History of Beechgrove, Sydenham Hill

Beechgrove was near Cox's Walk, opposite Lammas Green. A stretch of garden wall along Sydenham Hill survives. The house was built about 1862. The first occupant, William Patterson, was an East India merchant and he called his new house “Singapore”. After a couple of years he decided “Beechgrove” was more appropriate. Patterson lived there until his death in 1898.

The next two occupants have entries in the Dictionary of National Biography. By 1911 Samuel Herbert Benson had moved from London Road, Forest Hill to Beechgrove. Benson had been invited by John Lawson Johnston (another local person) to become the advertising agent for Bovril. He is regarded as the originator of modern advertising campaigns by using advertisements to engage potential buyers rather than merely informing them. His company was eventually absorbed by Ogilvy & Mather who were, allegedly, the inspiration for the advertising agency in the television series “Mad Men”.

Benson was followed at Beechgrove by Sir William Watson Cheyne who lived there from 1919 to 1921, a distinguished surgeon who was assistant to Joseph Lister and, later, President of the Royal College of Surgeons. During his time at Beechgrove he also served as an MP.

In 1922 Frederick Aubrey Norris moved into Beechgrove. He was an engineer whose firm, F A Norris & Co, made iron staircases, particularly fire escapes. In 1930 Norris moved to Eliot Lodge, Kirkdale and Miss Rose Ellis moved into Beechgrove. She had moved out by 1932 when Lionel Logue and his family moved in. In time Logue’s children left home, his wife died, the house became too large and expensive to maintain and, in April 1947, Logue moved to a flat in Knightsbridge.

The house seems to have been unoccupied until, on 17 June 1952, it opened as Beechgrove Home for the Aged Sick, run by the Red Cross to provide nursing care for patients who had been discharged from hospital but still needed medical care. When the Home closed in 1960 the house remained unoccupied again until it was demolished in 1983.

Several sources suggest that the folly in Sydenham Hill Woods was once in the grounds of Beechgrove. This was not the case. It was in the grounds of Fairwood, the house immediately to the south of Beechgrove. Fairwood was built in about 1862 and the first occupant was Alderman David Henry Stone, Lord Mayor of London. Shortly after moving to Fairwood he commissioned James Pulham & Son to build the folly. Pulhamite garden ornaments are now highly regarded and a number have been listed by English Heritage. There are at least two other surviving examples hidden away in gardens along Sydenham Hill.

Beechgrove now is little more than an overgrown pile of rubble although a section of the garden wall survives to its full height along the boundary with Fairwood and remains of the greenhouses can be seen along the boundary with Lapsewood to the north.

The World of Herbert Brush

In 1937 two men, a journalist and a film-maker, wrote to the New Statesman outlining their plans for a scientific survey of the everyday lives of ordinary people. They proposed that volunteers should keep diaries, recording their daily lives. The project, which became known as “Mass Observation”, was based at Grotes Building, Blackheath. By 1939 some 500 volunteers countrywide had agreed to keep diaries which were sent each month to Mass Observation. Although some wondered whether anybody was bothering to read them most continued writing their diaries throughout the war, and a few continued until the early 1960s.

The diaries offer a unique insight into the lives of ordinary people during this turbulent period. A few years ago a selection of post-war extracts from these diaries was published*. One of the diarists was “Herbert Brush” from Sydenham, a “retired electricity board inspector”. He began writing his diary in September 1940 and continued until March 1951.

“Herbert Brush” was a pseudonym, but the writer left sufficient clues in the diary to identify him. He was, in fact, Reginald Charles Harpur, aged 73 in 1945. He lived at 25 Kirkdale, on the junction with Thorpewood Avenue, from 1939 until his death in 1959. He shared the house with Winifred Gunton (“W” in the diaries and owner of the house), Dorothy Woods (“D”), and a cat. The relationship between the three members of the household is not clear.

View down Kirkdale with Reginald's house just visible behind the long fence.

Reginald spent much time tending his allotment, round the corner in Baxter Field. He was not averse to experimenting: “I have planted out a row of ‘celeriac’ this afternoon. This is the first time I have attempted ‘celeriac’, and I don’t even know what it looks like”. He was disappointed with the results.

Reginald regularly entered a borough-wide competition for the best kept allotment. In 1946 he was dismayed that he was not even given a certificate. The following year he writes: “I have again put my name down as an entrant to the allotment competition though I nearly made up my mind to give it a miss this year, as I was not at all satisfied with the judging last year and suspect that the Labour Council… was responsible.” Reginald was, in his own words, “a Conservative Nationalist” and distrusted both the Labour council and government.

Gerald was regularly stopped by “Old Ing” on his way to the allotment. William Ing was a retired policeman who lived in Lynton Cottage, Mount Gardens. He liked to pass on gossip, which Gerald would record:

“…met Ing on the road... he always has the latest bit of news. Apparently the postman who delivered our letters and parcels has been caught pinching things and when the police visited his house they found about a ton of things which he had stolen…”
“According to Ing, the landlord of the Woodman went to the Derby… he telephoned and told his family to put their shirts on Airborne… which won. Ing was of the opinion that there was a wangle…”

Another person he chatted with in Kirkdale was Miss Hudson “the ninety-three-year-old nurse… with a voice like a foghorn” who, Ing claimed “can drink beer by the pint.”

Sometimes Reginald was inspired to write poetry:

“Is now too hot
To go to the plot
So I’ll sit indoors awhile
And drink barley water
As everyone ought’er
Who suffers a little from bile…”

And sometimes he would think about numbers: “I have been playing with no.37 today, a very remarkable number. A prime number, multiplied by 3 the product is 111, by 6 it is 222, by 9 it is 333 and so on by multiples of 3 up to 27”.

The diary records frequent visits with Winifred to the Capitol Cinema in London Road, or the State in Sydenham Road. In January 1948 he and Winifred went to the Capitol to see “Gone with the Wind”. Reginald writes that “…there was a queue about 100 yards long when we arrived, but we got in.”

During the summer Reginald creosoted the long fence that still surrounds the garden: “…it is rather a slow job, many people stop to talk about the weather and the iniquity of small boys who like to damage garden fences.”

Once, he records, a woman stopped him in Thorpewood Avenue: “… a large hedgehog was lying near the steps which led up to her house. She was afraid to touch it so I put it in her front garden, saying that it would be a useful pet… the animal had evidently tired itself out trying to escape from the pavement, but the only way was up the steps and I don’t think that hedgehogs can climb steps.”

In 1945 Churchill passed through Forest Hill “… so W, D and I went to London Road near Horniman’s Museum to see him go by. We got there about 6pm but it was 7:10pm before he went past in an open car… making his usual V sign and I only caught a glimpse of him…”

Going to his allotment one evening he saw the postman emptying the pillar box in Kirkdale (it is still there) when a man in a car drove up and tried to hand a large envelope to the postman: “the postman would not touch it and said that the man must put it through the slot... the man had to get out of his car and walk round to reach the slot and then had some difficulty getting it through… the postman then picked the letter out of the pillar box and put it in his bag. The man began to curse him and gave him a few unpleasant names. I looked round several times as I walked down the road with my bucket and hoe, and they were still at it when I turned into Charlecote Grove.”

