A22 road

Purley is an area of the London Borough of Croydon in London, England, 11.7 miles (18.8 km) south of Charing Cross, with a history going back at least 800 years. It was originally granted as an estate from holdings at Sanderstead and until as a district of Surrey and then, with neighbouring Coulsdon, as an urban district that became an electoral ward of the London Borough of Croydon, becoming part of the ceremonial county of London, in 1965. In 2018 the Purley ward was divided into two: Purley and Woodcote, and Purley Oaks and Riddlesdown. Purley is a suburban area of South London, and the quintessential suburban environment has been referenced in fictional and popular culture, most notably as the setting for the long running Terry and June sitcom. Purley had a population of about 14,000 in 2011.

Purley railway station is in the London Borough of Croydon on the Brighton Main Line, 13 miles 29 chains (21.50 km) measured from London Bridge (15 miles 13 chains (24.40 km) from Charing Cross), in Travelcard Zone 6. It is a junction, with branches to Caterham and Tattenham Corner.

The 1928 Imperial Airways Vickers Vulcan crash occurred on 13 July 1928 when a Vickers Vulcan on a test flight from Croydon Airport with a pilot and five passengers crashed near Purley, Surrey three miles from the airport, with the loss of four passengers. As a result of the crash Imperial Airways stopped the flying of staff (so called joy rides) on test flights.

St. David's School is a private school located on Woodcote Valley Road, Purley, London, serving pupils age 3–11 years. The headteacher is Miss C Mardell. There is one form per year group with three houses: Cygnus, Aquilla and Leo. The school emblem is the Welsh Dragon.

Thomas More Catholic School is a Roman Catholic secondary school and sixth form, located in the Purley area of the London Borough of Croydon, England. The Margaret Roper Primary School is located adjacent to Thomas More Catholic School. The school was established in 1962 in buildings formerly used as an orphanage. It is a voluntary aided school, under the direction of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark and Croydon London Borough Council. The school has also been awarded the International School Award, since 2008.Thomas More Catholic School offers GCSEs and BTECs as programmes of study for pupils, whilst sixth form students can choose to study from a range of A Levels and BTEC Nationals.

The Purley station rail crash was a train collision that occurred just to the north of Purley railway station in the London Borough of Croydon on Saturday 4 March 1989, leaving five dead and 88 injured. The collision was caused by the driver of one of the trains passing a signal at danger; he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 12 months in prison plus six months suspended, although this was reduced to four months upon appeal, and in 2007 overturned. The Department of Transport report noted that the signal had a high incidence of being passed at danger and recommended that an automatic train protection system should be introduced without delay and in the interim a repeater for the signal that had been passed be installed.

Croydon was a rural district in north east Surrey, England, United Kingdom, from 1894 to 1915. It was created by the Local Government Act 1894 and replaced the Croydon Rural Sanitary District. The district surrounded the County Borough of Croydon to the south, east and west. When established in 1894, the area covered was primarily rural, dotted with small villages and towns, but the expansion of London in the late 19th and early 20th centuries led to rapid urbanisation and the rural district was progressively broken up to form newly created urban districts. It was abolished in 1915. Its area now forms parts of the London Boroughs of Croydon, Merton and Sutton and the Borough of Reigate and Banstead.

Reedham railway station is in the south of Purley in the London Borough of Croydon on the Tattenham Corner line. The local area is residential and the station is near the A23 Brighton Road. It is 15 miles 65 chains (25.4 km) measured from London Charing Cross. The Brighton Main Line is adjacent, but is not served by this station. Although occasionally referred to as Reedham (London), it is most commonly suffixed as Reedham (Surrey) (despite not officially being part of Surrey county since the creation of the London borough of Croydon in 1965) in order to distinguish it from the station of the same name in Norfolk. Its three-letter station code is RHM.

Foxley Wood is an 11.36 hectare Local Nature Reserve and Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade 1, in Purley in the London Borough of Croydon. It is owned and managed by Croydon Council. The site was purchased by Coulsdon and Purley Urban District Council under the Green Belt Act in the 1930s.Some of the woodland on the site is ancient, and there are also areas of chalk grassland. The wood is principally oak and ash, with some sycamore and wild cherry. There is an understorey of hazel. Flora include dog's mercury, wood millet, wood melick. The site also has a wide variety of insects, including grasshoppers and butterflies. Forty-five species of birds have been recorded, and there are also badgers and roe deer.There is access from Burwood Avenue, Northwood Avenue, Woodland Way and Higher Drive.

The 1936 KLM Croydon accident was the crash of a KLM airliner on 9 December 1936, shortly after taking off from the Croydon Air Port (as it was known at the time) on a scheduled flight to Amsterdam, Netherlands. The aircraft was destroyed and 15 of the 17 passengers and crew on board died as a result of the accident. Two of the passengers who died were Arvid Lindman, a former Prime Minister of Sweden, and Juan de la Cierva, the Spanish inventor of the autogyro.

Purley Council Offices, also known as Purley Town Hall, is a former municipal building in Brighton Road, Purley, London. The structure, which was the headquarters of Coulsdon and Purley Urban District Council, is a Grade II listed building.

Croydon Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Croydon between 1900 and 1933.