The story of West Wickham, in very broad outline, is its transformation from a hamlet, to a village, to a suburb. Nothing is known of its earliest inhabitants although the name "Wickham" suggests that the Anglo-Saxon settlers found a community already in existence since the word is of Roman derivation and the Roman road joining Lewes to London runs through West Wickham.

The village was mentioned in the Domesday Survey and it's entry read "In lordship 2 ploughs. 24 villagers have 4 ploughs. 13 salves; a church; a mill at 20d.; a wood at 10 pigs. Value before 1066 8; later 6: now 13. Godric son of Karl held it from King Edward"

We are fortunate in that the parish boundaries roughly follow the boundaries of the manor of West Wickham so that the manorial records, which date back to 1310, make it possible to trace in some detail the history of West Wickham from that date.

In 1469 the manor of West Wickham was sold to Henry Heydon, a young lawyer from Norfolk who rebuilt the manor house and parish church. Henry Heydon married Anne Bullen/Boleyn, great aunt to Anne Boleyn who lost her heart and then her head to Henry VIII.

In 1597 the then Lord of the Manor, Samuel Lennard, had his first child, Mary, baptised in the parish church. Samuel Lennard was the first of a line that was to live at the manor house, Wickham Court, for nearly 350 years. The last holder of the title of the Lord of the Manor, Sir Stephen Lennard, died in 1980 without heirs.

The railway arrived in 1882 when the line from Elmers End to Hayes was opened and the population increased, but only very slowly.

At the end of the nineteenth century, fifty acres of West Wickham Common were enclosed by Sir John Lennard and sold for building development. The remaining 25 acres were saved in 1892 with the help of the Corporation of the City of London which owns the common, to be used by all the community. In 1926 and 1927 land at Spring Park, a total of 52 acres, was donated by Sir John Lennards' son Henry, for the use of the people of West Wickham. This too, is vested in the Corporation of the City of London.

On 4th August 1914 Great Britain declared war on Germany and the village sent over 300 men to war, more than 70 of whom were killed. A War Memorial was erected in the High Street but was later moved to Corkscrew Hill.

The 1930's saw major changes in West Wickham, in 1933 building begun on the Coney Hall estate and the southern part of West Wickham was transformed, 1934 saw the role of the parish council disappear when West Wickham became part of the Beckenham Urban District Council, which was late granted Borough Council status in 1935. West Wickham's population rose to 10,080.

War came in 1939 and West Wickham suffered along with its neighbours both in casualties and bomb damage. Sixty-six servicemen, 21 members of the Civil Defence and 50 Civilians lost their lives.

Post-war saw many changes in West Wickham. It became a major shopping centre and provided extensive office space for the first time, supermarkets appeared and the smaller grocers disappeared. Some local services expanded, while others disappeared. The local cinema closed in 1957 being replaced by shops. In 1968 the Fire Station was closed as an economy measure by the Greater London Council.