Dulwich

Dulwich
Surrey
Dulwich Village
Location
Grid reference:	TQ345725
Location:	51°26’45"N, 0°4’40"W
Data
Population:	30,000  (approx.)
Post town:	London
Postcode:	SE21
Dialling code:	020
Local Government
Council:	Southwark
Parliamentary constituency:	Dulwich and West Norwood

Dulwich is an affluent town in Surrey within the metropolitan conurbation. Dulwich as a whole consists of East Dulwich, West Dulwich and Dulwich Village, lying in a valley between the neighbouring and contiguous districts of Camberwell, Crystal Palace, Denmark Hill, Forest Hill, Gipsy Hill, Knights Hill, Herne Hill, Honor Oak, Peckham, Penge, Sydenham Hill, Tulse Hill and West Norwood.

The name of Dulwich has been spelt in various ways in history; Dilwihs, Dylways and Dullag have appeared. Then name may come from two old English words meaning "dill water-meadow".

Dulwich is known as the location of the Dulwich Picture Gallery and Dulwich College.

Dulwich village signpost

Dulwich Village

House in Dulwich village

The original Dulwich, Dulwich Village has a traditional village centre. It is the most sought-after and consequently the wealthiest part of Dulwich.

Dulwich Village contains the original shopping street and still contains nearly all of its original 18th and 19th century buildings. It remains very uncommercialised and is a conservation zone. The village adjoins Dulwich Park, where the Dulwich Horse and Motor Show is held every year.

East Dulwich

East Dulwich lies next to Peckham at Peckham Rye. It is a separate centre with its own distinct character.

West Dulwich

West Dulwich is a mainly residential area next to West Norwood and Tulse Hill.

Churches

Churches in Dulwich include:

• Church of England:
  • All Saints Church, West Dulwich: a Victorian Gothic building, originally intended to be the cathedral for eastern Surrey. The church was built between 1888 and 1897 and designed by George Fellowes Prynne, a pupil of George Edmund Street. Although plans were scaled down it was still a huge building and is a Grade I listed building. Unfortunately it was gutted by a huge fire on 9 June 2000. The church reopened in April 2006 after a three-year restoration project.
  • St Barnabas Church stands at the edge of Dulwich Village. The old church was designed by W H Wood of Newcastle upon Tyne and was consecrated in 1894. However the original church burnt down in an arson attack by 'unknown persons' on Monday 7 December 1992. The "Phoenix appeal" raised money to build a new church and the replacement structure, designed by Larry Malcic with an all-glass spire, was opened in 1996.
  • St Stephen's Church has a spire which can be seen above the trees of Dulwich Wood, adjacent to Sydenham Hill Railway Station.

History

The first documented evidence of Dulwich is as an estate granted by King Edgar I to one of his thanes, Earl Ælfheah, in 967. Harold Godwinson, later King Harold II, owned the land in his time and after 1066 it fells to King William I. In 1333, the population of Dulwich was recorded as 100.

In 1538, Henry VIII seized control of Dulwich and sold it to goldsmith Thomas Calton for £609. Calton's grandson, Sir Francis Calton, sold the Manor of Dulwich for £4,900 in 1605 to the actor and entrepreneur Edward Alleyn. He vested his wealth in a charitable foundation, Alleyn's College of God's Gift, established in 1619. The charity's modern successor, The Dulwich Estate, still owns 1,500 acres in the area, including a number of private roads and a tollgate. Alleyn also built a school, a chapel and almshouses in Dulwich. Dulwich Almshouse Charity and Christ's Chapel of God's Gift at Dulwich (where Alleyn is buried) still fulfil their original functions.

Alleyn's original school building is no longer used for that purpose, instead now housing the Estate's Governors. The school moved around 1840 to accommodate larger numbers of pupils into new buildings designed by Charles Barry, son of Sir Charles Barry who designed Westminster Palace. It was subsequently divided into Dulwich College and Alleyn's School in 1882, the latter moving to the present day site in Townley Road.

In the 17th century, King Charles I of England visited Dulwich Woods on a regular basis to hunt. John Evelyn, the diarist, wrote that on 5 August 1677 he took the waters at Dulwich. The Dulwich waters were cried about the streets of London as far back as 1678.

In 1739, Mr. Cox, master of the Green Man, a tavern situated about a mile south of the village of Dulwich, sunk a well for his family. The water was found to be possessed of purgative qualities, and was for some time used medicinally. While the water was popular much custom was drawn to the adjoining tavern, and its proprietor flourished.

The oak-lined formal avenue, known as Cox's Walk, leading from the junction of Dulwich Common and Lordship Lane was cut soon after 1732 by Francis Cox to connect his establishment of the Green Man Tavern and Dulwich Wells with the more popular Sydenham Wells.

By 1815 the Green Man had become a school known as Dr Glennie's Academy in Dulwich Grove, although it was demolished about ten years later. Among the pupils here there were a few who became well known, Lord Byron, General Le Marchant and Captain Barclay, famed in poetry, war and bare-knuckle boxing respectively. Dr Glennie, held Saturday evening concerts which attracted visitors from outside the family circle, such as the poet Thomas Campbell then living in nearby Sydenham and Robert Barker inventor of the panorama. Following the closure of the school the building reverted to its original use and was known as the Grove Tavern.

Dulwich Picture Gallery

1811–1814 saw the building of the Dulwich Picture Gallery.

