Lordship Lane (Dulwich)

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Lordship Lane is an ancient thoroughfare, once rural, in East Dulwich, a suburb of the London Borough of Southwark and forms part of the A2216.

Lordship Lane Station by Camille Pissarro
Lordship Lane Station by Camille Pissarro

It runs north-south from Goose Green to Wood Vale. The Lordship Lane & North Cross Road area now has a selection of bars, restaurants and specialist retailers for the 'foodie' market.

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[edit] Points of interest

Dulwich Library
Dulwich Library

The architecturally meritorious Dulwich Library, which opened on 24 November 1897, is on the lane. Lordship Lane is also home of the unusual listed building, the so-called "Concrete House".

The children's author, Enid Blyton was born on 11 August 1897 above a shop in Lordship Lane. A Southwark Blue Plaque[1] was placed there in 2003 (above 352-356 Lordship Lane, near the library).

[edit] The Concrete House

The derelict Concrete House on Lordship Lane
The derelict Concrete House on Lordship Lane

One of the most architecturally interesting buildings in the area is at 549 Lordship Lane. The so-called "Concrete House" is a derelict grade II listed building and is an example of a 19th century concrete house. It is believed that it is the only surviving example in England. It was built in 1873 by Charles Drake of the Patent Concrete Building Company. In 1867, the builder had patented the use of iron panels for shuttering rather than timber. It is listed on English Heritage's Buildings At Risk register. Southwark Council has refused permission for its demolition and it has become derelict because it has been empty for so long.

[edit] History of the lane

Lordship Lane is East Dulwich's oldest street. It is an ancient thoroughfare that significantly predates the late 19th century developments. The area was transformed from fields and market gardens to Victorian suburbs in the period 1865–1885. The tram line that once served Lordship Lane is long gone.

[edit] Lordship Lane station

Lordship Lane station was a station on the Crystal Palace and South London Junction Railway, built by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway in 1865, which closed along with the rest of the line in 1958. The railway crossed London Road (just beyond the southern end of Lordship Lane) on a bridge and the station was just to the south-west of the road. The site is now housing: the London Borough of Southwark's Sydenham Hill Estate.

This locality is also the subject of Lordship Lane Station, Dulwich, an 1871 painting by Camille Pissarro[2], which now hangs at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London.

Preceding station Disused railways Following station
Upper Sydenham   British Rail
Southern Region

Crystal Palace and South London Junction Railway
  Honor Oak

[edit] Gallery of shops and sites

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ See photograph
  2. ^ artchive.com entry for Pissarro Lordship Lane

[edit] See also

[edit] External links