Reginald experienced two exciting examples of modern technology. Someone lent him a Biro pen: “I am trying it out, just to find whether it would do for my diary writing”. He was impressed, saying that “the ‘Biro’ pen runs so easily it is a pleasure to write with it”.

Reginald was not so easily impressed with television. In 1948 Reginald and Winifred “went into the Sparks, next door [Seymour Lodge, on the site of Hassocks Close], to wish them a Happy New Year and to look at their television picture of the Cinderella pantomime. My eyes are not good enough to see such a small picture well”.
Reginald also gives his views on the younger generation (for him, those born after 1914): “My own opinion is that they are very much worse in every way. Judging by the ones I come across they have no manners at all… London children are absolutely crafty little liars and clever thieves…”

Gerald finds shrapnel on his allotment, sees people sifting through rubble in the grounds of Sydenham School and long queues to buy a loaf of bread. These glimpses of life in Sydenham in the immediate post-war years give a fascinating insight into the issues of the time and especially the mundane preoccupations of ordinary people.

* “Our Hidden Lives”, Simon Garfield (Ebury Press, 2004)

The theft of the Irish Crown Jewels

Sir Ernest Shackleton, who spent part of his boyhood at 12 Westwood Hill, was one of Sydenham's best-known residents. Heroes are fine, but often villains are more interesting and one of Sydenham's most notorious villains was none other than Sir Ernest’s younger brother, Francis Richard Shackleton, known as Frank.

The story begins with a report in The Times of 8 July 1907 that the “Crown Jewels and other Insignia of the Order of St Patrick”, popularly known as The Irish Crown Jewels, had disappeared from a safe in Dublin Castle, Ireland. This regalia had been created in 1830 from diamonds and rubies once belonging to Queen Charlotte and was used on State visits to Ireland. Queen Victoria used the regalia on four occasions and Edward VII once, in 1903.

On 6 July 1907, during the preparations for Edward VII's next visit to Ireland, it was discovered that the regalia had disappeared. It was clear that this was an inside job as there was no evidence of a break-in, and both the strong room and safe had been opened with keys. The safe was in the office of Sir Arthur Vicars, Ulster King of Arms and guardian of the Crown Jewels.

In the official report of the theft, Vicars was found negligent and forced to resign. One "grave charge" against him was that he “associated with a man of undesirable character” and “introduced this man into his office”. In defence, this man was said to be a friend of influential peers and “came from a well-known and highly respected family”. He is not officially named.

Vicars vigorously protested his innocence. His three assistants resigned. One of these, with the job title “Dublin Herald”, was a young man of “charismatic personality” called Frank Shackleton. Frank was, and still is, widely regarded as the most likely suspect. He was probably the “man of undesirable character”. He “lived by his wits and his charm, ingratiating himself into the highest social circles”. He was also homosexual. I suspect that is what “undesirable character” means.

There have been suggestions that the heralds and others were involved in nightly orgies at Dublin Castle. It is claimed that Sir Arthur Vicars was blamed in order to protect someone else, and that the King himself was involved. In Vicars’ will he states that he was made a scapegoat when they “shielded the real culprit and thief Francis R. Shackleton”.

Frank was never charged with the theft. However some six years later he was found guilty of “fraudulent conversion” when he and another cheated a woman out of nearly £6,000. He was sentenced to 15 months hard labour. On his release he changed his name to "Frank Mellor", and under that name he lived in Cator Road in 1919-1920. He then lived for a time in Penge. In about 1934 Frank Mellor moved to Chichester where he ran an antiques shop. He died there in 1941.

Several questions remain. Why would Edward VII want to protect Frank Shackleton? In early 1907 Ernest Shackleton was making arrangements to lead his first expedition to the Antarctic, an expedition being followed closely by Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. They visited Ernest when his ship was at Cowes on 4 August 1907. In September 1907, shortly before leaving for the Antarctic, Shackleton gave a lecture to the King and Queen at Balmoral where he said the King was “very jolly” and “enjoys a joke very much”. Was the unfortunate Vicars sacrificed to save the family name of a national hero?

Another reason for Edward VII's close interest in the case has been suggested. The Marquis of Lorne, who was married to the king's sister, Princess Louise, is known to have been homosexual. He was also a close friend of Frank Shackleton. At this time homosexuality was still an imprisonable offence. If it became widely known that the King's brother-in-law had a relationship with the man, even then, widely suspected of having stolen the Irish Crown Jewels the scandal would have shaken the Monarchy to its roots.

For many, that is the reason why so many vital documents were destroyed, why Shackleton was shielded and why the inocent and naive Vicars took the blame.

And what of the Irish Crown Jewels? There are various theories including that they were sold to a Dutch pawnbroker, or to private collectors, or buried outside Dublin. They were even, according to an official document, offered for sale to the Irish Free State in 1927. Whatever became of them, to this day their whereabouts has remained unknown.

First published in Sydenham Society Newsletter (1999)

Frightful Accident at the Crystal Palace

On the afternoon of Thursday 18th August 1853 over a thousand mourners gathered in the nave of the partially completed Crystal Palace, on Sydenham Hill. As the clock struck three a procession formed and began the journey down Westwood Hill (then West Hill) to St Bartholomew's Church, described in one account of the funeral as "an elegant modern structure, embosomed in luxuriant foliage, and situated in a most romantic spot". Others joined the procession as it made its way down Westwood Hill. By the time it reached the church there were, according to one estimate, between two and three thousand mourners.

They were paying their last respects to eight men who, with four others, had died while working on the construction of the new Crystal Palace. The men were killed when scaffolding upon which they were working collapsed. Their funeral was conducted "in a very impressive manner" by the incumbent of St Bartholomew's, the Reverend Charles English.

Nearly two years earlier, in October 1851, the "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations" had closed. The exhibition had been held in a wonderful building in Hyde Park, designed by Sir Joseph Paxton and dubbed by Punch "the Crystal Palace". The building was due for demolition and a new site was desperately sought. Eventually a perfect spot was found, on the summit of Sydenham Hill. The erection of a much larger Crystal Palace began on 5th August 1852.

The rebuilding progressed speedily and within a year much of the structure was in place. By August 1853 work was starting on the arched roof of the great central transept, to become perhaps the most easily recognisable feature of the completed building. This transept, which crossed the central part of the main building, was 384 feet long by 120 feet wide and 208 feet high and had to be spanned by a great arched roof. The builders had to construct a series of temporary trusses to support the arches over which the glazed roof would be built. The trusses were made in situ, 170 feet above the ground, on scaffolding that was supported not on the ground but on already constructed galleries around the central transept.

At about 2 p.m. on Monday 15th August 1853 Mr Chamberlain, a medical man, was walking down Anerley Hill. He heard a sharp noise "like the falling of a plank". He then heard "a loud crack" and saw a large part of the scaffolding in the central transept give way. There was "a great cry followed by a tremendous crash" and he saw (in an unfortunate but graphic phrase) "workmen dropping like partridges". Mr Chamberlain hurried to the central transept where he saw, amongst the debris of the fallen scaffolding, "sixteen or seventeen workmen, dead and dying". In fact, twelve men died, five were injured and one, amazingly, survived quite unhurt. The precise cause of the accident was never determined, and the coroner's inquest was unable to apportion blame. However Messers Fox & Henderson, the building contractors, decided that future scaffolding would be built from the ground rather than from the galleries.

