Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, Thornton Heath was in the County Borough of Croydon.

Until the arrival of the railway in 1862, Thornton Heath was focused on an area 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southwest of the Whitehorse manor house (now a school), at the locality on the main London–Sussex road known as Thornton Heath Pond in the parish of Croydon St John the Baptist.

In the 50-year period from 1861 to 1911, Thornton Heath saw a complete transformation from an isolated rural outpost to an integrated metropolitan suburb.

In its infancy, a new railway station in the eastern farmlands enabled the immediate area to evolve around a central point.

In the late 19th century, the western part of Thornton Heath, which lay directly on the main London–Sussex road, demonstrated a classic form of suburban ribbon development.

In the process, it became the final piece in an urban chain linking two major centres, London and Croydon, completing the greatest metropolitan expansion in the world at that time which cost £112 million in today's money.[when?]

There is the gravelly, fertile soil in parts of the Thornton Heath area, which explains why market gardening and gravel extraction were major industries.

Thornton Heath railway station is on the London Victoria branch of the Brighton Main Line, and is operated by Southern.

At the junction of the High Street and Parchmore Road, on a site previously called Walker's Green, stands the Clocktower, which was built in 1900, and financed partly by public subscription.

[6] Architects have posted about their project in the Library with a Council remit to refurbish and extend the Edwardian building, in particular, to improve access.

[8] In 2019, there was a contest organised by the Thornton Heath Community Action team for a planned redesign of the central area; it was won by architecture students.

[9] Thornton Heath has a high degree of ethnic diversity with a large proportion of people from a BAME background.

[15] Thornton Heath is one of the railway stations used by visitors to Selhurst Park stadium, home of Premier League club Crystal Palace.

Members of the community have a garden in part of a local park and are maintain the planting area in the Ambassadors House forecourt.

"Since 2016 we have been involving local people in an improvement programme, making the High Street and Brigstock Road more attractive, with funding from the GLA.