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URBAN GR 26 Character Study | Final Report | September 2010 O O WTH 27 Lewisham Character Study | Final Report | September 2010 28 Lewisham Character Study | Final Report | September 2010 tributary that runsthelengthofBorough tributary mills alongthe Ravensbourne river, thesmall The Domesday bookof1086 records eleven Street) crossed theLondonbasin. andDoverto (theRoman Watling as theoldKent highway from Bridge settlement. Across land, ancientroutes such also apassagefor Viking raidsand eventual the eighthandninthcenturies theriver was and provisions tosustain thegrowing town. In Saxon trade, of materials enabling thetransport a great thoroughfare for Romansand Anglo- be tracedbackmuch further. The Thames was origins ofhumansettlementinthearea can dramatically between 1800and1940butthe Lewisham, like Londonasawhole, grew . Lewisham,Mary StMargaret LeeandStPaul the medieval parishes, includingthoseofSt in 1900. These inturnwere created from Lewisham, each ofwhichhadbeenformed Metropolitan Boroughs ofDeptford and an amalgamationoftwo earlierbodies, the government reorganisation in1965andwas formed atthetimeofGreater London The modernborough ofLewisham was also highlighted. andmanufacturing intheBoroughindustry are reconstruction andthe longtermdeclineofthe in theSecond World War, followed by postwar rail androad. The profound effects oftheblitz London, stimulated by improved by transport how itwasshaped by theoutward growth of urbanisation intheBorough’s pastandshows report records themostsigni of thewidermetropolis. ofthe This part Lewisham’s isinseparablefrom that history Introduction THE SHAPINGOF A LONDONBOROUGH fi cant periodsof and .Greenwich The Yardsreached downstreammunitions operations further at Navy Victualling , thenaval supporting and thearea wasestablished astheRoyalcentury from from thetimeof Henry Vlll. Bythe18th for shipbuilding, whichroyal associations and depthofthetidal Thames made itsuitable fi The exceptiontothisrural scenewasthe river banks. population, onthe andaccommodatingindustry and dairying, providing fresh produce for the Lewisham were usedfor market gardens as Londongrew, itsoutlying areas including area wasoflittleconsequence tothecity. Later mostofthe accelerated inthe17thcentury royal patronage anduntil London’s growth Lewisham didnothave any longstanding Green) andCatford. Unlike nearby Greenwich, farmsteads suchasLee(BelmontHilland and pasture, smallhamlets and supporting farmland, well botharable drainedandfertile outlying districtstheLewisham area wasmainly largely con powerhouse. However, itsphysical reach was was unrivalledasaneconomicandsocial at Southwarkacross thesolebridge, By themiddle agesLondon, withitssatellite Early growth and theCityitself. views across the Thames towards the Tower signi raised positionwasprizedfor itsstrategic today,survives butitisknown thatBlackheath’s settlement. Littleevidence ofsuchactivity There islikely tohave beensomeassociated and joinsthe Thames atDeptford Creek. shing villageofDeptford, where thewidth fi cance indefending London, withlong fi ned to thecitywalls. Like other Street, Deptford andmansionsatBlackheath. terrace in include theearly 18thcentury Albury up. from Residentialsurvivors this period latter Two parishesofStNicholasandPaul, the amongst theearliesthousesinsouthLondon cottagesat Late 17thcentury Tanners Hillare before Londonfor coachesontheDover Road. Deptford alsowasthelaststoppingplace 1869. Napeolon in1815andthe Yards The dockyards declinedafterthedefeat of ships andsuppliesfor theNapoleonic wars. their heyday by theearly 1800s, providing Images courtesy of Lewisham Local History and ofLewisham LocalHistory Images Centre courtesy Archives author, onslaveshipatDeptford arrrived in1762 campaignerand -anti-slavery fl ourishing aftertheriverside area fi nally closed in fi lled become the and sailedfrom Deptford in1562onwhatwasto The Primrose shipwasbuiltinDeptford in1551, dockfor theworld-widean important slave trade. In the16thand17thcentury, Deptford became arrived in Blackheath in1731 inBlackheath arrived -author, bornonaslaveshipand fi rst ‘triangle’ slave tradevoyage.

