Place Name
This remembers the old manor name of Bankhurst, so called after the Banquel family (the name was variously spelt as Banquette, Bonquer and Bankwell, before it was finally shortened down to Bankers). One John de Banquel owned the the Manor of Simpson’s in Bromley as well as the subsidiary Manor of Shrafholt (or Shroffolds) which bordered on the parishes of Lee, Lewisham, and Bromley. The land had been purchased in 1261, during the reign of Henry III, from the Doget family. Sometime during the reign of Edward III the Banquels added the Manor of Lee to their property, so that by the time that Thomas Banquel died in 1361 his various estates in and around the local area (including Bankers maner) were considerable. From the Banquels, Lee and Shrafholt passed to Sir Richard Stury in the reign of Richard II and in 1484 during the reign of Edward IV it was featured in the records again as Bankers. The name Bankhurst only came much later when it was recorded as such in 1809.
