by Steve Grindlay Site of the nature reserve

Two thousand years ago dense woodland covered much of England. Although by the C16th large areas had been cleared the Great North Wood, used by the Archbishops of Canterbury for hunting, still extended from Selhurst to Hatcham. Most has now been cleared; the dark patches on the map are all that survive. Sydenham Hill and Dulwich Woods are the most prominent.

Much of the earliest clearances were near rivers, where the earliest settlements and farming became established.

The Great North Wood was so called because it was to the north of Croydon. West Wood was at the western edge of Lewisham parish.

From The Great North Wood by LSC Neville (1987) Site of the nature reserve

During the 16th century most of the timber on Westwood Common was felled, transported to Deptford Dockyard and used to build ships for the Royal Navy. By the early 17th centuary the 500 acres of open space were regarded as common land, and became known as Sydenham Common. Site of the Field path, now nature reserve Mayow Road

Site of Mayow Park

Berrymans Lane

Old House

The Old House, on the site of the present 85-95 Sydenham Road, was bought as a small farmhouse by Edward Hodsdon in 1720. He proceeded to expand the estate until it included most of the land between Sydenham Road and Perry Vale. Hodsdon then divided his land into manageable fields for grazing livestock and growing crops. Some of the field boundary oaks from this period survive, the best in Mayow Park. James Pringle, 1812

The view is from near the junction of Kirkdale and Sydenham Hill. James Pringle lived at Bell Green and when he painted this view the act of Parliament authorising the enclosure of the common had just been passed. He clearly realised the need to record of the common before it disappeared forever. Site of the nature reserve

1819 Enclosure Award map Outline of the common on a modern street map

For two centuries Sydenham Common was used by local people for grazing animals, hunting, gathering firewood, fairs etc. In 1819 it was enclosed and divided amongst those who already owned land in Lewisham. The fields were fenced to discourage trespassers. Site of the nature reserve In 1787 Mayow Wynell Mayow bought the Old House estate. On his death in 1807 the estate was divided amongst his daughters on the understanding that, in time, the entire estate would pass to his only male heir, his grandson Mayow Wynell Adams (son of William Dacres Adams). It wasn’t until 1874 that Mayow Wynell Adams finally inherited the estate. From this time land at the fringes of the estate were sold or leased for housing, and Mayow Park was created. On Adams’ death in 1898 (aged 90) his son-in-law inherited what remained of The Old House estate, and he promptly sold it.

The Old House

The estate plan drawn up on the death of Mayow Wynell Mayow in 1807. The plan shows how the estate was to be divided amongst his five daughters. Mayow Wynell Adams’ only child, Edith Maria, married Edward Rowe Fisher Rowe. She died, childless, in 1871 and he remarried 6 years later. On Mayow Wynell Adams’ death in 1898 Fisher Rowe inherited the Old House estate, and promptly set about selling it to developers, most notably James Edmondson who used the Old House as his site office while building the Thorpes estate. From “Bradshaw’s Canals” (1833)

The Croydon Canal opened on 22 October 1809 to transport goods, primarily timber, between Croydon and London. It was not a financial success and, after its closure in 1836, it was acquired by the London & Croydon Railway Company whose line, which followed much of the canal route, opened in 1839. Devonshire Road Nature Reserve

Garthorne Road Nature Reserve

Dacres Wood Nature Reserve

The canal was 34 feet (10 m) wide, about 5 feet deep The 160’ contour is marked in red, and, mostly, followed the 161 ft (49.1m) contour. the route of the canal in blue Clyde Vale Since 1809 the “upper” parts of Forest Hill and Sydenham have been separated from the “lower” parts. Until the footbridge was opened in Millennium about 1875 there were Green crossing points at Honor Oak Park, Forest Hill and Sydenham Road. Site of footbridge There are other surviving clues to the canal’s short existence including property boundaries, banks and stonework.

