Thames Tributary Effra - Herne Hill

Thames Tributary Effra
A number of tributaries meet in the Herne Hill area and then flow northwards
.

Post to the west Brockwell Park
Post to the north Denmark Hill
Post to the south West Dulwich


Burbage Road
On the line of an old cart track going from Dulwich Village to Hare Hill. It is one of only a few ancient east west links in the area.
A tributary of the Effra from Dulwich coming via Belair reached Burbage Road and then ran to Half Moon Lane5 Garden of a member of The Society of Botanical Artists.
Railway Viaduct on either side of the road. Over the London Chatham and Dover Railway. It is faced in red brick with a perforated parapet, and ‘DC' alternating with '1866' on concrete medallions.
Herne Hill stadium. This is considered to be the home of track cycling in the U.K. the Velodrome opened in 1892 and was used in the 1948 Summer Olympics with Reg Harris. Its original, and unlisted, grandstand survives. It began through the efforts of the racing cyclist, George Lacey-Hillier, who floated a company called the London County Athletic Ground Limited which laid down a track in 1892. A stadium was built by Peacocks of Water Lane, Brixton, who held the lease until 1945. A cinder track inside the cycle track was used for athletics. In 1896 a concrete track was laid with 3 laps to the mile, 30ft wide and with good bankings at each end, and considered to be one of the fastest tracks in the world. 24-hour races were watched by crowds of thousands. During the Second World War the grounds became an RAF a balloon base and then the old cement track began to crack. Through Hon. Philip Noel Baker permission was granted to cover the track with bitumen so the 1948 Olympic Games cycle events could be held there. In 1945 the National Cyclists Union took over the lease from Peacocks but the running costs were so expensive that the Greater London Council took it over in 1959. It was totally redeveloped and is now a 450 metre banked oval, constructed of all weather concrete and reputed to be the fastest outdoor track in the United Kingdom. In 2005 Southwark Council refused further funding but Dulwich College Estates, the landowners, agreed a further three year lease.

Casino Avenue
Casino Avenue Estate. An estate of ‘Homes for Heroes; built with direct labour by Camberwell Council On the site of the grounds of Casino House. Built in 1920-1 on Guild principles, organized by the Office of Works under, Sir Frank Baines, and widely admired for the speed and efficiency of its operations and the quality of its architecture. Baines relied on careful site planning and contrasted steeply pitched tile roofs with plain rendered walls. Since designated as an area of special character. The area retains a remnant of the earlier landscaping by Repton.
Casino House. This was the most impressive house in the area and the Home of William Gover, statistician and actuary and City Common Councillor. It was also the home of Joseph Bonaparte Uncle of the dictator. The name 'Casino' comes from the casino built here in 1797 by Nash. The house was demolished in 1906.

Croxted Road
The name means crooked and this was Croxted Lane. Said to be a Pilgrim Road
A tributary of the Effra having meandered along Croxted Lane reached Half Moon Lane and then turned towards the site of what is now Herne Hill Station
Elmwood Road
Big elm tree there

Frankfurt Road
Local big house name 1902.

Half Moon Lane
One of the few ancient east west road in the area, it follows the general, slope of the Effra basin.
A tributary of the Effra from Dulwich coming via Belair reached Burbage Road and then ran to Half Moon Lane. Another tributary of the Effra which had meandered along Croxted Lane to Half Moon Lane and then turned towards the site of what is now Herne Hill Station
The alignment with Red Post Lane changed when the railway was built. Half Moon Lane used to go along the drive of Long Mead
Camberwell Elm - the remains may or may not be there. It was opposite the bottom end of Ruskin Walk inside a front garden. It is an extremely old tree - dating it is said from the 14th. In 1875 a drawing of it appeared in Ye Parish of Camberwell by William Harriett Blanch - It was then 36 ft in girth.
Ireland Green. Shown on old maps straddling the road near the elm. Named after members of the Ireland family
10 Half Moon pub. Cheerful corner pub of 1896, decked out with bay windows, balconies, and marble columns. The site was first built in the 17th. Boxing gym upstairs.

