Lewisham Heritage

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Our July Tea Time Talk is tomorrow!

3pm Deptford Lounge with Jack Fortescue of Acme Studios, exploring the history of 165 Childer's Street, Acme's Propeller Factory

More info at https://lewisham.events.mylibrary.digital/event?id=143357

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Our July Tea Time Talk will be 'Engineering, paper bags and easels: Acme Propeller Factory', with Jack Fortescue of .art, 23rd July 3pm The Library

After the short talk, attendees are welcome to share their memories of the building and companies (including J Stone and Co and Donovan Bros) who have occupied 165 Childers Street.

More info and sign up for reminders at

Engineering, paper bags and easels: Acme Propeller Factory Join Lewisham Heritage for a Tea Time Talk with Jack Fortescue of Acme, taking us on a quick journey through the history of Deptford's Acme Propeller Factory at 165 Childers Street. After the short talk, attendees are welcome to share their memories of the building and companies who have occupied 16...

Service update!
Our July and August Saturday researcher appointments will not be the first Saturdays of the month.
July's appointments will be on 13th July, and August's will be on 17th August.
You can book at www.tinyurl.com/lewheritage or send us an email.
📸Brockley Branch Library Reading Room 11 Mar 1959, LEW PH60/19 © Lewisham Heritage, Lewisham Council

Save the date!

Our next Tea Time Talk will be 'Engineering, paper bags and easels: Acme Propeller Factory', with Jack Fortescue, 23rd July 3pm at The Library at Deptford Lounge.

After the short talk, attendees are welcome to share their memories of the building and companies who have occupied 165 Childers Street.

More information and sign up for reminders at

Engineering, paper bags and easels: Acme Propeller Factory Join Lewisham Heritage for a Tea Time Talk with Jack Fortescue of Acme, taking us on a quick journey through the history of Deptford's Acme Propeller Factory at 165 Childers Street. After the short talk, attendees are welcome to share their memories of the building and companies who have occupied 16...

Join us tomorrow for our Heritage Drop In Session at the Broadway Theatre, Catford.
We will be available 2pm-5pm

Lewisham Libraries are taking residence in the iconic Broadway Theatre, Catford for the SEEN Lewisham Global Majority festival.

The Lewisham Heritage team will be in our reading room to provide free advice and guidance related to the history of the borough. Our Heritage team can support you in researching your family history, the history of a specific area or a topic.

Wednesday 12 June, 2-5pm.

Come along for a chat or to find out more about accessing our services.

More about Lewisham Heritage https://libraries.lewisham.gov.uk/digital-content/lewisham-heritage

Browse the SEEN Lewisham programme https://linktr.ee/lewishamlibraries

Lewisham Heritage

Our Women of Lewisham talk is tomorrow!
If you haven't had a chance to book a spot you can do so at https://lewisham.events.mylibrary.digital/event?id=115565 or drop us a message!

📣Have your say on the future of Lewisham town centre

We're back at Unit 25 in Lewisham Shopping Centre (opp TK Maxx) from 11am - 4pm TODAY

We'll also be there at the same time on:
☑️Saturday 16 March (tomorrow)
☑️Wednesday 20 March
☑️Friday 22 March
☑️Tuesday 26 March

Pop in to see our plans, have your questions answered by the team and fill in a survey

Don't have time to visit us? Give your feedback online https://lewishamtc.commonplace.is/

📣 We're making BIG improvements to Lewisham town centre, after securing £24m in funding through the to transform

-Lewisham Library
-Lewisham Market
-Lewisham High St

These changes are set to to boost the local economy and benefit the entire community

We're keen to know what you think of our designs!

Complete our printed or online survey by Monday 22 April or drop-in to see us at Unit 25 in Lewisham Shopping Centre (opposite TK Maxx)

Find full details 👉 lewishamtc.commonplace.is

Did you know? Elsa Lanchester is well remembered today as the Bride of Frankenstein. However, Catford born Lanchester was also Oscar nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her parts in Witness for the Prosecution (1957) and Come to the Stable (1949). She won a Golden Globe in 1958 for her role as Miss Plimsoll in Witness for the Prosecution.

Find out more about Elsa and other Women of Lewisham next Thursday, 21st March, 6.30pm, Granville Park Adult Education Centre with Women Of London's Becky Laxton-Bass

Booking and more information at https://lewisham.events.mylibrary.digital/event?id=115565

Our Women of Lewisham talk returns!

Join Women of London's Becky Laxton-Bass, as we once more explore the lives of Lewisham's extraordinary female icons, from Marie-Louise Christophe (the first and only Queen of Haiti) to community worker Sybil Phoenix and Beatrice Drapper, the first woman Mayor of Deptford.