GEORGIAN URBAN GROWTHURBAN Greenwich and Woolwich dockyards producing ships and supplies 1790

1800

Croydon Canal opened REGENCY 1810 Enclosure Act allows develoment of common land

1820

1830 London Bridge to Greenwich rail line opens as London’s fi rst railway line 1840 EARLY-MID VICTORIAN

1850 Crystal Palace dismantled and moved to Mid Railway opens serving Lewisham and 1860

Greenwich and Woolwich Dockyards close 1870 London Bridge to Greenwich rail line opens as LATE VICTORIAN London’s fi rst railway line 1880

1890

1900 EDWARDIAN Trams serving Lewisham and Deptford electrifi ed

1910

WORLD WAR ONE 1920

INTER-WAR Bellingham Estate completed

1930

Downham Estate completed 1940 WORLD WAR TWO POST-WAR

1950 Lammas Green completed

1960

LATE TWENTIETH CENTURYLATE TWENTIETH Pepys Estate completed

1970

1980

1990 MODERN 2000

2010 29 Lewisham Character Study | Final Report | September 2010 30 Lewisham Character Study | Final Report | September 2010 converted intoarailway line. proposition andby the 1840s ithadbeen enough businesstosustain itasacommercial Forest HillandSydenham. Itdidnotattract Canal nearNew Cross, passingthrough from west totheGrandSurrey The Croydon Canalopenedin1809andran ground ontheedgeofSydenhamCommon. who builtsome name wastheinvention ofits Forest Hillhaditsorigins inthisperiod. Its out onauniform grid. New Town, withformal terraces ofhouseslaid were Deptford New Town (1805-1840)andLee buildling totake off. Foremost amongstthese communications whichallowed speculative was accompaniedby improvements in development ofcommon landand The Enclosure Act of1810allowed providing suburbanretreats for thewell-to-do. Michael Searleslike theParagon andtheCircus, on theborder withGreenwich, thework of for thegentry, Hilland, includingDartmouth some oftheareas that provided grandhouses in Greenwich, SydenhamandBlackheath were London’s suburbscamelater, butCrooms Hill like Hackney, RichmondandChelsea. South areas wealthier migratedtocountry artisans orearlier,century whenmerchants andthe This wascontinuing atrend beguninthe16th streets.cramped andoftendarkinsanitary moved outofthecentre toescape thecapital’s As Londongrew, sothosewhocouldafford to GEORGIAN AND REGENCY(1700-1840) fi fteen large housesonhigh fi rst developer, rst . shipping andtradefrom thedocksalong established by thisstage, withstrong linksto centres ofDeptford and Lewisham were of urbansettlementinLewisham. The historic The planfrom around 1830shows theextent (Plan by UrbanPractitioners2010) Historical development c.1830 Majesty’s Of Stationary Reproduced from theOrdnance Survey digitalmaps withthepermissionof Controller ofHer fi ce ©Crown Copyright. LicenseNo. LALA075221. Published2010. 31 Lewisham Character Study | Final Report | September 2010 32 Lewisham Character Study | Final Report | September 2010 roo Slate from north Wales becametheubiquitous introduction ofmass-produced components. ofbuilding materialsandthe transport The railway network allowed thecheap afterwards atBrockley. More villasandlargeterraces were builtshortly Eliot Bank. properties includethoseonSydenhamHilland the products shown in the exhibition. Surviving many ofthemowned by peopleassociatedwith inSydenhamwerethe north substantialvillas, railway station. The houses thatwere builtto building becameamajorattractionwithitsown at UpperNorwood theenlargedandextended of theGreet Exhibition. Initspermanenthome Hyde Parkwhere ithadbeenthecentrepiece was dismantledfrom itsoriginallocationin fashionable after1854, Palace whentheCrystal At thesouthofBorough, Sydenhambecame works operatedfrom the1840sto1860s. London’s early locomotive mostimportant Works atPomeroy Street inNew Cross, where spilling outofthecapital suchasHatchamIron but alsotohouseworkers intheindustries homes for someofLondon’s The