Private Investigator
Croydon

Opened in 1803, SIR from Croydon to Wandsworth was the world's first public railway. Known for car manufacture, metal working and Croydon Airport, Croydon was an important area by the early 20th century. With the construction of Whitgift Centre in 1969, Croydon developed as an important centre for shopping.

Renamed in 2014 when it was reopened Croydon Interchange, the first grade A office development of its size to open in Croydon for more than 20 years was the office development of 180,000 square foot. Croydon has several hospitals: in London Road, Croydon University Hospital is the main one.

Adjacent to West Croydon station, the Delta Point building appeared as Gotham General Hospital in the film The Dark Knight Rises. Croydon has Purley Saint Germain, a Non-League club, who at Croydon Arena play, and Croydon F.C. Croydon Roller Derby, which trains in Carshalton, include a women's roller derby team that the borough has.

Meaning "crocus", and denu, "valley", the theory by philologists that is accepted is that from croh that is Anglo-Saxon, derives the Croydon name, as the majority of place names in the area are of Anglo-Saxon origin, indicating that, like Essex's Saffron Walden, it was a saffron cultivation centre. Dated 6 December 1347, the will of John de Croydon, fishmonger, includes a bequest to "the church of S John de Croydon", the earliest clear record of dedication.

A Perpendicular-style church, the Parish Church was remodelled in 1849 but, in 1867, destroyed in a great fire, following which the tower, south porch, and outer walls remained. As London's airport that is main, and into a decline Croydon Airport went, closing in 1959, Heathrow Airport superseded Croydon Airport after the war. Croydon Council gave permission for the shopping centre in November 2017 at Westfield to be built, and Sadiq Khan, the London Mayor, in January 2018 approved the regeneration scheme.

Known from 1923 to 2010 as Mayday Hospital, Croydon University Hospital is the nearest hospital in Thornton Heath, which is part of Croydon Health Services NHS Trust. Built by the Croydon London Borough in the mid-1990s, Croydon Clocktower houses a library, a performance venue in the reference library, the David Lean Cinema and the Museum of Croydon. Playing just north of Frant Road's centre in Thornton Heath and founded in 1871, Streatham-Croydon RFC is one of the oldest rugby union clubs that is extant in Greater London.