The Times reported that the accident was: "...an example of the risks to which the working classes are exposed in the course of their employment... The character of the building in which the accident occurred and the favour in which it is regarded by the public insure for this melancholy event an unusual degree of sympathy. These men have perished while engaged upon the construction of a building unparalleled for its magnitude, for the originality of everything connected with it, for its social objects, and for the manner in which it is to be carried out... How little will these [men] be remembered bye and bye when the people are in full enjoyment of their Palace and everything but its transcendent splendour is forgotten".

But these men are remembered, and the Crystal Palace itself has gone. Ten of the dead share a grave, 16 feet deep, in St Bartholomew's churchyard. Their grave is marked by a large flat stone surrounded by a low railing to the right of the middle path, from Westwood Hill to the south porch. It is shaded by a yew tree. Although the inscription is now barely legible those buried in this grave were: James Wardlow, Joseph Copping, George Rolph Smith, George Topham, William Hardy, John Foreman, William James, Henry Fielding, Henry Reading and William Harris. The last two died in Guy's Hospital and were buried in the grave on the following day, 19th August 1853.

An architectural adviser from English Heritage recently visited the monument, and reported on its condition, giving advice on repair and preservation. It is hoped that resources will become available at least to prevent further deterioration and, perhaps, to restore the monument.


Footnote: this article was first published in 2000; the grave was restored and rededicated in 2003.

Cobb’s Department Store, Sydenham

There are more pictures of Cobb's here

For 70 years or more Cobb's was perhaps the most prestigious department store in SE London. In 1900 The Times mentioned it in the same paragraph as Debenham & Freebody, D H Evans, Harvey Nichols, John Lewis and Marshal & Snelgrove. Cobb's was founded by Walter Cobb in 1860 and closed in 1981.

Walter,the son of Frederick and Maria Cobb, was born at Mercery Lane, Canterbury in 1835. His father was a grocer, his shop within yards of the entrance to Cathedral Close. By 1851, when he was 15, Walter was an assistant at a draper’s shop in Dover.

In 1860 he came to Sydenham and opened his own draper’s shop. It was in a newly built parade of shops called Lawrie Place, between what is now Spring Hill and Peak Hill Gardens. His original shop was on the site of the present 301 Kirkdale and Cobb called it “Regent House”, a name that still survives. Walter Cobb, his new wife Mary and two sales assistants lived above the shop.
Walter Cobb was an astute businessman, and the shop prospered. Over the next 30 years he acquired other shops in the terrace, on either side of his original shop. By 1898 Cobb's store extended from 297 to 301 Kirkdale. He also bought other property in Sydenham: 270 and 272 Kirkdale (St Christopher’s Hospice and the paint shop), a depository in Silverdale (recently converted to flats) and 1-3 Railway Approach where he had an estate agents and funeral parlour. Cobb’s became the leading store for the fashion conscious of Sydenham and a considerable area around. People even travelled from Bromley to shop at there.

The shop that Walter Cobb must have coveted most, the present 301 Kirkdale, on the corner of Spring Hill, remained unavailable. From 1861 it had been a butcher’s shop, owned by William Glass. In about 1900 the shop finally became available and Cobb lost no time in rebuilding it to provide a grand entrance to his department store. The upper floors had large arched windows, the central one surmounted by a pediment with carved decoration and the date it was built, "1902". Above this was a lead-covered dome, topped by a flagpole.

Walter Cobb lived above his original shop for a few years, then in Silverdale Lodge, Silverdale and Peak Hill Avenue. In about 1898 he moved to The Old Cedars (then called "Wunderbau") before finally moving to Sussex where he spent his retirement growing prize-winning orchids. He died in 1922.

On 25 October 1940 Cobb's was hit by a bomb. About "three quarters of the building was destroyed with all contents”. The principal material loss was most of the original Lawrie Place. The surviving parts of the building, mainly the 1902 rebuild, was “adapted and fixtured to maintain the restaurant and other departments in condensed form”. Cobb’s suffered other damage, and after the war was rebuilt and restored.

During the restoration much interesting detail was lost. The arches of the second floor windows were filled in. The stonework in the pediment was plastered over, and “1860” (the date the shop was founded) replaced the original “1902” (the date of the building). Cobb’s declined, and finally ceased trading in 1981

In 1997, when the 1902 building was converted to flats, the the original window arches were exposed and restored and the carved stonework in the pediment (and date) was revealed.

All Saint's Church Bell, Sydenham

All Saints Church, Trewsbury Road, cannot now be seen to best advantage. The most visible part is the unattractive west end, which was never finished. The rest of the exterior (now obscured by more recent building), and the interior, are of exceptional quality, and the building is listed Grade II.All Saints’ Bell, which was hung on an external wall under a small shelter at the NW end, has not been heard for many years, perhaps since World War II. It was recently taken down for cleaning and restoration. On removing the corrosion and bird droppings the restorers noticed the remains of an inscription round the waist of the bell. It read “ROYAL EXCHANGE 1844”. Apparently, this discovery caused great excitement amongst bell historians. Research was undertaken to discover how a bell, clearly destined for the Royal Exchange, ended up in a church in Sydenham that was not built until 1903.

The Royal Exchange was destroyed by fire in 1838, and was rebuilt during the early 1840s. It stands between the Bank of England and the Mansion House, at the heart of the City of London. The bells of the Royal Exchange have been an integral part of the sounds of the City since at least 1601. When the Exchange was rebuilt it was agreed that a suitably impressive peal of bells should be part of the design. However, there was protracted controversy over the quality of the bells, experts disagreed and acrimoniously questioned each other’s competence, new bells were cast, and still there was disagreement.
The company that cast the bells, Mears of Whitechapel, invoiced a bell to “The New Church at Sydenham” on 21 Dec 1844. The term “New Church” is misleading. St Bartholomew’s, then only 12 years old, was often referred to as the new church, but it already had a bell. However, in 1845 the Episcopal Chapel (on the corner of Sydenham Road and Trewsbury Road - see illustration) was “thoroughly repaired… when a small spire in the early English style was added”. If there was a spire, there should surely be a bell to go in it. From the end of the 18th century, Christ Church, as the chapel was then called, was a chapel of ease for the fairly distant parish church of St Mary’s, Lewisham. The congregation had little money to buy a bell, so they bought a reject, or “scrapper”, one of the bells originally intended for the Royal Exchange.
When All Saints (the dedication was changed to avoid confusion with Christ Church, Forest Hill) was built in 1903, and the Episcopal Chapel became All Saints Church Hall, the bell was moved to the new church. It is likely that around this time the spire on the chapel was removed. The restored bell will soon be reinstated and, after fifty years of silence, a sound that first summoned the faithful of Sydenham to prayer nearly 160 years ago will be heard once again.

Sydenham VC holders

Sydenham can boast several VC holders. The earliest holder I could find was Private Harry Hook (1850-1905) who received his VC at Rorke's Drift, Natal, in 1879. He bought his discharge in June 1880 and came to live on Sydenham Hill. However by March 1881 he was working as a groom in Monmouthshire (he probably did similar work in one of the large houses on Sydenham Hill), so his links with Sydenham were short-lived.