Herne Hill
This represents a gap in the hillside, a geological fault which allows water to flow down to join the Effra. The Dulwich branch came into the area at roughly the railway bridge by the Half Moon and were joined there by tributaries.
Effra - the exact channel of the Effra is unclear but tributaries to it met here - coming from Knights Hill in the west and Half Moon Lane to the east. John Ruskin, said that his first artistic sketch showing a bridge over the Effra at Herne Hill.
Means Heron Hill. First noted as Herne Hill in 1789, probably named from a field called Le Herne c.1495, that is "the angle or corner of land’. Or the name may relate to a family called Herne – George and Benjamin Herne were herein the 17th. It was part of the medieval manor of Milkwell. The road was for a long time restricted to homes for the very wealthy.
St.Paul. much praised by Ruskin. A 1858 rebuilding by Street of a Commissioners’ church of dating from 1843-4 by G. Alexander, for hymn writer Mrs. Simpson but which had been damaged by fire. There is a monument to Captain James Horsbach, 1836, navigator and hydrographer, with a relief of a ship. There is also a tablet to John Ruskin recording his early life at Denmark Hill. The stained glass was mostly lost in the Second World War.
Vicarage, by Street with Gothic detail.
26 plaque to John Ruskin 1819-1900 which says 'man of letters lived in a house on this site'. Ruskin's father, moved here when John was four and the whole area was countryside. Plaque erected 1926.
30 Ruskin

Island gardens
Effra Bridge where the railway line is and the Langbourne joined it. Whole area was three manors, of Bodney, Upgrove and Scarlettes belonging to St.Thomas Hospital Southwark. Later owners were the Leigh family in 1486 and later Speaker Onslow. The railway is on an embankment because of the marshy ground.

Nairne Grove
Named either for the Kings Surveyor who helped Alleyn in 1614, or a Capt. Nairne who served under Nelson and lived in Dulwich, or a Schools Manager.

North Dulwich
The area bounded by Red Post Hill, Herne Hill and Half Moon Lane were the grounds of Dulwich House. This was the home of Thomas Lett, timber merchant in the early 19th. The estate trustees offered leases to developers and work started from 1902. They required each property to be priced above £400.

Norwood Road
The Effra ran down Norwood Road from Croxted Road to Herne Hill, where it was joined by two tributaries
Red Post Lane.
Was called Ashpole Lane then Red Post. The alignment with Half Moon Lane changed when the railway was built.
Pond House and Lydenhurst, was site of Coppenhalle owned by Tiler in 13th. Cedar tree
Site of two schools, Penfield in 13th.
Milestone at the foot of the hill, before the rise to North Dulwich station, It shows the distance from 'the Standard Cornhill' and 'the Treasurey White hall' at 4- miles.
White Hart. This tavern was here until 1801.
North Dulwich Station. 1868 Between Tulse Hill and East Dulwich on Southern Rail. Built for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway by Charles Barry Jun. With red brick with cream pilasters, stone dressings, and a loggia in stone. Contemporary timber and corrugated iron platform canopies
Finger Post at the junction between Village Way and Red Post Hill.
St.Faith, 1958/9, closed. Built in 1907 in red brick, small, with a slate roof, Designed by David Nye & Partners.
Church Hall built 1907-8 by Greenaway & Newberry in Arts and Crafts style and used as a church until the construction of St.Faith’s.
Sunray Gardens. Part of the Grounds of Casino House. 15 acres of grounds landscaped by Repton. Bought for development by Camberwell Borough Council in the 1920s.

Ruskin Walk
Previously called Simpson’s Lane

Village Way
Lodge of Dulwich Place is in the triangle site of Dulwich Place. It belongs to Kings College, Dept of Plant Services.
Lydenhurst. Early c 18, five windows wide, red-brick dressings,
Pondmead entry
Pond House now flats, with the grounds built up. Small but with a grand 18th centre,

Winterbrook Road
Line of streams coming from local playing fields and heading for a gap at Herne Hill which would allow the water to flow down into the Effra

Woodquest Avenue
Patio houses and old people's flats by Borough of Lambeth. Small-scale infilling on a sloping site. 1970.

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