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Post to the south Crystal Palace
Border Road
2/2a mid 19th century pair
16/18, substantially altered and not very
appealing. Mid 19th.
Bradford Road
55 Whole
families were wiped out in their garden Anderson shelters in the Blitz. It was quite a common occurrence. On 19
September 1940, seven or eight members of a single family perished
Charleville Circus.
The design of the houses does not measure up to the
opportunity presented by this attractive circular layout. There are five pairs
on the inner circle, and two groups
on the outer circle. All houses are of the 1880s, more or less Gothic in style
13 modern intrusion.
Coombe Road
St Philip the Apostle Church. This low-lying church of 1983, with its steeply raked back roof,
occupies the eastern half of the site of the original St Philips Church, built by Edwin Nash 1865,
demolished 1982. The rest of the site
now forms part of the Wells Park Estate. An enclosed garden outside has a bell
and a crucifix from the old church. The interior has a fine modern altar, font
and lectern, and from the old church, a statue of Christ the King and ceramic
Stations of the Cross - interwar, attributed to the workshop of Eric Gill
Wells Park Hall,
a Gothic building, was built by Edwin Nash c1870 as St Philips School; it is
now Sydenham Seventh Day Adventist Church.
Crystal Palace
Ridge between here and Honor Oak. Claygate Beds capping the ridge
Crystal Palace Park Road
Lined with mansions
57 – 61 1882
Chulsa Estate. Craftsmanly style of the 1950s
1-3 lodge of Penge Place – which was demolished for the Crystal Palace
Railway bridge. Between the two railway tunnels was called Hollow Combe
and Upper Sydenham Station was there, steps down, it was above North of the
Penge Line Railway
Paxton Tunnel. Called this because it
passed near under Paxton’s house. 439 yards.
Hollow Coombe – ridge between the two
tunnels
Landscaped Woodland
on the tunnel cusp.
Halifax Street
This street preserves an authentic atmosphere as it bends
round to Wells Park Road. There are pairs of cottages c1849 and terraces of
double fronteded houses and an
Italianate terrace of the early 1850s.
High Level Drive
Hillcrest Estate
Wood. Around portal of
old tunnel.
Hillcrest Estate. This
sprawling estate of 1967, accessed by High Level Drive, occupies a valley below
the ridge of Sydenham Hill and between Westwood Hill and Wells Park Road. The blocks and terraces,
though uninspired in themselves, are nicely arranged in closes in an evocative
rural environment, with steep wooded fragments remaining from the Great North
Wood.
Bridge House Estate property
marker post of 1816. At the junction of High Level Drive and
Westwood Hill. Rather eroded
South of Upper Sydenham Station the
line crossed over the Penge tunnel of the LCDR line
Jews Walk
An attractive road, in which two fine groups of houses
have survived. The street was named after a line of elm
trees planted in the late 18th century by David Ximenes, who lived in Westwood House, which was located opposite Jew's
Walk on the other side of Westwood Hill. Villas classical all slightly
different
Farnborough House early to mid c19, a three-bay early c 19 villa
1-15 contrasting
Victorian Tudor Gothic
pairs some plain stock brick, others with diapering. Fanciful Gothic / Tudor houses c1852, rather more eccentric to the
group round the corner at Westwood Hill
1/11 is three pairs some with gargoyles and patterned
brick.
7 Eleanor Marx,
daughter of Karl Marx, lived with Edward Aveling from 1895, and committed
suicide there in 1898.
13, the
southernmost house, is large and detached, handsome in bright red brick, an
impressive tower and a recessed Gothic porch.
2/6 at the
northern end in Georgian style
Lawrie Park Avenue
The finest street on the Lawrie Park Estate, highly
attractive, wide and spacious with grass verges and many trees; it was laid out
in this fashion soon after 1852;
it was formerly known as Sydenham Avenue and as The Avenue. The view along the
Avenue northwards towards St Bartholomew's Church is impressive; this is the
view featured in Camille Pissarro's painting of 1871, 'La Route de Sydenham',
which is in the National Gallery
Roundabout with the boundary oak, which marked the boundaries of the parishes of St Mary Lewisham
and St George Beckenham until 1900,
of the boroughs of Lewisham and Beckenham (and of the counties of London; and
Kent) from 1900 to 1965, and of the boroughs of Lewisham and Bromley since
1965.
53 The only
house remaining from the time of Pissarro's painting facing the roundabout, a
large vaguely classical house, probably c1860, but much altered.