Major Francis Harvey (1873-1916) has a rather stronger connection as he was born in Sydenham, although I haven't yet been able to establish where. He was mortally wounded at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916, and his VC was awarded posthumously.

Our next VC technically lived in Camberwell. Commander Gordon Campbell (1886-1953) was the seventh son of Colonel Frederick Campbell who lived at 2 Crescent Wood Road, Sydenham Hill from about 1882 until his death in 1926. Gordon attended Dulwich College and on leaving in 1900 joined the navy. He won his VC in February 1917, as commander of a Q-ship (a tramp steamer armed with hidden guns and torpedoes, intended to lure U-boats). Gordon Campbell's nephew, Lt Col Lorne Campbell (who grew up in a house near the petrol station on Crystal Palace Parade) also won a VC, during World War 2.

However, Philip Gardner had the strongest links with Sydenham. His father, Stanley, lived at 37 Trewsbury Road from about 1914. Stanley ran the family business, J Gardner & Co, Monument Works, Beckenham. They made air-conditioning equipment.

Pip was born in Sydenham on Christmas Day, 1914. He attended Dulwich College 1928-1932 and, on leaving, went to work in the family firm. In 1938 he joined the Westminster Dragoons, Territorial Army (confiding to a friend: "I must do my duty, but I'm no soldier"). In 1940 he was commissioned into the Royal Tank Regiment and in April 1941 was posted to North Africa.

In June 1941 Pip was awarded the MC. Several tanks had entered a minefield in Libya, and become immobilised. The senior officer, inspecting the damage, stepped on a mine. Pip jumped from his own tank and walked through enemy machine-gun fire to the injured officer. He returned to his tank to get morphine, and went back to the officer. The man was dying, so Gardner stayed with him until the end, still under machine-gun fire. He then led the tanks back to safety.

Five months later, at Tobruk, Pip won his VC. He took two tanks to assist two armoured cars, broken down and easy targets for enemy gunfire. Pip tied a tow-rope to one of the cars. It broke, so he returned to the car and, despite wounds to his arm and leg, he managed to carry a wounded man back to the tank, and eventually safety, all the time under heavy fire. The citation said: "The courage, determination and complete disregard for his own safety … enabled him, despite his wounds and in the face of intense fire at close range, to save the life of his fellow officer in circumstances fraught with great difficulty and danger" or, as he put it in a letter to his parents: "I went back again and got the poor chap out of the car and on to the tank and set off again".

Pip Gardner died in 2003 aged 88. He showed genuine heroism, all the more impressive because of his modesty. One obituary described him as "the most delightful of men, combining modesty, courage and charm with sensitivity and strength of character". When he was 71 he caught a robber in the street, and held him until police arrived. Afterwards he commented to his companion: "Well, that got the adrenaline going a bit!"

Pip sold the engineering side of the business in 1988, but remained chairman of J Gardner Holdings until 2001. Although he long ago moved from the area, the Gardner Industrial Estate, in Kent House Lane, is a tangible reminder of his close links with Sydenham.

I am very grateful to Jan Piggott for providing much information on Pip Gardner.

A brief history of the Dolphin

Records suggest that Sydenham's three oldest surviving public houses were founded within several years of each other; the Greyhound in 1726, the Golden Lion in 1732 and the Dolphin in 1733.

The earliest mention of the Dolphin is in the Parish Register of St Mary's, Lewisham which records that on 1 July 1733 "Stephen son of Richard Peke from Sippenham, ye Dolphin" was buried (note the earlier spelling of "Sydenham"). Stephen had been baptised in St Mary's only a couple of months earlier.

It is likely that the building occupied by Richard Peake was a farmhouse, the centre of a farm that extended towards Perry Vale. At the start of his tenancy Peake was probably principally a farmer, but also a publican. Berryman's Lane and then Mayow Road follow a field-path on his land between Sydenham Road and Perry Vale.

Richard Peake was at the Dolphin from 1733 until 1769, not only the first but also the Dolphin's longest serving publican. For more than 200 years after his tenancy ended there was a long succession of publicans who generally only stayed for a few years.

The Dolphin was on Sydenham's largest estate, centred around the Old House. This estate extended along Sydenham Road from the Dolphin to the Greyhound, and north as far as Perry Vale. It was created by Edward Hodsdon between 1713 and 1719. It cannot be coincidence that although the Greyhound and the Dolphin were on the estate, they were at its margins. It seems likely that both were encouraged to become public houses as a further source of revenue for Edward Hodsdon, who made his money as a Southwark wine merchant, but kept at a safe distance from his house.

After the death of the last owner of the Old House estate, Mayow Wynell Adams, in 1897 the land was sold, mostly for development. It was probably at this time that the Dolphin was acquired by Courage, of Horsleydown, Bermondsey.

During the 1930s whatever remained of the original building disappeared when Courage decided to rebuild the Dolphin. Their in-house architect, F M Kirby FRIBA, drew up plans for a new building in the then popular "Brewers' Tudor" style. It had lounge, saloon, private and public bars (patrons were carefully segregated by social classes and gender). The plans were approved on 28 Nov 1935 and during 1936 the new building was opened for custom.

One question remains; why was a pub so far from the sea called "The Dolphin"? Although dolphins feature in the arms of the Borough of Lewisham that was only from 1966. However, for centuries dolphins were believed to protect sailors and, by extension, became emblematic of safe travel, kindness and charity. "The Dolphin", therefore, is a most appropriate name for an inn at which travellers would rest and take refreshment before continuing their journey.

The Greyhound, Sydenham

Click here for more pictures

There has been an inn on this site since 1720, and possibly as early as 1713. Joseph Hyde was the first recorded landlord, mentioned in 1726, and the inn is first referred to as The Greyhound in 1727, and again in 1729 when parish registers record the burial of Joseph Hyde in St Mary's Church, Lewisham. The oldest part of the building, made of timber, was demolished several years ago. Its outline can still be seen at the side of the Greyhound, from the car park.

The inn was built on the south eastern edge of Sydenham Common. The Common, now covered by Upper Sydenham and much of Forest Hill, was used by local people for grazing animals, gathering wood, recreation, hunting and holding fairs. The earliest inn faced the common (looking across Spring Hill), and had unbroken views to the summit of Sydenham Hill. Two tracks crossed the common, one leading to Dulwich (now Westwood Hill) and the other towards London (now Kirkdale).

In about 1640 mineral springs, with alleged healing properties, were discovered on Sydenham Common, in the present Wells Park Road and Taylor's Lane area. Demand for the water increased and several wells were sunk to ensure adequate supplies. Their popularity increased and one visitor complained about the "rabble of Londoners" who came to visit the wells. Visitors were accused of mixing the water with "brandy or other strong liquors" (supplied by local inns), and then blaming their hangovers on the water! Wealthier visitors to the Sydenham Wells would have required lodgings and this could have been one reason for building the inn. The popularity of the Wells peaked with a visit from George III (in about 1760) but then declined. The wells were filled in. During the late 19C the last remaining well was described as "a dirty pool and the water very nasty".

The Greyhound Inn, like inns at Dulwich, Streatham and Croydon with the same name, was used as a meeting place for local hunts. Greyhounds were bred for hunting, using speed and keenness of sight. During the 18C and until 1812 or later, the Old Surrey Hounds (the fictional Jorrock's pack) would meet at the Greyhound. The Old Surrey hunted an area that covered Brockley, Sydenham, Dulwich, Peckham and Croydon. Sydenham and Forest Hill were particularly noted during the 18C for having a large fox population.

