Church Micro 3646…Pratts Bottom - Free Church Multi-cache

Pratt's Bottom is a village in the London Borough of Bromley,  located at the south eastern boundary of Greater London with Kent. It is adjacent to Biggin Hill Airport. It is a small village, consisting of a main road (Rushmore Hill) on which is situated a school, a village shop (the post office was closed as part of the widespread branch closures of June 2008) and the pub, two small churches (of which this is one of them) and a few side roads. There is a village hall behind the green.

The name is first recorded as Spratts Bottom in 1773 and by 1791 it had changed to the present form. The meaning is likely to be valley of a family called Pratt. It formed part of the ancient, and later civil, parish of Chelsfield in Kent  and was part of the Bromley Rural District  from 1894. The parish was abolished in 1934 and the village became part of Orpington Urban District  In 1965 it was transferred to Greater London, to form part of the London Borough of Bromley.

A tollgate stood in the village for many years. The turnpike cottage was demolished in the 1930s but is still seen as emblematic of the village, so much so that it is the basis of the recent village sign placed on the green. Sue Short has written a book about the history of the village titled Pratts Bottom: A Journey Through Life.

Pratts Bottom Free Church. Built in 1928. Despite being a called "Free Church", it is in fact of the United Reformed denomination. Since 1998 it has formed part of the Pratts Bottom local ecumenical partnership, along with All Souls Church
 

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