This talk will celebrate some key life stories and histories which have left lasting legacies in Lewisham, from medical pioneers to social reformers and politicians.

21st March 6.30pm, Granville Park Adult Education Centre.

More information and booking at https://lewisham.events.mylibrary.digital/event?id=115565

‘Page’s Hair Cutting, Shampooing and Singeing Saloon, 203 Lewisham High Road.

Established in 1969, Mr. Page’s hair cutting and shampooing saloons are capitally located a 203 Lewisham High Road at the corner of Lucas Street and opposite Manor Road. They are the largest and best appointed in Lewisham and are fitted with all the modern appliances for converting the operation of hair-dressing into a positive luxury. In addition to the main saloon on the ground floor – an engraving of which heads this notice – there is an apartment upstairs specially set apart for the reception of ladies, wherein the different operations of hair-cutting, dressing, shampooing &c., are performed by a staff of experienced assistants.’

So read the entry for this long-gone Deptford hair cutters in ‘Lewisham, Lee, Blackheath and Catford (914 Lew, Oversize) published in 1894. Owned by Charles H Page and his wife Jane, Charles was born in Lewes, Sussex, the experienced assistants were his teenage and early 20’s children. Charles died in the shop and the family grave is in Brockley & Ladywell Cemetery. The Page dynasty would continue barbering and hairdressing, the next two generations owning shops in Hither Green and Beckenham.

Today, the site of this business is the Aligab Service Centre on Lewisham Way.

Although today the park comes under the control of the London Borough of Bromley, Crystal Palace sits just outside of Lewisham’s borders and led to the development of Sydenham as a place for the wealthy to live: especially for a small community out of successful German merchants and businessmen. Places such as Charleville Circus were developed to home the wealthy people who came to the exhibition after its reconstruction and enlargement from Hyde Park in 1854.

Today is also the day the entire thing burnt down in 1936. Fires had happened before in 1866 and 1923, but this one was so intense it could be seen illuminating the sky from miles around. Melted glass run down Anerley Hill like lava flow.

This image was taken from the School of Art shortly before the building was ravaged by flame.

Local historian Ken White had a chunk of cooled- down glass which is now in the collection of the Lewisham Local History Society beneath New Cross Learning.

Today echoes of the past exist in surviving statues and landscaping and of course, the .

📸:PH 62 513, Lewisham Heritage collection.

https://lewisham.events.mylibrary.digital/event?id=99486

Join us next Monday at 4pm in Catford Library in the first of our tea-time talks, celebrating Lewisham's heritage. Valentina Briganti will be talking about her work cataloguing the council bomb records - a valuable resource showing where the bombs dropped, what was the damage and what we can learn from this resource in how World War 2 was managed in the borough.

A great chance to socialise and meet your fellow Lewisham residents. Tea and refreshments provided!

The name 'Forest Hill', invented by a developer in the 1790s, was an accurate description of the natural featues of the area. At first it applied only to what is now the northern three-quarters of Honor Oak Road, then an isolated wood on the northern edge of Sydenham Common, through which the developer had just driven the road. Fifteen or so large houses were soon built there.

Expansion became possible with the passing of the Lewisham Enclosure Act in 1810, but at first the address of the new houses in London Road and Dartmouth Road was just 'The Common'. The spreading of 'Forest Hill' began in the 1840s, encouraged by the decision in 1845 to change the name of the station from Dartmouth Arms to Forest Hill.

The last substantial part of Forest Hill to be built was the area between Stanstead Road and Perry Hill, which was the furthest from the station.

Kilmorie Road, seen here, dates from the 1890s, when modest terraces had become the standard, rather than the detached and semi-detached houses of Forest Hill's more oppulent days. The view is towards Stanstead Road.

One of the few bits of the collection we have access to are the Lewisham war records. Five filing cabinets full to the brim with detailed incident reports and admin on every single bomb that dropped on the borough during . The time, the damage, whether stretchers were needed, how many casualties were there, were biscuits needed? It’s a fantastic resource that gives an hour by hour progression of the war from 1939 to 1945. We also have a little bit for Deptford.

Join Lewisham Heritage for the first in a series of Tea Time Talks, where together we will be discussing and exploring these records. Valentina Briganti will be presenting the work she has been doing on recataloging and studying these records and the stories she’s found from this dark part of the borough’s history.

Monday 27th November from 4-4:45pm at !

Link in bio!

📸: A.R.P group during World War Two. Some in official clothing: some in civilian dress in Catford.