Dacres Wood From “A view of Sydenham Common” (1812)

Dacres Wood 1819 Enclosure map The Cottage on the left was built about the same time as the canal. It was demolished in 1870 to make way for the present booking hall.

Doo’s Wharf is on the right.

This painting, recently bought by an ex-Sydenham resident, is by Henry Gastineau who lived in Camberwell. It was painted in 1836, shortly before the canal closed. This sketch shows Henry Doo’s wharf apparently thriving, although within months the closure of the canal would put him out of business.

By 1843, 321 and 323 Kirkdale had been built by Doo’s son, also Henry, who operated as a coal merchant at 323 Sydenham Bridge in 1836, looking south. from 1843-1860. After 27 years of failing to make money for its investors, the Croydon Canal closed on 22 August 1836. Its assets were acquired by the London & Croydon Railway Company who opened their line in June 1839

Although the Croydon Canal was a failure, its impact on our area was profound. From 1809 both Sydenham and Forest Hill were divided into two distinct areas, each area connected by a bridge.

The canal also enabled the L&C Railway to give us the second oldest passenger railway in London. The tithe map, 1843

The canal in 1811 briefly entering “Mrs Mayow’s land” [her husband died in 1807]

After the building of the railway line this small section of the canal was isolated on the edge of farmland.

The section of canal in Dacres Wood survived because it was on the edge of private farmland and then, from 1883, in a private garden where it was possibly considered an ornamental feature.

Silverdale, looking towards the reserve

Development at the edges of the Old House estate began in the late 1860s when houses were built in Wynell Road and at the northern end of Dacres Road and Mayow Road.

The development was called “South Sydenham Park” and was considered an extension of Sydenham Park, with which it was connected by a footbridge.

It was only after 1874, when Mayow Wynell Adams eventually inherited the estate, that serious development could begin. He made land available for a recreation ground, something he long wanted to do. The estate in 1894 In about 1883 a house, Irongates, was built where Homefield House now is. A small stretch of the canal was isolated in the back garden where it was clearly regarded as an ornamental feature. Between 1883 and 1956 just three families lived in this house. On the death of the last occupant the site became derelict. Times (10-11-1891)

The architect of Irongates was probably Alexander Gordon Hennell whose brother Percy married William Rabbits’ daughter, Lydia.

1883-1891: William Thomas Rabbits (1847-1908) shoe manufacturer.

1894-1906: Edward Clarke (c1854-1906) solicitor

1910-1929: Alfred Graham (c1857-1929) electrical engineer, made motor horns, telephones and gramophones; taken over by Siemans 1910-1939: Louisa Marion Graham, his wife 1940-1956: Eleanor Graham (d1956)

Feb 1921 Irongates was acquired by the LCC in about 1962 when the house was demolished and Homefield House built. The garden, which was intended for housing, passed to the GLC in 1965. It seems that between 1965 and 1985, when the GLC was abolished, the site was completely neglected, becoming overgrown and strewn with rubbish. The rubbish strewn canal in the early 1980s

In 1985 the site was taken over by Lewisham Parks Department who proposed that it should become a nature reserve. Much work was needed prepare the site and it was declared a nature reserve in 1989. In 1990 the southern part of the canal was cleared exposing the original canal walls. To create a suitable wildlife habitat the walls were lined with clay to form a pond but the original canal walls still survive. This is considered the best surviving remnant of the canal and is amongst the oldest surviving structures in Sydenham. The nature reserve in 1996 Ernest Shackleton taken in 1886 by Percy Mitchell of 98 Kirkdale.

This extract, from The Life of Sir Ernest Shackleton (1923) describes how Ernest and three friends, while playing truant, hid in “a strip of private wood adjoining the railway”. At the time “Ned Sleep” (actually Edward Sleap) lived with his family in Recreation Road and Arthur Griffith lived in Silverdale, almost opposite the reserve. Looking south, with the tow path on the left. One source suggests that this engraving shows the section of canal in Dacres Wood.