Petts Wood is a town in south-east London, England, previously located in the historic county of Kent. It lies south of Chislehurst, west of St Paul's Cray and Poverest, north of Orpington and Crofton, and east of Southborough and Bromley Common. The area forms part of the London Borough of Bromley local authority district in the ceremonial county of Greater London.

History

The name appeared first in 1577 as "the wood of the Pett family", who were shipbuilders and leased the wood as a source of timber. (A pub, The Sovereign of the Seas, is named after a ship built at Woolwich to a design by Phineas Pett.)

The area remained rural right up until the late 19th century; in 1872 just one house ('Ladywood') stood here. Most of the modern suburb of Petts Wood was built in the late 1920s by the Harlow-based developer Basil Scruby together with architect Leonard Culliford who designed the layout of the roads.]]

The generally higher quality of large homes built to the east of the railway line, as compared to smaller and more densely packed development to the west, was due to the fact that Scruby's increasing financial difficulties meant he had little control over its developers, Morrell's and New Ideal Homesteads.

In 2009, the local Woolworths store gained media attention when its manager, realising his was the last of the chain to close, gathered the remains of the pick and mix section and auctioned the bag of sweets for £14,500.

Governance

Petts Wood is part of the Orpington constituency for elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.

Petts Wood is part of the Petts Wood and Knoll ward for elections to Bromley London Borough Council.

The woods

thumb|right|The Petts Wood area of woodland

thumb|Open fields on the Hawkwood Estate

The eponymous wood itself survives and is managed by the National Trust. Originally just 88 acres (36 hectares) were bought by public subscription and donated to the Trust in 1927, after it became clear that the area would be developed for housing.

  • Jack Dee (b. 1961) – comedian and winner of Celebrity Big Brother 1, grew up in Petts Wood. He rented a home at 41 Birchwood Road for four months before moving his family further inland to Dudleston Heath in Shropshire later in 1940.
  • David Fletcher (b. 1942) – MBE, Military historian and author, born in Petts Wood.
  • Pat Keysell (1926–2009) – TV presenter and sign language interpreter, grew up in Petts Wood.
  • Pixie Lott (b. 1991) – singer and songwriter.
  • Ian Mortimer (b. 1967) – medieval historian, grew up in Petts Wood.
  • David Nobbs (1935–2015) – comedy writer and the creator of the sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, grew up in Petts Wood.
  • Major Phil Packer (b. 1972) – British soldier who was rendered paraplegic in 2008 by injuries sustained while serving in Iraq, grew up in Petts Wood. He has since raised over a million pounds through charitable fundraising efforts which have garnered him several national awards.
  • Arthur Seldon (1916–2005) – economist.
  • Ivor Spencer (1924–2009) – toastmaster and promoter of the butler arts.
  • Sir Thomas Spencer (1882-1976), managing director of Standard Telephones and Cables, and his wife Lady Spencer (née the composer Ethel Edith Bilsland), lived in Tudor House. She continued to live there after his death and died in 1982.
  • William Willett (1856–1915) – promoter of Daylight Saving Time, an idea he is thought to have come up with whilst riding in Petts Wood.