On November 5th 1967 the Hastings to Charing Cross train derailed between Hither Green and Grove Park stations. All down to a broken rail and poor track management: 49 people lost their lives that day. Your friendly neighbourhood historian had a neighbour who was aboard the train and the horror of the accident stayed with her until her final days. Lewisham Heritage has several copies of the enquiry that happened as a result of the disaster.

Join us for our next local history talk given by Tamara Brown: a personal insight into migration, family history and the 1960s at Manor House Library on Thursday 19th October 2023 at 6:30pm. Free as ever, please share and RT!

My Grandmother's Tapestry: Communism And West Indian Experiences In 1960s Britain Local researcher Tamara Brown will be discussing her research and dissertation which was influenced by her late grandmother's booklet 'The Tapestry', which was based on her reminiscences of experiences in the West Indies and immigrating to Britain in the 1960s. Tamara also will be looking at the imp...

Announcing our next local history talk! Local researcher Tamara Brown will be discussing her research and dissertation which was influenced by her late grandmother's booklet 'The Tapestry', which was based on her reminiscences of experiences in the West Indies and immigrating to Britain in the 1960s. Tamara also will be looking at the impact of the 'Flamingo Magazine', using to promote West Indian settlement and integration in Britain, while also using anti-communist propaganda in response to threats from the Cold War.

This talk will be at Manor House Library on Thursday 19th October 2023 @ 6:3ppm. Free as ever, but booking essential! Link in our bio.

This evening at at 6:30pm we’ll be welcoming Melanie Backe-Hansen to show you how to research your own house history! She’ll show you what resources to use, where to look, and how to record it!

Melanie will also be sharing examples of previous histories she has unearthed from across London and will be selling and signing copies of her books at the end of the talk as well. This is by far the biggest query we get at Lewisham Heritage, so we welcome you an invited to an engaging and stimulating discussion on how to go back in time and meeting your historical house occupants. Completely free, sign up link in our bio!

A recent addition to our photographic archive: perhaps you can help us in finding out some more about it. The depositor states this is a woodyard in Deptford, whom some members of the Mackenzie family worked at. The photo is dated 1911: but can we find out anything more specific? What company was B.B & H.L.D? If you can help us find out more about this photo, do drop us a message.

A slightly tricky one to visualise, this. This picture, taken on the 4th June 1993 shows the building works ahead of the Lewisham 2000 project, when the area to the east of Lewisham station was in the process of redevelopment. That lone building to the left of the picture, with the garlic-like bulb on top, is what remains of the pub on Railway terrace: the old approach to the train station. Today that site is now the location of the DLR: the road route now used only for buses. Gone too is the parallel Crathorn Street, now lost beneath the looming towers of the Lewisham Gateway. 🏗️

Photo Ref: PH 93 17879

The Downham Tavern was once a much larger watering hole. Built as a ‘superpub’ in the interwar years,it was the second pub to be built on a housing estate after the Fellowship Inn in Bellingham by the London County Council. It appeased local authorities by being more family friendly and it once boasted tennis courts, a tea room, bowling green and roof garden.

A lesser-known fact is that in its early years, it was also home to an exotic bird collection kept by F Johnson, who had in his collection, a pair of golden green Acari toucans from Central Mexico, a golden fronted woodpecker (also from Mexico) and a pair of black-headed bulbuls from the Himalayas. The former and latter were the only known examples in England at the time, according to the Lewisham Borough News on the 7th February 1933. He exhibited his birds in the Crystal Palace and was happy to show his patrons his collection, as long as it was in daylight hours.

Announcing our next talk!

One of the biggest queries we get at Lewisham Heritage is about house history. Who once walked through your front door? And how do you go about finding out about who they were, and where to look?

For this talk we have invited Melanie Backe-Hansen, who recently worked on the BBC's fantastic 'A House Through Time', to share some case studies, as well as tips, tricks, and resources she has learnt over the years in tracing previous occupants and owners of houses through the centuries.

This event will be at on Tuesday 19th September at 6:30pm: book your place by clicking here!

https://lewisham.events.mylibrary.digital/event?id=77678

St Dunstans in Bellingham’s opening day and procession, 21st November 1925.

The church was designed by Sir Charles A Nicholson, a prolific architect of the early 20th century who was known for his war memorials and ecclesiastical buildings. He also designed the west front of St.Anne’s cathedral in Belfast and the ministerial government buildings in Kingston, Jamaica.

The London County Council made sites available for churches on the estate, and the Church of England raised the money to build St.Dunstans (though there was never enough to build the planned eastern section).

And more! Electoral registers, old photos, OS and historic maps, microfiche records, local history books. Recently we’ve helped research on the Downham estate and community development along the River Ravensbourne.

We’re closed this week for staff holiday but still answering queries!