associateddevelopment notonly provided all ofwhichsucceeded. enterprises andmany speculative ventures, not and 1950ssaw facilities. Subsequentrailway maniainthe1840s increased thecapacity andspeedofsuch tenyears earlier,service buttrainsgreatly 1838. This hadbeenpresaged by anomnibus between LondonBridgeandGreenwich in (and oneofthe Lewisham, withLondon’s Railway development tookoffearly in EARLY (1840-1870) VICTORIAN fi ng material–lightweight, durable and fi erce competitionfrom rival fi rst in the country) opening rst inthecountry) fi rst railway line fi rst commuters, rst Forest HillandSydenham duringthisperiod. to 1880andhighlightsthegrowth ofBlackheath, . The plan shows development up which early settlementsgrew duringtheearly The adjacentplanillustratestheextentto character ofthearea today. Quaggy, have continued toshape theform and with thesmallrivers of theRavensbourne and railway companies. The railway lines, together also thecommercial competitiveness ofrival spread across thearea, re Lewisham andCatford. A latticeofrailway lines In 1857theMidKent Railway opened, serving practical directions stylistic anddecorative information aswell as as classicalmotifs. Builders’patternbooksgave English Picturesque and GothicRevival aswell widespread andincludedexamplesofthe of Blackheath. Stylisticvariationswere however Italianate villasoffLeeHighRoadandinparts favoured for many developments, including material, althoughstuccorender was still – Londonstockswere themostfamiliar the SoutheastofEngland. Yellow-grey bricks had oncebeenprevalent across Kent and inexpensive, itreplaced theclay tilesthat fl ecting theterrain but (Plan by UrbanPractitioners2010) Historical development c.1880 Majesty’s Of Stationary Reproduced from theOrdnance Survey digitalmaps withthepermissionof Controller ofHer fi ce ©Crown Copyright. LicenseNo. LALA075221. Published2010. 33 Lewisham Character Study | Final Report | September 2010 34 Lewisham Character Study | Final Report | September 2010 the west end. trams andhad itsown railway stationserving and artisans; placeslike Catford well by served a few years earlier, providing housesfor clerks Often thehouseswere smallerthanthosebuilt and HitherGreen. 278 acres andbeganbuildinghousesatCatford up by Archibald Cameron Corbett whobought ParkFarmwasbought In 1896landatNorth commuting intothecity and thewest end. class populationaswell andclerks asartisans was housingfor London’s burgeoningworking other lively motifs. At thesametimethere exaggerated withturrets, bay windows and architectural embellishments, sometimes often grand, re-introduction ofred brickand and considerablevariety–largerhouses period. This wasatime of eclecticstyles in Sydenhamare notable examplesfrom the Vicars HillatLadywell (1880s) andJew’s Walk communities. social andfunctionalfacilitiesfor thenew stations, pubs andhotelsprovided the Lewisham. Schools andhospitals, railway of recreation includingtheHippodrome at quickly developed. There were alsoplaces at , Forest HillandLewisham were horsedrawn at the Cityandwest end. These were connecting thesouthLondonsuburbswith From 1870there were regular tramservices at , LeeandStJohn’s. around apark)aswell as both laidoutongridswiththelattergrouped at New Cross (Hatchamand Telegraph Hill, growing apace, withextensive developments By the1870sLewisham andDeptford were LATE (1870-1900) VICTORIAN fi rst. Linearshoppingcentres fi lling parcels ofland Sydenham andForest Hillneighbourhoods. Lewisham isevident, asistheextensionof Signi point oflate Victorian growth intheborough. The planfrom around 1890captures themid fi cant late Victorian growth around (Plan by UrbanPractitioners2010) Historical development c.1890 Majesty’s Of Stationary Reproduced from theOrdnance Survey digitalmaps withthepermissionof Controller ofHer fi ce ©Crown Copyright. LicenseNo. LALA075221. Published2010. 