Trade at the Greyhound Inn was boosted with the building of the Croydon Canal, which operated between 1807 and 1836. The canal connected Croydon with the Thames and followed roughly the line of the present railway track from New Cross Gate to Sydenham and beyond. The inn provided refreshment for the 'navvies' who built the canal and was also a resting place for those who used the canal for work or recreation.

The poet Thomas Campbell lived on Peak Hill between 1804 and 1820. He regularly used the Greyhound and apparently entertained some of his distinguished visitors (who included Sir Walter Scott, Lord Byron, George Crabbe and Sarah Siddons) at the inn. Sir Charles Bell (a Scottish surgeon) writes of an evening spent with Campbell at the Greyhound when the poet returned home "not drunk, but in excellent spirits". Other accounts suggest that there were occasions when he had to be helped home to bed.

An early painting shows pleasure boats moored against a landing stage near the inn, known as Doo's Wharf. Certainly in 1807 the inn had a boat and boat-house, as the landlord was accused of not allowing his boat to be used to rescue a man who had fallen into the canal reservoir and drowned. The man had been trying to retrieve a duck he had shot.

A major change to the character of the area resulted from the passing of the Enclosure Act of 1810. This proposed the enclosure of all common land in Lewisham, except for Blackheath. From about 1820 what had been open common, from the Greyhound to the top of Sydenham Hill and from Westwood Hill to Honor Oak Road, was fenced in and gradually built over.

The Croydon Canal failed and in 1836 the London & Croydon Railway Company bought its assets. They built a railway, roughly along the line of the canal, which opened in 1839. A station, almost adjacent to the inn, gave yet another boost to the Greyhound.

Sydenham was becoming a thriving and populous suburb and there was obviously a need for a more modern and prestigious inn. In 1873 an application was submitted to the Board of Works by Abraham Steer, a Norwood builder, to add an extension to the southern side of the building, fronting on to Kirkdale. Much of the interesting detail of the inn dates from this time.
The character of the Greyhound Inn has undergone a number of changes over more than 270 years. It has, at different times, provided strong refreshment for visitors to Sydenham Wells, been a meeting place for local huntsmen, refreshed those boating on the Croydon Canal, played host to Georgian literati and quenched the thirst of clerks returning from their offices in the City.

Kirkdale Learning Centre

As it now seems probable that the main part of the Kirkdale Learning Centre was built to the designs of Sir Joseph Paxton, I thought it might be worth tracing the history of the building, and its contribution to the community.

The origins of the building can be traced back to about 1853, when the Crystal Palace was still being erected on Sydenham Hill. Sir Joseph Paxton, architect of the Crystal Palace, was approached by John Scott Russell, (also closely involved with the Crystal Palace) who had just moved from his cottage in Charlecote Grove to be nearer to the Palace. Scott Russell asked Sir Joseph about the possibility of building a scaled down version of the Crystal Palace, as an "Institution" for the working men of Sydenham.

Nothing further is recorded until in 1858 a meeting was held where it was agreed to build a lecture hall in Sydenham along the lines of the Mechanics' Institutes. These institutes were intended as "self-improving working men's adult education colleges", often funded by wealthy local people and offering free lectures on arts, science and technical subjects. They might include a library and newspaper reading room, and sometimes also a school.

A suitable site was bought with the help of a loan from Robert Harrild, of Round Hill. Sir Joseph Paxton was asked to produce designs for the building, which he did. Unfortunately funds were not sufficient to follow his designs fully, and they were modified by Henry Dawson. The foundation stone was laid on 12 October 1859 by Alderman David Wire, Lord Mayor of London, who lived at Stone House, Lewisham Way.

The building was officially opened by Sir Joseph on 15th January 1861. From the beginning he had been closely involved with the institute and was described as its "originator". He was appointed its first president and a trustee. Other trustees included Scott Russell and Sir George Grove.

The building included provision for a school on the ground floor. The British School, which had been founded near the Golden Lion in 1851, moved into the new building in January 1861. A girls' school opened a couple of months later, apparently on the first floor. British Schools were non-denominational, set up as an alternative to the National Schools, such as St Bart's, which were strongly Anglican.

In 1876 the School Board for London became responsible for the British School, and it was renamed Sydenham Central School for Boys. Then, in 1905, the LCC took over responsibility. They renamed it Sydenham County Secondary School (and, for a while, Shackleton Girls School). In 1917 the school moved into new premises in Dartmouth Road to become today's Sydenham School.

The building was enlarged in 1904 with wings and large chimneys at each side, and a single storey extension across the front. Above the entrance are the words "Sydenham Central School". Behind these extensions the original building rises, in a style described as "Italian Renaissance". The detail and colour of the brickwork are worth a close look.

The contemporary drawing above, which has recently come to light, shows the building as it was intended, with two towers that were never built, and extending further back, but the main block appears very much as it survives today. Although much of the building is now pebble-dashed, I suspect this was applied when the Edwardian extensions were built. The outline of the five tall ground-floor windows can still be seen within the modern extension. All this suggests, therefore, that the present building is nothing less than the central block of Sir Joseph Paxton's original design.

Scandal of Lewisham's first mayor

The closure of the Sydenham branch of Barclays Bank and its reopening as the ACTS Credit Union, opposite the Greyhound, set me thinking about the colourful career of one of its former employees. During the 1880s the bank was known as the London & South Western Bank (it was taken over by Barclays in 1918) and its manager was Theophilus William Williams, a man described (perhaps with some exaggeration) as "the biggest crook the borough has ever known". He was also, for many years, the most powerful political figure in Lewisham (one account describes him as "virtually dictator").

Williams came from humble origins. He was born in a workhouse in East London in 1846. By March 1871 he was lodging in a house in Longton Grove and working as a bank clerk.

In December 1871 he married Jane Dexter, a wealthy heiress, at the Church in the Grove, Jews Walk (now the Grove Centre). Although only a bank clerk his marriage certificate describes him as a "gentleman". Probably from the time of his marriage (he has, after all, married into money) he was living at Shirley House, 133 High Street (now Dartmouth Road, on the site of Sydenham School). By 1876 he had risen to become the manager of the L&SW bank. He had also moved house, to Borrowdale, 13 Westwood Hill (this still survives, on the corner of Lawrie Park Gardens).

Williams was a lay preacher at the Church in the Grove during the 1870s and, apparently, could draw large crowds. However, it was in local politics that he used his oratorical skills to best effect, and through which he pursued his ambitions. In 1876 he was elected to the Lewisham Vestry, and was elected to the Lewisham Board of Works the following year. In 1882 he became Chairman of the Board of Works, a position he held until the board was dissolved in 1900, when the Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham was formed. He was then elected Mayor of Lewisham and, in 1901-1902, served a second term in that office. During this time he represented Sydenham on the council. For twenty years, between 1882-1902, he was the most powerful politician in Lewisham. He was also a magistrate, and he represented Lewisham on the LCC.

During the mid 1880s Williams retired from the bank and became proprietor of the Kentish Mail, a small chain of local newspapers. A sympathetic newspaper is perhaps the most useful aid an ambitious politician can have.

