the encyclopedic entry of Dulwich

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History

The first documented evidence of Dulwich is as a hamlet outside London in 967AD, granted by King Edgar to one of his thanes Earl Aelfheah. The name of Dulwich has been spelt in various ways, Dilwihs, Dylways, Dullag, and may come from two old English words, Dill, a white flower, and wihs, meaning a damp meadow, giving a meaning of "the meadow where dill grows".

Harold Godwinson owned the land at one point, and after 1066, King William I of England. 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 Elizabethan 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 constructed a school, a chapel and alms houses in Dulwich. Dulwich Almshouse Charity and Christ's Chapel of God's Gift at Dulwich (where Alleyn is buried) still fulfill 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 (junior), 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 1600s, King Charles I of England visited Dulwich Woods on a regular basis to hunt. In 1738, a man named Samuel Bentyman was murdered in Dulwich Woods.

On 5 August 1677 John Evelyn writes that 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 in the 1740s 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.

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.

After the school closed a surviving part of the building became a pub, licensed to someone called Bew. In 1863 it was rebuilt and called The Grove Tavern, it was rebuilt again in 1923.

In 1803, Samuel Matthews – known as the "Dulwich Hermit" – was also murdered in Dulwich Woods; he was buried in Dulwich Old Cemetery.

1811–1814 saw the building of the Dulwich Picture Gallery. By 1901, the population was recorded as 10,247.

Today

There are a number of recognised districts in Dulwich including:

North Dulwich which borders Herne Hill
(South) Dulwich Village which includes the traditional village centre
East Dulwich which bounds Peckham
West Dulwich which is a mainly residential area in the London Borough of Lambeth, bordering West Norwood and Tulse Hill.

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 borders on Dulwich Park, where the Dulwich Horse and Motor Show is held every year (it was here that the new Toyota Corolla made its first UK appearance at a motor show in 1997).

Dulwich is also home to Dulwich Hamlet, an amateur football club set up in 1893 and still competing in the Isthmian League today. The Old Alleynian Football Club is a local rugby union team originally for leavers of Dulwich College, but now is open to all who wish to play.

Due to East Dulwich railway station and West Dulwich railway station being on separate train routes and there not being a single bus route to connect the two centres, the communities in each despite both bordering the Dulwich Village tend to shop in their own respective areas or beyond on their own side of Dulwich. Although it is fair to say that because of the increasing number of bars, shops and restaurants on Lordship Lane, East Dulwich those in West Dulwich are now perhaps more familiar with their near neighbours.

Local landmarks

Dulwich Park was opened in 1890. It was formerly farmland 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 seven acres of land purchased 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 World War I, 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.

There is a memorial fountain in Dulwich Village which is in remembrance to Dr George Webster, founder of the first British Medical Association (BMA), who worked in Dulwich from 1815 until his death in 1875.

Old Burial Ground, Dulwich Village. The small ground 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 adjacent to the Old College and Almshouses at the junction of Burbage Road and Gallery Road was designed by Charles Barry (senior).

Houses

Belair House (which has now been renamed Beauberry House) in West Dulwich opposite West Dulwich railway station was designed in 1785 for John Files. It remained a private house until 1938 when it came into the hands of Southwark 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.

Crown & Greyhound public house is in Dulwich Village. In the 1800s, two separate pubs stood in this area - the centre of Dulwich Village. The Crown - on the present site of the C&G - 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 Picadilly-Sittingborne line. Author Charles Dickens was a regular visitor to Dulwich Village in the 1800s and used to drink at The Greyhound pub. The current pub, known by locals as "The Dog", is a Grade II listed building with garden at the back and a reception suite upstairs available for functions. The pub serves food as well as alcohol.

Churches

All Saints Church, West Dulwich (Church of England)on Rosendale Rd West Dulwich is a Victorian Gothic building, originally intended to be the cathedral for south London. 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 cause remains unknown. The building reopened in April 2006 after a three-year restoration project.

St Barnabas Church (Church of England) lies on Calton Avenue at the edge of Dulwich Village. The old church was designed by W H Wood of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and 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 for the building of a new church. In 1996 the new church, designed by Larry Malcic, was opened and now its all glass spire dominates the Dulwich skyline.

Transport

Dulwich sits astride the South Circular (A205), one of London's Ring Roads. Also passing through the area is the A2199 and College Road, which features a working tollgate dating back to 1789.

West Dulwich railway station is about 12 minutes train ride from London Victoria and there are morning trains to London Blackfriars, East Dulwich is 12 minutes from London Bridge and North Dulwich is 14 minutes from London Bridge. The nearest stations are in: Denmark Hill, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, North Dulwich, Gypsy Hill, Herne Hill, Peckham Rye, Sydenham Hill and Tulse Hill.

Dulwich is served by London Buses routes 3, P4, 12, P13, 37, 40, 115, 176, 185 and 484.

Famous residents

Famous people born there include: the author, Enid Blyton in 1897; the first compiler of the London A-Z, Phyllis Pearsall in East Dulwich in 1906, she went on to live in Dulwich Village; the war-time singer Anne Shelton in 1923 (or 1928?) and who lived on Court Lane until shortly before her death in 1994; TV personality Sue Perkins in 1969; footballer Trevor Sinclair in 1973; and Su-Elise Nash, former pop singer with Mis-teeq in 1981.

In 1980 Bon Scott, the lead singer of AC/DC, after a night's heavy drinking, was found lifeless in a car outside 67 Overhill Road, East Dulwich. He was rushed to hospital but was dead on arrival at King's College Hospital.

Jo Brand, the comedian, owns a house in Dulwich Village. James Nesbitt, the actor, lives in East Dulwich. Margaret Thatcher bought a house in a "gated community" in Dulwich after her time as Prime Minister. Marlon King, the footballer, plays for Hull FC owned a house in Dulwhich when he played for Watford. Huw Edwards, the renowned BBC News at Ten newsreader, also resides in the famous West part of Dulwich.

Bibliography

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, HJ (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