35 Lewisham Character Study | Final Report | September 2010 36 Lewisham Character Study | Final Report | September 2010 houses laidout onagridoforderly terraces. off Sydenham Lane–substantialred brick probably the development atSydenham Thorpe The mostnotable exampleoftheperiod is tiles. replaced by machine-made typered ‘Rosemary’ although inmany instancesthey have sincebeen brick andpebbledash. Roofsare oftenclay tile, – plaster, timber, lead, copper, red and yellow A widerangeofbuilding materialsare found Edwardian andinter-war periods. War andthere isaclearcontinuity between the development perpetuatedpasttheFirst World pattern ofdevelopment. This approach to individual feel, whichre areas, butmore typically houseshave astrongly this wasinplannedgroups orrelatively large out by amany different developers. Sometimes either onaregular or development. Areas of plannedstreet network, that itsetsthetonefor much ofthefollowing Edwardian periodisalsocrucialintheway fl or banksare architectural often given particular roads thecornerbuildingssuchaspubs, hotels the street scene. Intown centres and onmain turrets andgablesthatlendalively characterto dimensions, with irregular projections, bays, of thisperiodare richly modelledinthree eclectic mixofmotifs. As ageneralrule, houses revival and andCrafts,Arts oftenwithan in immensely variedwithnumerous stylistic Edwardian housesintheBorough are Woolwich, andotherdestinations. intocentralLondonaswell as public transport trains continued toprovide cheap andready areas were electri theLewisham andDeptfordThe tramsserving EDWARDIAN (1900–1914) ourishes, withentrancesonthecorner. The fl uences: Dutchrenaissance, Queen Anne fi ed by 1904, whichwiththe fl exible grid, were built fl ects a fragmented and theEdwardian period. Catford over ofthe thelatterpart Victorian era illustrates thescaleofdevelopment eastof The planfrom around 1920particularly (Plan by UrbanPractitioners2010) Historical development c.1920 Majesty’s Of Stationary Reproduced from theOrdnance Survey digitalmaps withthepermissionof Controller ofHer fi ce ©Crown Copyright. LicenseNo. LALA075221. Published2010. 37 Lewisham Character Study | Final Report | September 2010 38 Lewisham Character Study | Final Report | September 2010 and theBauhaus are evident insomeareas, philosophies asespousedby LeCorbusier Europe and North America. Modernist buildings, andincorporating techniquesof time, especially for factories andcommercial also beginstobeintroduced widely atthis aftertheFirst shortages World War. Concrete windows, slendersectionsboostedby timber including metalwhichwas usedfor Crittall Building materialsatthis timewere diverse, electri Council 1926-29, coincidingwiththe The Grove Parkestate wasbuiltby Lewisham Underground orgood proximity tosurfacerail. public transport, withnoaccesstothe London although they were relatively poorlyby served of thelargestCouncilestatesincountry, Bromley. Together the two estatesformed one along sinuous roads extendingintoborough of in 1924-38, with some7,000houseslaidout The estate, alsoby theLCC followed green andspaciousquality. The area wascompleted by 1923andhasavery green withastrong garden suburbin out onaformal planradiatingfrom ahexagonal War. 2,700cottage-inspired houseswere laid aftertheFirst to thehousingshortage World the LondonCountyCouncil, inresponse partly farm onwhichitstoodandwasdeveloped by The Bellinghamestatetookitsnamefrom the growth inprivatehousing and room sizes. This waslaterovertaken by and working tonationalstandards ofdensity drawing onsubsidiesfrom centralgovernment Council andby theLondonCountyCouncil, on anunprecedented scale, bothby Lewisham prompted thebuildingofworking classhousing after theFirst The housingshortage World War INTER-WAR (1919-1939) fi cation oftherailways. fl uence. signi car and certainly roadcar andcertainly traf more ruralcharacter. Planningfor theprivate contrasting wththeGarden Citymodelwithits fi cant atthistime. fi c isbecoming borough between the World Wars. extensive suburbangrowth inthesouthof The planfrom around 1940highlightsthe (Plan by UrbanPractitioners2010) Historical development c.1940 Majesty’s Of Stationary Reproduced from theOrdnance Survey digitalmaps withthepermissionof Controller ofHer fi ce ©Crown Copyright. LicenseNo. LALA075221. Published2010. 