolved on the main road from London to Hastings which originally ran via Church Road and Old Hill (to the south of the village).
The George pub existed in the 16th century and was used as a coaching inn. Coaches and horses were accommodated later.[3] In 1639 a severe storm destroyed St Giles' Church –it was later rebuilt.[2]
Suburban development occurred in the post-Second World War years, resulting in the village becoming almost contiguous with the London conurbation, however Green Belt legislation prevented any further development southwards.[2]
On March 30th 2008, a Cessna Citation carrying 5 people onboard crashed into a house in the village. All 5 people on board died, including former racers Richard Lloyd and David Leslie.
On 1 May 1933, British Pathé released As Befits a Romany Queen.[6] The subject was the funeral of Urania Boswell, wife of Levi Boswell, of Willow Walk, behind Princess Royal University Hospital, on 24 April. She was the last Queen of the Kent (England) Gypsies (Romani People). The film lasts just under two minutes, and follows the cortège into Saint Giles the Abbott Church, where the gravestone may still be found, very near to the war memorial.
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