It is clear that Williams was a persuasive public speaker, and a person of some charm and charisma. Many years later a former employee described him as "a dominating personality … (with) tremendous charm and forcefulness". He was a veritable model of the Victorian self-made man, with a seemingly selfless devotion to public service. It was during his second term as Mayor, however, that "unwholesome rumours" began to circulate about his private life.

In fact, Williams was not self-made. Other people paid for his respectability and extravagant lifestyle. Through fraud and embezzlement he persuaded them to part with their money. He had, after all, been a bank manager, and people trusted him. He spent both his wife and sister-in-law’s inheritance, under the guise of managing it. He was the trustee of a widow, and lost her money; he embezzled his employees out of their savings (it was claimed he forced them to invest in his companies as a test of loyalty).

It was not until 1908 that matters finally came to a head. He was summoned to appear at Lambeth County Court to face bankruptcy proceedings. The investigation was impeded because Williams had burnt most of his business records. It is clear that his business affairs were highly irregular, involving his use of false names; business colleagues who had died, gone missing, or whom he simply couldn’t remember; loans to himself from trusts he was managing and gifts to people whom he "didn’t know". During the proceedings Williams attempted to flee to France, but was recognised and arrested at Liverpool Street Station.

As a consequence of his bankruptcy examination he was summoned to appear at the Greenwich Magistrates’ Court (where he himself had been a magistrate) to answer charges of obtaining money under false pretences.

However, the case never came to court. On the day of his trial, 11 Nov 1908, the magistrate was informed that Williams was dead. The inquest was held a few days later. Williams had taken an overdose of morphia (it seems that he was a regular user of this drug, at least during the last weeks of his life) and the jury returned a verdict of "suicide during temporary insanity". The coroner quibbled with this and the agreed verdict was "death from an overdose of morphia, self-administered". This avoided the stigma of suicide – clearly an attempt by the coroner to save something of the reputation of the former mayor and magistrate.

This was not the end of Theophilus William Williams. His name lives on, particularly in Sydenham and Forest Hill. It is to be found on the foundation stones of Forest Hill Library, Forest Hill Swimming Baths, and the Jews Walk fountain. Elsewhere in the borough it is on the foundation stones of the old Lewisham Central Library and Ladywell Swimming Baths. It is ironic that a man so corrupt should leave behind such a worthy legacy.

A Brief History of Lawrie Park

Lawrie Park takes its name from the Lawrie family, several generations of whom owned extensive land and several large houses in Sydenham. In 1806, Andrew Lawrie bought the newly rebuilt Sydenham Hall (to which Hall Drive once led). He was a major under Wellington, died at Burgos in 1812 and has a memorial in St Bartholomew’s church. The family also owned Westwood House, which was on the site of the Shenewood estate.

When the Great Exhibition of 1851 closed, the Crystal Palace Company was formed to re-erect an enlarged building within a grand park. To this end they bought nearly 400 acres of land on the slopes of Sydenham Hill. An 1852 map of their property shows that the estate included not only the present Crystal Palace Park but also (with a few exceptions) the present Lawrie Park estate. The original site acquired by the Company extended from Crystal Palace Parade in the west to the railway line between Sydenham and Anerley in the east. The southern boundary was Anerley Hill, and in the north, Westwood Hill formed the boundary. It is clear from the map that as early as 1852 the Company intended to raise funds by building along Crystal Palace Park Road and Sydenham and Lawrie Park Avenues.

Lawrie Park was one of five local estates built during the early 1850s and in 1858 a writer commented that Sydenham had many parks “consisting not of open spaces, but of good roads and detached or semi-detached villas”. Lawrie Park, being so close to the Palace and under the direct influence of the Crystal Palace Company, was probably the most prestigious.
George Wythes of Bickley Hall bought the site enclosed by Crystal Palace Park Road, Lawrie Park Road and Westwood Hill. Wythes made his fortune building railways, so developing housing was a new venture. On the strength of his success at Lawrie Park, he went on to develop Bickley Park. It was surely no coincidence that Wythes was a good friend of Sir Joseph Paxton.

Wythes employed William Goodwin as his builder. The Goodwin family had built houses in London Road and the Jews Walk conservation area. They now turned their attention to Lawrie Park. By 1858 there was “a large manufacture of bricks on the upper part of the land”. Charleville Circus, the final development, was built over the brickworks in the mid-1880s.

William Goodwin built Cecil House, 191 Lawrie Park Gardens, for himself in 1860, and lived there until 1862. Interestingly, Luis Zorilla, an exiled Spanish anarchist and friend of both Camille Pissarro (who painted the best known image of Lawrie Park in 1871) and Paul Gauguin, was living here in 1885. According to Gauguin’s biographer, he travelled from France “to Cecil House in Lawrie Park where Ruiz Zorilla was now living”. So both Pissarro, in 1871, and Gauguin, in 1885, visited Lawrie Park.

Several distinguished architects have been associated with the estate. Charles Barry, the architect of Dulwich College, designed several buildings including, possibly, Holmbury Dene, 2 Lawrie Park Road. It is possible that Watson Fothergill designed Burnage Court, Lawrie Park Avenue, in 1888. Joseph Fogerty, who lived at Ashbourne, Lawrie Park Gardens, did some work for what is now Sydenham High School, including the extraordinary stable and coach-house. His daughter, Elsie, went on to found the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Other architects who lived on the Lawrie Park estate, and may have designed some of its buildings, included Henry Currey (St Bart’s lychgate and St Thomas’ Hospital, Westminster Bridge Road), Edwin Nash (interior of St Bart’s and St Michaels School, Lower Sydenham), John Norton (houses in Crystal Palace Park Road and Tyntesfield, Somerset) and James Tolley (ACTS Credit Union building in Kirkdale). Even Forest Hill’s best known builder, Ted Christmas, had an influence. He converted Bolney Court, 3 Lawrie Park Road, to flats where he spent the last few years of his life, dying there in 1935.

Although so few of the original buildings survive, the wide roads, grass verges, mature trees and views have helped Lawrie Park retain much of the quality and character envisaged by its creators and captured so vividly by Camille Pissarro.

Fox & Hounds & High Street Buildings

An application was recently submitted to English Heritage asking that they consider listing the Fox and Hounds and the adjacent High Street Buildings, 134-150 Kirkdale. Although we were delighted that English Heritage agreed to list High Street Buildings grade II, it was disappointing that they felt unable to list the Fox and Hounds.

The EH advisors were enthusiastic about High Street buildings, noting the “special architectural interest of their attractive, free Queen Anne style architecture, dramatic roofline, and presence in the streetscape” and remarking on the survival of “original features including three of the five late C19 shop fronts” (a couple of years ago the Sydenham Society successfully objected to plans to remove these shopfronts).

High Street Buildings was erected in about 1896 to the designs of Alexander Robert Hennell, a local architect born in Mayow Road in 1872 and still living in Forest Hill 40 years later. Several other buildings by Hennell have been listed including the Jews Walk fountain and Forest Hill Library. The EH advisor commented that High Street Buildings displays Hennell’s “skill for quirky use of a variety of architectural motifs”.

