Walworth Road Historic Area Assessment
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WALWORTH ROAD HISTORIC AREA ASSESSMENT ISSUE REVISION A 27 JUNE 2015 REVISION B 23 AUG 2015 COMPILED BY THE WALWORTH SOCIETY Architectural Investigation: Diana Cochrane & The Walworth Society Walworth ROAD HISTORIC AREA ASSESSMENT SUMMARY SUMMARY The collection of terraces that border the road were This HAA seeks to define the architectural and historic Walworth is an inner-city area in south London with constructed by early developers after the 1774 Act of interest of Walworth and in particular the Walworth Road. It a densely built-up townscape. It developed as a Parliament which permitted house building using local clay. builds on relatively few existing studies to provide context village in its own right, separate from Newington and enhanced understanding at a time when the area (now the Elephant & Castle) and has been in The Walworth Road tells the complete story of retail and high is subject to significant change most obviously from the existence as a Manor and Parish since Anglo Saxon street development in inner London, standalone Georgian redevelopment of the site of the former Heygate Estate in times. The Romans knew about the Walworth area terraces (late C18th), Georgian standalone and terraced the northern part of the Walworth Road, the redevelopment as it lies between two Roman Roads: Stane Street houses converted to shops by filling their gardens (early/ of the Elephant & Castle and the redevelopment of the (Newington Butts, Kennington Lane) and Watling mid C19th), the birth of a vigorous street market and the Aylesbury Estate to the south. Street (Tabard Street). Mostly marshland, the road subsequent redevelopment of Victorian and Edwardian south to Camberwell was laid along higher ground mansion blocks designed with integrated shops (late C19th, CONTRIBUTORS as a route to the village of Dulwich, with a branch to early C20th), the arrival of the early chain stores and banks The fieldwork and research for the assessment has been Peckham, terminating near Croydon. (in the early C20th) and the arrival of national chain stores undertaken by Diana Cochrane. (mid & late C20th).Together with its development of housing The section for historic assessment is principally and shopping, public houses and a vibrant street market, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS called the Walworth Road; it is a one mile long Walworth’s authorities, through the Vestry, constructed a The assistance of the following is gratefully acknowledged; local shopping high street that is 1.5 miles from number of civic and administrative buildings to serve the the financial support of Southwark Council’s Cleaner the Houses of Parliament. The centre of the growing local populations of the late C19th. These buildings Greener Safer funding programme and the London historic village, located currently within an APZ are seen in the context of the street, although some are also Community Foundation Elephant & Castle Fund; generous (Archaeological Priority Zone), was the East Lane/ set back where land could be made available. support of the councillors in the Walworth Wards of East West Lane crossroads (now East Street and Walworth, Faraday and Newington, advice and support Penrose Street) and this continues to be the case. The survival of the street-side architecture and the terraces from Benedict O’Looney of The Peckham Society and The road scale and building line here are directly which host Walworth’s commercial activities stem from Dr Patricia Dark, Stephen Potter, Lisa Soverall of the traceable to the C18th pattern. The road position the relatively low impact from WW2 bomb damage along Southwark Local Studies Library; the historian Stephen and width, together with the building plots, widths the road. After the war, piecemeal repair and renewal was Humphrey; Michael Tsoukaris and Tracey Chapman of and lines can be directly traced back to the late preferred to the wholesale demolition that occurred in the the London Borough of Southwark. Thanks also to Marek C18th, with notable parts being very much intact. neighbouring Elephant & Castle and East Street, and to the Drewicz, Secretary, and Jeremy Leach, Chair of the constant use of the Walworth Road as a busy local shopping Walworth Society for expert advice and determination and The Walworth Road is significant because it tells the street. Hemmed in by mid C18th shop extensions at the front, to the Society members for their support and involvement story of an emerging working class area from the with back gardens sold off for industrial development and in delivering all of our public events. Acknowledgement late C18th. There are Georgian fragments of both as builders’ yards in the late C19th, there was no access or is made of the following for the permission to reproduce housing and notable pleasure gardens, productive impetus for change in the centre of each of the terraces as certain illustrations: Southwark Local Studies Library & use orchards and flower nurseries that refer to its more long as businesses on the ground floor were in occupation. of map under license from Motco Enterprises. gentrified and prosperous history as single and short This study also includes the narrative of the industrial terraces of houses set within gardens and fields. hinterland which was packed in at the back of the converted DATE OF ASSESSMENT It is, however, primarily a story of a shopping and shops and the arrival and impact of the railway in the 1860s. From December 2014 to June 2015 trading street and therefore its overall historic value Early C21st housing development in these locations now CONTACT DETAILS needs to be assessed against this. means there are very few remaining fragments of the late Diana Cochrane, c/o The Walworth Society, 28 Sutherland C19th factories and stables in these hinterland locations. Square, London SE17 3EQ. Telephone 020-7252-5331, email [email protected] Walworth ROAD HISTORIC AREA ASSESSMENT INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION Using a variety of recognised research sources and following Walworth lies a mile and a half south of the River Thames at the Peckham Historic Area Assessment report which was Blackfriars Bridge. The Walworth Road which runs north- produced by English Heritage as a model and best-practice south through the area is situated immediately to the south of guide, we are now able to tell the story of the Walworth the Elephant & Castle, to the east of Kennington, the west of Road and how it has evolved. To date there has been little the Old Kent Road and north of Camberwell. research available specifically about the architectural history of the Walworth Road, preventing a detailed assessment of Like much of the metropolitan inner-city, Walworth its heritage and value. Our report combines detailed analysis experienced significant loss of population after the Second of existing research with new source material to deliver an World War up until the Millennium. The Walworth Road, authoritative new resource for understanding the evolution of however, retained its role as a lively high street and, in the Walworth Road and its special historic character. conjunction with East Street market, drew in shoppers and visitors from throughout the local area and wider South We have concentrated on the architectural heritage and London. Since the Millennium, the future direction of the area value of the buildings along the Walworth Road from the has been bound up with proposed regeneration initiatives Elephant & Castle through to Burgess Park dating from the at the Elephant & Castle, at the site of the former Heygate 18th and 19th Centuries and have explored the impact of Estate and, to the south, the Aylesbury Estate. social and economic factors on that built environment. In 2010 Southwark Council began to develop a The need to develop a clear understanding about the supplementary planning document for the Elephant & Castle historical importance of the Walworth Road is in-part linked which included the Walworth Road throughout its entire to area wide development pressures, specifically the length. The Elephant & Castle Supplementary Planning change that is occurring on the site of the former Heygate Document (SPD) and Opportunity Area Planning Framework Estate and the regeneration of the Aylesbury Estate. These (OAPF) were adopted in March 2012 and included within developments have fuelled significant interest for the first them the creation of two new Conservation Areas around time by developers in all properties along the Walworth Road Larcom Street and Elliott’s Row. Whilst the Walworth Road and its immediate hinterland. was not designated as a Conservation Area as part of the SPD, some assessment of its character was made in the As with the Peckham HAA, the report is divided into a background paper which covered Urban Design in December number of parts. Part One, the opening section contains an 2011 and a significant number of heritage assets were overview of the historical development of Walworth in the identified throughout Walworth, and in particular along the form of a chronological timeline of the history of the area. length of the Walworth Road. Part Two is a description of the form and types of buildings in the area linked to its historical development. Part Three It was indicated that if research was undertaken about outlines the different character areas. Part Four concludes the architectural heritage of the Walworth Road and its with a discussion of the distinctive elements of Walworth and significance, an opportunity existed for the Walworth Road the Walworth Road. to be designated as a