With records representing over 500 years of Lewisham history, you can visit Lewisham Heritage to learn more about your area and your family’s local connections.

Some recent visitors have:
📚 Used materials for their PhD thesis
🌳 Discovered their family tree
🗺️ Looked up their house on old maps
📷 Found old photos from WWII

Based on the top floor of Lewisham Library, our reading room is a space for historical research.

To book an appointment, contact Lewisham Heritage today, or use their online resources: https://lewisham.gov.uk/myservices/libraries/heritage

A little local lore here that doesn’t seem to have trickled down to the present day.

In 1786 Charles Boone Jr died, aged 12. Charles was the son of Christopher and Harriet (who was painted by Joshua Reynolds, with another sibling - the painting was destroyed during the Blitz in Berlin apparently, but a copy and several prints of it survive). When he died, Charles requested a loaf of bread, a bottle of wine, a tinder box, matches and a candle, in order to assist him when he expected to rise again 50 years afterward.

So, in 1836, the poor of Lee descended to the family tomb in the old churchyard of St.Margaret’s, Lee, with the foot-long key to the vault beneath this handsome monument to observe any stirring from the child’s coffin.

Suffice to say, they were disappointed. And Charles is still there, with his family.

This was written about in a publication by A. J G***k about the Farm and Hall Park estates and is also related in an old copy of the Lewisham Borough News from July 1950.

Your humble historian has a few questions about this bit of lore - why would a 12 year old want a bottle of wine when he returned from the dead (I suppose he may have been old enough to drink by that time?) and how they got ingress to the tomb beneath - are there steps leading down, with a covering?

Either way, a nice bit of lore with an often overlooked space in the borough.

Opposite Lewisham College is an odd-looking building: best viewed from the top deck of a bus as you ride up or down Lewisham Way. This is the Stone House, a neo-Palladian villa that was built by and for George Gibson.

Gibson was the architect responsible for rebuilding St. Mary’s Lewisham in the 1770s and The Knoll, Eliot Hill in Blackheath (which he was commissioned to build for James Wright, a merchant). Before moving to Deptford he had been a limner (or architectural draftsman) in Great Titchfield Street in the 1760's and in 1768 moved to Hanover Square, where he started practicing as an architect.

Despite being a designer of buildings, he enjoyed the finer things in life rather than his actual profession. "He would rather sip his claret, drink his Madeira, chat about Art and Music and take s***f with a gusto than ascend ladders, tramp scaffolds to see how Bricklayers filled in their work or try the scantlings of wall plates and bond timbers" according to ‘Annals of the Fine Arts’, a quarterly magazine edited by James Elmes in the mid 1810s.

The building is an architectural whimsy: a calling card for his prowess as an architect as much as it was meant to be a home for his family. Constructed between 1766 to 1774 on Halfpenny Field, he likely lived on site in a small cottage to oversee construction work. It is also clear he built it as a country retreat: Deptford and Lewisham were still distinctly unmerged from urban sprawl at that time. Originally, it was also called ‘Comical House’ and sat within grounds of seven acres, which boasted a fine parkland landscape before the property was sold in 1795.

Gibson remained at the house for 25 years before relocating to Blackheath – perhaps wanting somewhere a little more remote as Deptford began to grow and get busier – before dying in 1821. He’s buried in the churchyard of St John at Hampstead: the same place where Constable the painter and ‘Morning Has Broken’ writer Eleanor Farjeon permanently reside.

Stone House would later be the home to Daniel Whittle Harvey, a radical English politician and early innovator behind The Sunday Times.

This image was painted in 1840 by an unknown artist.

Next Wednesday from 4-6:30pm we’ll be at Deptford Lounge with one of our popular heritage drop-in sessions! Meet the team, get help and advice for genealogy and local history research, browse some history books or just swing by for a chat to the borough’s official archive service. It’s completely free and there’s no need to book!
https://t.co/VgfQe43DEC

🖼️: Albury Street in 1922 by Evacustes A. Philson. One of the oldest streets in Deptford: mercifully spared from the wrecking ball in the 1960s. Numbers 13-45 & 34-40 are grade II* listed.

Brookehowse Road, Bellingham, 1964. This photo was taken for ‘Britain in Bloom’ in 1964: an annual competition that was started the year before to celebrate the best of a Britain’s towns through overflowing flower pots and baskets. Bellingham didn’t win, sadly. (Bath did)

Today we have the daunting task of wading through the paperwork of 50 years worth of talks given by our predecessors. We found these in our filing cabinets and haven’t been touched in years: the vast majority of these talks were given in the mid 1970s, on topics ranging from Thankfull Sturdee’s Deptford to Leisure in Victorian Lewisham. A hugely useful resource.