The name “High Street Buildings” reflects the fact that for more than 100 years Kirkdale, between Wells Park Road and Fransfield Grove, and Dartmouth Road as far as the police station was officially “High Street, Sydenham”. The earliest buildings in the High Street were built during the 1820s, mostly small artisans’ cottages. The area became the centre for shopkeepers and tradesmen, and was Sydenham and Forest Hill’s very first shopping centre. The fortunes of the High Street began to decline when Lawrie Parade, a rather more fashionable group of shops, was built at Cobb’s Corner. Walter Cobb had a small drapers shop in Lawrie Parade (where the Citizens’ Advice Bureau now is) that he called “Regent House”. He gradually took over other shops in the parade and eventually created perhaps the most fashionable store in SE London.

The fortunes of the High Street shops went into further decline with the building of Grand Parade in Sydenham Road, between Queensthorpe and Mayow Roads, in the early 20th century. By 1936 “High Street, Sydenham” had become quite inappropriate, and so it was renamed.

Unfortunately, the EH advisors felt that the criteria for listing the Fox and Hounds were not fulfilled, although they remarked on its “handsome exterior which contributes to the streetscape” and added “there are some attractive details in the two principal elevations; it is also of some historic interest”. The Fox and Hounds was first licensed in 1826, and was thus one of the earliest buildings in the High Street. The present building was erected in about 1891, to the designs of Thomas Haliburton Smith, and the “historic interest” refers to the fact that it was one of the first pubs to have a “saloon bar”, a novel feature in the 1890s. Unfortunately, that was removed some years ago.

The listing of High Street Buildings means that, in this part of Sydenham, the Jews Walk fountain, Farnborough House, High Street Buildings and the adjacent group of buildings (124-128 Kirkdale) are all now listed grade II, as are most of the Victorian buildings in Jews Walk and the buildings in Westwood Hill down to, and including, St Barts. There are, of course, other significant buildings that enjoy no protection whatsoever and we must do what we can to protect those.

Blue plaque for Eleanor Marx

English Heritage has recently agreed to put a blue commemorative plaque on the house in Jews Walk where Eleanor Marx, daughter of Karl and herself a passionately committed socialist and activist, spent the last few years of her life.

The first commemorative plaques were installed during the 1860s but it was not until 1901, when the London County Council took over responsibility from the Royal Society of Arts, that they began to achieve popular appeal. The earliest LCC plaques were designed by Arthur Halcrow Verstage, who lived on Horniman Drive. When the LCC was abolished in 1965, responsibility for the scheme passed to the GLC. Since 1986 the scheme has been managed by English Heritage. Because they have strict guidelines English Heritage blue plaques are the most prestigious of all. There is a strict set of criteria to be met before they are approved.

Eleanor’s plaque is the fifth in our area. There are already plaques to FJ Horniman on the Horniman Museum clock-tower (LCC), Sir Ernest Shackleton on 12 Westwood Hill (GLC), John Logie Baird in Crescent Wood Road (GLC) and Sir Francis Pettit Smith on Sydenham Hill (EH), installed earlier this year.

Born in 1855, Eleanor Marx was Karl Marx’s youngest and, perhaps, favourite daughter. She grew up to become a passionate disciple of his, and worked tirelessly to further the cause of international socialism, particularly after his death in 1883. Eleanor’s father was dominating and strong-willed yet she was closely attached to him, and admired him immensely.

Within months of his death Eleanor became involved with Dr Edward Aveling in what she called a “free love” liaison. Her attachment to her dominating father might explain her attraction to Aveling who was domineering and selfish. Few of those who knew him had anything good to say of him. William Morris described him as “a disreputable dog” and Engels’ biographer said that he had “the thieving instincts of a jackdaw and the morals of a tom-cat”. The more Eleanor’s friends tried to warn her against Aveling the more attached she became to him. She took his name, and called herself “Eleanor Marx-Aveling”. Friederich Engels, Marx’s collaborator and Eleanor’s mentor, died in 1895 leaving Eleanor some £7000, enough to make her financially independent. She decided to use some of this money to buy herself a house.

Why she chose to look in Sydenham we don’t know, but one clue is provided by her remark in a letter to her sister on 17th November 1895 that “the house we are about to buy... (Edward swears this is my only reason for buying it) is in JEWS Walk, Sydenham”. On her father’s side Eleanor was Jewish and this was very important to her. Just days before she moved in she wrote “I am Jewishly proud of my house in Jews Walk”. Clearly she was very excited by the prospect of moving to Sydenham. On 29th November 1895 Eleanor signed the lease, and paid £525. On 14th December Eleanor, and perhaps Aveling, moved into 7 Jews Walk. Originally called “Moraston Lodge”, Eleanor decided to call the house “The Den”. It seems that Aveling spent little time at The Den. He visited occasionally “to demand money, speak of his conquests, and menace her”, according to one account.

Eleanor spent much of her time working on her father’s papers, and writing. Thanks to Engels’ bequest she could now afford some secretarial help so, in early 1896, she engaged Edith Lanchester. Edith was quite as radical as Eleanor. Just before starting work for Eleanor, Edith decided to live with her partner James Sullivan. Her family was so outraged that they attempted to have her certified insane. Edith’s daughter, Elsa Lanchester (born in 1902), became an actress and married Charles Laughton. Eleanor had a wide circle of friends on the left of European politics, and there are suggestions (in letters and other sources) early members of socialist movement visited Eleanor at Jews Walk, including HG Wells, E Nesbitt and George Bernard Shaw.

During 1896 Eleanor added a codicil to her will, benefiting Aveling. Some have suggested that he persuaded her to do this. The witnesses were Gertrude Gentry, her maid, whom Eleanor described in a letter as “excellent, but rather stupid”, and “an unidentified John Smith”. Aveling was known to use false names. On 8th June 1897, using the name Alec Nelson, he secretly married a young actress called Eva Frye. Eleanor was persuaded that Eva was merely another of his mistresses and she continued giving money to Aveling. In January 1898 Aveling needed a kidney operation. One of Eleanor’s friends, H M Hyndman, hoped that “the surgeon’s knife might slip” and was inclined to blame the doctor when Aveling recovered. Eleanor paid for the operation, and also took Aveling to Margate where she nursed him back to health. In March they returned to Jews Walk. Eleanor scoured Sydenham for an invalid chair so that she could take Aveling out.

Sometime at the end of March 1898 Eleanor discovered, possibly through a letter received on 31st March, that Eva was not Aveling’s mistress but his wife, a discovery too distressing for her to bear. At about 10am on 31st March the maid was given a note to take to George Dale, chemist of 92 Kirkdale (now no. 181, sixth door down from the Catholic Church). Gertrude returned to The Den with a small white parcel and the poison book for Eleanor to sign. Dr Aveling then left the house to spend the day in London; some have asked how a man apparently so ill was able to travel to London for the day. While Gertrude was returning the poison book to the chemist, Eleanor went upstairs. The white parcel contained prussic acid and chloroform. At 10.45 am Gertrude went upstairs and found Eleanor on the bed, barely breathing. She alerted a neighbour, and then ran around the corner to summon Dr Henry Shackleton of 12 Westwood Hill, Eleanor’s doctor and father of Sir Ernest Shackleton. By the time Dr Shackleton arrived Eleanor was dead.

