It is situated south of Ramsden, south-east of Orpington town centre, and north of Chelsfield.

It lies directly adjacent to the London Green Belt.

Goddington was historically a rural manor, first recorded in the 1200s as being the lands held by Simon de Godyngton, which in turn refers to his family's ancestral lands in Godinton, Kent.

[1] The area only began to be developed in 1926 when housing was built along Park Avenue.

St Olave's Grammar School, built 1968, is located on Goddington Lane.