35a Burnage Court. At the junction of Lawrie
Park Avenue and Westwood Hill, Pissarro shows Dunedin House, 1859; this is the present building on the site,
Lawrie Park Crescent
Preserves more of its original houses than any oil street
on the Lawrie Park Estate. It originally comprised four large stuccoed pairs the late 1850s and one smaller house in the
middle. Three of the four pairs have survived
82/84 much altered 1900;
2/4 relatively unaltered and quite handsome
10, relatively
unaltered and quite handsome
Lawrie Park Gardens
On the Lawrie Park Estate. The part between Westwood Hill
and Lawrie Park Avenue was laid out c1863. The part between Lawrie Park Avenue and Lawrie Park Road was laid out
earlier, cl860.
10 Ashbourne House, a large classical house of 1864, the contrast between its vivid
white stone dressings and its lively yellow brick being quite appealing
87, an
attractive stuccoed house, probably of 1864
115/123, 1866,
in poor condition and rather ungainly.
183 Woolwich House large stuccoed Italianate house of 1861,
191, with a bold porch. Large stuccoed Italianate
house of 1861,
Longton Avenue
An imposing street, which sweeps round the south and west
of Sydenham Wells Park. Most houses are Edwardian or interwar, not special in
themselves, but they have quite an
impact overlooking the park. There are however two interesting groups, at the
junctions with Longton Grove and with Ormanton Road are self-build c1982, based
on the Walter Segal concept
2/4 1856
6 1862
8 -10 are tall
houses, with fine bow through three floors, of 1866
16 a fine classical
70/72 a fine classical c1857.
Rock Hill
615,000 gall tank and cast iron of brickwork standpipe 415' above OD
cottages and buildings. Lambeth Water Co. 1890. Opening of Crystal Palace in 1854
and a lot of building in the area so works built in 1856. Two hp engines, etc.
Lambeth Co. standpipe in obelisk form and forced the water over it to a height
of 415' above OD.
Sydenham
Grand houses built in the
area following the arrival of Crystal Palace. The hilly region of
Sydenham has a character quite different from
the rest of Lewisham. A sizeable hamlet existed by the c16 along Sydenham Road. Uphill were the 500 acres of Sydenham Common, of which Wells Park is now the only reminder. Springs were discovered there c.1640 and
Sydenham became a minor spa,
but did not develop much until the common was enclosed in 1819. In the later
c19, Upper Sydenham became a suburb of large
wealthy mansions. Many directors and officials of
the palace lived in the neighbourhood, including Paxton, Owen Jones, its secretary Sir George Grove, and Samuel Phillips, author of the catalogues.
Sydenham Avenue
The continuation of Lawrie Park Avenue to the London
Borough of Bromley, and maintains its grandeur. Some older buildings have survived.
6 Sommerfield.
Looks like a long low stuccoed Regency house, but was originally a pair of
outbuildings for two houses of the 1850s; they were joined together, probably in the late 19th century.
3/9 9, a group
of four large and stately detached houses remaining from a larger group c1885,
similar in style but alternately red brick
Brooklyn Cottage almost hidden behind trees and shrubs; it was originally the
coach-house and stables for Southwood
Lodge, later called Brooklyn, built 1859, demolished 1998.
Taylor’s Lane
St Philip,
1864-7 by E. Hash and Round, with transept chapel of 1896 by C. H. M. Mileham.
Demolished 1983
Church site of Sydenham Wells Farm - George III. Demolished. Font was
supposed to be on the site
Vigilant Close
Upper Sydenham Station. At the far point of the estate, is the site of the platforms of now
a flat grassed area leading up to the mouth, with its ornamental brickwork, of the Crescent Wood tunnel, which
emerged about 300 metres to the north in Sydenham Hill Wood. A lane leads from
here steeply up to the old stationmaster's house. The station was opened in 1884 on the Crystal
Palace High Level line, which closed 1954
Wells Park
Sydenham Wells - just to the west of the canal on the Common. The Wells, which were later written of as coming from
the Dulwich Wells, were noted in
1648 by John Peters, physician, for their curing properties. Poor women were cured by water
from the spring in the woods and it became a spa. It became well known, and was visited by
George III. Even St.Bartholomew's
Hospital bought supplies. Thanks to the Wells, Sydenham was fairly commercialised before even the canal
arrived. In 1910 the
wells were covered by St.Mary's Oratory.