By 1901, the population was recorded as 10,247.

In the Second World War, Dulwich was hit by many V-1 flying bombs and V-2 rockets. A possible explanation for this is that the British military when announcing V-1 and V-2 explosions deliberately gave map co-ordinates four miles north of the truth in an attempt to protect densely populated central London and focus the drops on the open spaces in the suburbs instead.

Sights about the town

Dulwich Park

Dulwich Park was opened in 1890. It was formerly farmland, part of the Court Farm, and now offers duck and rowing ponds, children's play area, bowling green, tennis court, bridle path for horse-riding, and café.

Dulwich Hospital in East Dulwich Grove was designed by Henry Jarvis and built on 7 acres of land bought in East Dulwich by the Guardians of the Poor of the Parish of St Saviour, Southwark, for the price of £50,000 in 1885. At the time of opening in 1887, it offered a 723-bed capacity. It was transformed from an infirmary into the Southwark Military Hospital during First World War, when it is estimated 14,000–15,000 wounded soldiers were treated at the hospital. After the Poor Law was abolished in 1930, the Southwark Union Infirmary was renamed Dulwich Hospital and the following year an operating theatre was built. In 1964, the hospital was aligned with King's College Hospital on Denmark Hill. There is no casualty department at Dulwich at present.

A memorial fountain stands in Dulwich Village in remembrance to Dr George Webster, founder of the first British Medical Association (BMA), who practised in Dulwich from 1815 until his death in 1875.

Old Burial Ground, Dulwich Village, was created by Edward Alleyn as part of the foundation of his College of God's Gift. The Archbishop of Canterbury, George Abbot, conducted the consecration on Sunday 1 September 1616. Guests included Edmund Bowyer, Thomas Grimes, William Gresham, Thomas Hunt and Jeremiah Turner. Thirty five Dulwich victims of the plague were buried in unmarked graves in the ground. Old Bridget, queen of the Norwood Gypsies (who appeared in the writings of Samuel Pepys) was also buried here in 1768. The ground was declared "full" in 1858, however the family of Louisa Shroeder obtained special permission for her remains to be interred in 1868. The ground's wrought iron gates and twelve tombs are Grade II listed.

The old Grammar School beside the Old College and Almshouses at the junction of Burbage Road and Gallery Road was designed by Charles Barry senior.

Houses

'Belair House (now renamed Beauberry House) stands on the boundary between West Dulwich and Dulwich itself, opposite West Dulwich railway station. It was designed in 1785 for John Files. It remained a private house until 1938 when it came into the hands of the council. It fell into disrepair in the 1990s but was bought in 1998 and refurbished and turned into an upmarket restaurant. The house has a large park ground attached which is now public, including tennis courts and a children's play area. This area used to be the fields for its farm. The lake is the only substantial stretch of the ancient River Effra remaining above ground.

Bell House in College Road was designed in 1787 for Thomas Wright, a stationer and later Lord Mayor of the City of London. It became a Dulwich College boarding house and only returned to private ownership in 1993. A large extension was added in the mid-19th century and it is accompanied by a lodge house, now let as a two bedroom house. The house is Grade II listed and even the wall dividing the garden is listed as well. Its name comes from its Bell Tower situated on top of the original house although the bell no longer functions.

The Crown & Greyhound public house is in Dulwich Village. In the 19th century, two separate pubs stood in this area - the centre of Dulwich Village. The Crown was for the labourers of the area, while the Greyhound across the road, was for local gentry. The Greyhound was a coach stop on the London Piccadilly-Sittingbourne route. Charles Dickens was a frequent visitor to the village and used to drink at The Greyhound pub. The current pub, known by locals as "The Dog", is a Grade II listed building. In the 1960s it used to be known as the venue of the "Dulwich Poets".

Books

• Boast, Mary (London Borough of Southwark, 1975) The Story of Dulwich
• Darby, William (1966) Dulwich Discovered
• Darby, William (Darby; Cory, Adams & Mackay, 1967) Dulwich: A Place in History
• Darby, Patrick (Dulwich Society, 2000) The houses in-between: A history of the houses on the north side of Dulwich Common, between College Road and Gallery Road
• Dyos, H J (Univ of Leicester, 1962) Victorian Suburb
• Galer, Allan Maxley (Truslove and Shipley, 1905) Norwood & Dulwich
• Green, Brian (Dulwich Society, 1995) Dulwich, the Home Front, 1939-1945
• Green, Brian (Quotes Ltd, 1988) Victorian & Edwardian Dulwich
• Green, Brian (2002) Dulwich: A History
• Hall, Edwin T (Bickers, 1917) Dulwich History and Romance AD 967-1916
• Powell, Kenneth (Merrell Publishers Ltd, 2004) City Reborn: Architecture and Regeneration in London, from Bankside to Dulwich
• Tames, Richard (Historical Publication Ltd, 1997) Dulwich & Camberwell Past: With Peckham

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Dulwich)

• Dulwich Park Friends photos
• Dulwich community website including history
• Images of old Dulwich
• Dulwich Picture Gallery
• History of Peckham & Dulwich
• Dulwich Festival
• Second World War damage log sheet for Dulwich
• Southwark council's history of Dulwich
• Census data
• Dulwich Village C of E Infants' School (DVIS)
• Dulwich Decorative & Fine Arts Society
• North Dulwich Tennis Club