The inquest was held at Park Hall, Sydenham Park (now a fitness centre). Dr Aveling was evasive and non-committal. The Coroner described him as “a most difficult man”. Aveling said that Eleanor had been “of a morbid disposition and had several times suggested they commit suicide together”. The verdict was suicide, but it is widely accepted that Aveling’s unfaithfulness and profligacy with her money contributed to Eleanor’s unhappiness, even depression. There are still some who believe that he actually tricked her into killing herself. Aveling died just four months later, from complications arising from his operation.

The Origins of Mayow Park

Click here for more pictures

On 29th May 1875, a "Plea for a People's Recreation Ground" appeared in the Sydenham, Forest Hill & Penge Gazette. It regretted that "all available land in our neighbourhood is being taken for building purposes" and young people "meet and loiter about the roads, congregate at every street corner, becoming a moral pest and a nuisance". Furthermore, the poor had nothing but "the streets, the music hall, the penny gaff or the public house for their evening's resort".

This letter, written by Rev William Taylor Jones, headmaster of Sydenham College, led to the creation of Sydenham Public Recreation Ground (later renamed Mayow Park), the first public open space in the south of Lewisham. The following week, the Hon and Rev Augustus Legge, vicar of St Bartholomew's, wrote endorsing Taylor Jones' proposal. He also offered twenty guineas towards the cost.

Six months later, stung by an editorial in the Gazette that asked why so little progress had been made, Taylor Jones replied that he had hoped that "a more energetic person" would have taken up the reins. He then discussed the two major issues - how was money to be raised, and where was the ground be located?

Raising money was straightforward. The Metropolitan Board of Works (the London-wide local authority of the time) might make a significant contribution, and the rest would come from donations. The Lewisham District Board of Works (forerunner of Lewisham Council) could lay out and maintain the ground.

Finding a suitable site was more difficult. Several were discussed. One, "an excellent site", was not then available, but it would later become Wells Park. Another suggestion was glebe land (called Vicar's Field) in Dartmouth Road, where the Library, swimming pools, Thorpewood Avenue and Derby Crescent were later built. This was the preferred site. However, objectors suggested that as it was let as allotments to the poor, at a very low rent, it would be unjust to deprive them of this benefit.

By November 1875 Taylor Jones had formed a committee of two dozen of the more wealthy and influential residents, including Mayow Wynell Adams, F J Horniman, A G Hennell (architect of Forest Hill library), Rev Augustus Legge and T W Williams (embezzler, drug-taker, suicide, local politician and Lewisham's first mayor). Taylor Jones also published a list of those willing to give money, of whom F J Horniman (with £100) was the most generous.

By December 1875 the Lewisham District Board of Works had agreed that it would accept and "enclose, plant, and preserve [a suitable site] as an open space forever". Taylor Jones said, "The ground should be used for recreation, and not a mere ornamental or pleasure ground". By "recreation", he meant sports (football, cricket etc.). This comment makes clear the distinction between a "park", which was primarily ornamental, and a "recreation ground", which was primarily for sports.

A public meeting at the Foresters' Hall, Clyde Vale (the building survives) on 24th February 1876 was a turning point. It was attended by "many well known ladies and gentlemen". The Earl of Dartmouth was in the chair. Sharing the platform with him was his younger brother, the Hon and Rev Augustus Legge. Their father, as Lewisham's major landowner, was a principal proponent and major beneficiary of the enclosure of Sydenham Common in 1819.

At this meeting, Taylor Jones announced that Mayow Wynell Adams had offered 17½ acres of land for £8,500 (about half its market value). The meeting unanimously accepted the site offered by Mayow Adams and accepted a motion, proposed by George Grove, to open a subscription list of those willing to donate.

In a book published in 1878, Mayow Wynell Adams wrote, "It had often occurred to me how pleasant a thing it would be if I could devote a portion of land for the amusement and recreation of the public, but … it was not in my power to give it." In 1874, Mayow Wynell Adams inherited the Old House, on the site of the present Earlsthorpe Road. After a legal dispute with his trustees, he was able to offer the site of the present park.

A deputation, led by William Taylor Jones, approached the MBW to apply for a grant. After much discussion (and an Act of Parliament, which was needed to allow the MWB to use ratepayers money to buy land, and to bind the Lewisham District Board of Works and its successors to care for the ground in perpetuity) the MBW agreed to contribute half the cost of the site. The trustees of the Lewisham Parochial Charities (of whom Taylor Jones was chairman) agreed to donate £1000. That left £3250 for local people to raise.

The Sydenham, Forest Hill & Penge Gazette was vociferous in its support for the campaign. It pointed out that there was an obligation on the part of those who had benefited from the enclosure of Sydenham Common to give something back. "From those who received so much, something substantial is expected in return, and the public eye … will not fail to watch closely their response to the appeal for funds," the Gazette said, threateningly. Then there were those who lived near the proposed park, for their houses "will be considerably enhanced" by it. In fact, it concluded, everyone will benefit and therefore all should contribute.

By early May 1876, the treasurers held only £700 of the £3250 that local people needed to raise. William Taylor Jones wrote again to the paper, reminding people of their duty. Thomas Coleman Dibdin, a landscape painter well known in his own day, and local resident, donated "six delightful sketches" of the site of the park, for sale at £5 each, to raise money.

Eventually contracts were exchanged and the Lewisham Board of Works began the task of preparing the ground. The site consisted of four fields, and while the hedges were cleared, the ancient hedgerow oaks were kept. The site had to be levelled and drainage installed, particularly in the central area, which was to be used for cricket. The surviving bank around this area was for spectators. The original layout did not include the main entrance from Silverdale (that had to wait until the road itself was developed) but otherwise the design of the park has changed little, the bowling green and tennis courts being the main additions, and the lodge (part of the original design) the main loss.

On 1st June 1878 the Sydenham and Forest Hill Public Recreation Ground was formally opened. A procession left what is now Dalmain Primary School in Brockley Rise at 3 pm. It made its way along Dartmouth Road, down Kirkdale, Sydenham Road and Mayow Road to the park. Children from schools along the route joined it, as did many shopkeepers, who had closed their shops for the occasion. Buildings were decorated with flags and bunting hung across the roads. Members of local organisations marched (Kent Artillery Volunteers, West Kent Fire Brigade, Ancient Order of Foresters and others). There were also the carriages of those too important to walk. The "oldest inhabitant" said he could not remember an occasion to equal it. By four o'clock, the procession entered the recreation ground.

There were some 11,000 people in the park. The chairman of the Lewisham District Board of Works declared the park open "for ever", and added "those two words … signified that it was to be kept open and in good order for ever … in the same beautiful order to which it was now seen … never worse, but probably better". Another speaker showed a model of a drinking fountain to be erected in honour of the Rev William Taylor Jones. He also presented Taylor Jones with a silver inkstand.

Since the opening of Mayow Park, some ten open spaces have been created in the area. The significance of Mayow Park, however, is that it was the first. William Taylor Jones created something that few had done before. It was a typically Victorian venture, led and largely funded by the wealthy and influential, undoubtedly from the best of motives, for the benefit and improvement of those less fortunate.

Footnote: At today's prices, the 17½-acre site cost £378,057. The Metropolitan Board of Works gave £189,029 and Lewisham Parochial Charities £44,477. The local community donated £144,551. The largest individual donation (F J Horniman at £100) would be worth £4,447 today.