39 Lewisham Character Study | Final Report | September 2010 40 Lewisham Character Study | Final Report | September 2010 across theborough. of typicalexamplespost-wardevelopment The imagesshown here illustrateaselection enduring anddistinctive quality. prevailing trends inarchitecture, butwithan brick chimneys –outofstepperhaps withthe colourwashed walls, pantileroofs andstout conscious return tothe Kentish vernacular with and around avillagegreen. Includinghouses Corporation by DonaldMcMoran–terraces Hill designedfor theCityofLondon development onthesouth sideofSydenham Lammas Green (1955-57) isadistinctive war. acquired andcleared by theCouncilbefore the were builtin1949-50onasitethathadbeen andJaneDrew; thehomes is anotablework by themodernistarchitects Daneswood Avenue offBromley Road, Catford from thisperiod. The Pass Lewisham’s Lewisham town centre. former naval yards onthe Thames, butalso World War, especially around thedocksand The borough washeavily bombedintheSecond POSTWAR (1945-1960) fl ats. The development represented a fi rst tower blocksandslabsdate fi elds estateat, cases alossofhistoricstreet patternsaswell. re have beenredeveloped inthepost-warperiod, blue alsoidenti developed sincethewar. The areas outlinedin and neighbourhoodextensionshave been growth indicatesthatrelatively littlenew land The planshowing theextentofpresent day fl ecting alossofhistoricfabricandinsome fi ed thoseareas oflandwhich (blue linestobeadded) (Plan by UrbanPractitioners2010) Historical development c.2010 Majesty’s Of Stationary Reproduced from theOrdnance Survey digitalmaps withthepermissionof Controller ofHer fi ce ©Crown Copyright. LicenseNo. LALA075221. Published2010. 41 Lewisham Character Study | Final Report | September 2010 42 Lewisham Character Study | Final Report | September 2010 development across theborough. of typicalexamples1960s andmore recent The imagesshown here illustrateaselection raised population. mixing to more conventional street-based schemes, Most recently, there has been agradualreturn amongstolderhousing. ingeniously inserted imaginatively plannedandexecuted andoften projects aswell asnew build, some ofit fore, oftenwithrefurbishment orconversion recently, housingassociations have beentothe by theBorough Architect inthe1970s. Most fl Latter development has includedblocksof using simple, repeatable elements. are oflightweight timberframedconstruction, Swiss-born architect Walter Segal. The houses Walter’s Way –self-build housing by pioneering system-built estates, theBorough ishometo social andphysical failings ofsomethe By contrast, asareaction and partly tothe a feature ofthescheme. Long blockslinked by high level walkways were 1963-66 onformer Victualling . Pepys EstateatDeptford, builtby theLCC Amongst themore daringprojects wasthe developments andconventional developments. style takingtheirplacealongsidelower-rise components inthemoderninternational tower blocks, usingpre-fabricated concrete experimentation tookplacewithsystem-built new architectural andurbanforms. A periodof seen acontinued desire toexperimentwith ofthe The latterpart Twentieth has Century 1960S ANDAFTER ats in Lewisham andBrockley Parkhousing fl ats andhousingtoaccommodate a 43 Lewisham Character Study | Final Report | September 2010