This attractive park, opened 1901, has in the north
rolling parkland, and ponds and springs, now the only visible manifestation of Sydenham Wells.. Was it built to recreate the
sections of the Rhine – was it because of all the Germans living there? Some
old trees from the old forest of 1648 remain. Lots of pigeons. Called Hatton Comb Hill. Hambrick Hall site
was held by the Manor under Act of Enclosure in 1810 but London County
Council/Lewisham bought the park in 1901. 12 wells. John Burns opened it. Pets
corner - budgies, rabbits, pheasant, finches, and waxbills. Originally
part of Westwood Common, this is the site of the Sydenham Wells, a popular
chalybeate watering hole in the 17th & 18th centuries, visited by king and
commoner alike. Opened in 1901 as a formal park, its running waters apparently
represent the River Rhine - a lasting testimony to the German community present
in the area at that time.
The Shepherd Boy
small bronze by Mortimer
Brown 1964
Childrens Play area was
a pond near Taylors Lane at the bottom
of the hill. Flowed into a valley which can be traced beyond the park.
Hollow Combe in the south
west corner of the park spring here which feeds a series of small ponds
Pond at the east end is the
largest fed from Hollow Combe. Bridge at the pond outlet. .
Westwood Hill
Few remain of the lavish later Victorian mansions in every style, standing in
large wooded gardens, which
used to cover the upper slopes.
Boundary of Kent and Surrey. Westwood was tract of waste land which
belonged to Lewisham in the Middle Ages - very long legal battle for commons
rights in 16th century helped by Colfe who was local vicar
Old Cedars. Large, with a
Victorian front, but from the back visibly a house built c. 1780-90, with two
full-height bow-windows, and with contemporary stables at the side. In part
late 18th century, now a nursing home. The front view shows, from left to
right: the dominant section, of the 1860s,
including a canted bay and the attractive entrance porch; the original house of
the early 1770s consisting of four bays plus the ground floor only of the next
bay; a large neo-Georgian extension of 1992 which also covers the one storey
part of the original house. To the left of the house are the Georgian
coach-house and stables.
St. Benet 1827-72 house
43 Caen Tower,
an extraordinary Gothic house of 1884, with a fanciful tower, gables and
oriels.
108 Sunnydene. The most interesting survival at the corner of Sydenham Hill.
1868-70 for W. R. Sutton, founder of the Sutton housing trust. Eclectic Queen
Anne mixture, with elaborate brickwork. A large and strange house designed by
John Francis Bentley 1870. The projecting windows on the upper floor are the
dominant feature; on the buttress
underneath is a sunburst (a motif repeated on a gatepost) and the letters AVE.
The gable has herringbone brickwork and an eagle on top, and there is some
elaborate brickwork. The house forms a fine group with the adjacent houses, 106
and 104, also c1870, but overall more classical in style.
Bridge House Estate property marker - tall post 1816
Ellerslie, although much
altered, was also built for Sutton by Bentley.
St.Bartholomew on what was Sydenham Common 1851 inside older
Sydenham High School
Westwood House was built 1766, and used by the
Lawrie family in the early 19th century. It was rebuilt by John Pearson 1881
for Henry Uttleton, proprietor of
the music publisher Novello, the largest business of its kind in the world when
he retired in 1887. The house was demolished 1952; the Sheenewood Estate is now
on the site. The elms were replaced by chestnuts in the 1850s. Hand cut bricks.
Sydenham High School, of the Girls Day School Trust. The school opened in 1887 and c1934
moved here to Homer Grange, 19 Westwood Hill.
Horner Grange, a fantastic Gothic mansion of 1883, remains the main
building of the school. The front has a triple arched entrance flanked by
gabled bays; the rear has a similar entrance with a balcony above; both the
front and (in winter) the rear are best seen from Amberley Grove. There is a great look-out tower, with
wonderful views to the north and east. A ballroom with a minstrel's gallery
remains from a mansion off 1874 on the site; it is now the dining-room, and
projects to the rear alongside Amberley Grove. Some of the rooms have exotic
fireplaces of the 1900s. The main part of the building was badly damaged by fire
1997, and was well restored 1998. The school also occupies: the former
coach-house and stables of Horner Grange, now the Technology Centre, in front
on Westwood Hill, an extraordinary Gothic building of 1889 designed by Joseph
Fogarty, with fanciful gables, turrets and chimneys: the former lodge. C1887:
and 15 Westwood Hill now the Junior School, a large classical building of 1862.
In between these older buildings are a series of interwar and postwar
buildings, including a startling red brick block of 1993 along Amberley Grove
Fire hydrant opposite Jews Walk. gone
Fire hydrant west of Taylors Lane.
Gone
Fire hydrant by Hillcrest Road. Gone
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