| West Norwood | |
|
West Norwood
West Norwood shown within Greater London |
|
| OS grid reference | TQ325715 |
|---|---|
| London borough | Lambeth |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | London |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LONDON |
| Postcode district | SE27 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| EU Parliament | London |
| UK Parliament | Dulwich and West Norwood |
| London Assembly | Lambeth and Southwark |
| List of places: UK • England • London | |
West Norwood (sometimes referred to as Norwood) is a place in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is primarily a residential suburb of south London but with some light industry near Knights Hill in the south. It is 5.4 miles (8.7 km) south south-east of Charing Cross, bordered by Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace, West Dulwich, Tulse Hill and Streatham.
West Norwood is part of the Norwood town centre area of the London Borough of Lambeth comprising Gipsy Hill, Thurlow Park, and Knights Hill Wards. The town centre office is located at the West Norwood Library. It is currently represented by nine councillors, two of whom are Conservative and seven Labour. Two of the Conservative councillors for Thurlow Park ward have served continuously on the Council since 1990.
Contents |
Most public buildings and shops in West Norwood are anchored on either side of Norwood Road and Knights Hill, which runs north-south through the town.
West Norwood is well served for parks and open spaces with Norwood Park and Brockwell Park which is only a short walk outside the town centre area. The Cemetery has 45 acres (18.2 hectares) of green space in the centre of the town. There are tennis courts, a recreation ground and a small wood beside Knights Hill. Peabody Hill Wood is an area of outstanding importance recognised by English Nature.
Education is a major service industry in West Norwood, which has several private sector and local authority primary schools. A number of local parents are promoting the foundation of Elmgreen School as a new non-faith secondary school, with funding from the government, which opened in September 2007.[1]
West Norwood is also home to L'Arche Lambeth, a L'Arche Community founded in 1977 by Therese Vanier. The Community provides 5 residential care homes and 5 day provision workshops for adults with learning disabilities, and is part of the International Federation of L'Arche.
There are churches of many denominations, including the Anglican parishes of All Saints and St Luke's, the Catholic parish of St Matthew's, the Chatsworth Baptist Church, and the Roupell Methodist Church, as well as several newly arrived faith groups that follow the evangelical or charismatic tradition. In 2000, All Saints Church, home of the Lambeth Orchestra, burned down, but it re-opened on the same site in 2006 thanks to the sustained work of parishioners and the local community. The longest serving member of the clergy is Provost John Devane, parish priest at St Matthew's, West Norwood, since May 1970, who retired in September 2007.
Before 1885 West Norwood was known as Lower Norwood, in contrast to Upper Norwood and South Norwood. These areas were created as a result of the enclosure acts which divided up the Great North Wood, hence the name 'Norwood'. The first act in 1797 was for Croydon and was mainly in favour of the Archbishop of Canterbury in the south, while the second in 1806 was for Lambeth, being mainly in favour of Lord Thurlow to the north.
John Rocque's 1745 map of London already showed the Horns Tavern at Knight's Hill in the south of the town, backing onto extensive woodland, with an open valley stretching to 'Island Green' in the north, approximately where Herne Hill railway station stands now. The enclosure maps 50 years later showed little left of the woodland other than a few coppices. Most of the current main roads were soon in position with a turnpike gate at the junction of the roads now called Norwood road and the High Street. The River Effra ran alongside the current Elder Road towards Sydenham in open countryside, and was prone to flooding. The new parish required a church, so St. Luke's was provided under the Waterloo church scheme, one of four built in Lambeth (the others being Matthew, Mark, and John) and was completed in 1825. Originally St Luke's parish served just a few substantial villas, and some more humble worker's cottages mainly situated between Knights Hill and the High Street. The early 19th century saw the arrival of recreational tea gardens around Knights Hill and Beulah Hill, and the South Metropolitan Cemetery in 1837. The new railway line to Sydenham and the Crystal Palace in 1856 heralded major changes, and many of the larger houses and gardens were demolished and replaced with predominantly terraced and Semi-detached housing over the next 4 decades.
Norwood High Street never developed into a major shopping parade as originally planned, instead most local shops have been located on the Norwood Rd between York Hill and St Luke's. Horse-drawn trams shuttled passengers along this road from the terminus in front of St Luke's to Herne Hill, and beyond. More recently, parts of West Norwood have been declared conservation areas including the area around the cemetery, Lancaster Avenue, and Rosendale Road. Local landmarks such as the old Victorian fire station on Norwood High Street (now the home of the South London Theatre club) and its Edwardian successor - the present-day fire station on Norwood Road are now Grade II listed buildings (as is the former public library on Knights Hill, now a community centre).
The two world wars witnessed fatalities and bomb damage to many buildings in the area, with York Hill and the areas around the railway suffering particularly badly. Chatsworth Baptist church had to be rebuilt after a direct hit.[2] Many of the post-war estates were built on bomb sites or replaced areas which had experienced damage.
A stunning Art Deco cinema, named The Regal, was built at 304 Norwood Road in the late 1920s. It was designed by architect F Edward Jones and opened in January 1930. The cinema sat 2,010 and was equipped with a Christie Manual organ. The cinema closed on 8 February 1964 with a double screening of Peter Sellers' I'm Alright Jack and Two Way Stretch. Following its closure, the building became a Top Rank Bingo Club a few months later and remained open until 1978. The building was demolished in November 1981 and a B&Q store can be seen today on the same site.[3]
Confusingly, there are two areas called Knight's Hill nearby; the names of both areas have similar origins, both belonging to Thomas Knyght in 1545, and in the south was known as Knight's Hill Common while the hill to the north was known as Knight's Hill Farm.
The better known area is the residential area and electoral ward to the south west by the road called Knights Hill. The southern Knight's Hill Common originally formed part of Lambeth Manor, and contained land called Julian's, which is remembered through the street name of St Julian's Farm Road. The hill formed the nucleus of the vast estate in Lambeth and Streatham which Lord Thurlow acquired during the 18th Century,[4] which was broken up for development on his death.
There is a second Knight's Hill to the north, near Thurlow Park Road (over the Tulse Hill railway tunnel, near West Dulwich railway station – which was originally called Lower Knights Hill station.) It includes the hilly land between the western end of Thurlow Park Road (South Circular), Peabody Hill and Lovelace Road, where the adjoining Rosendale Allotments in SE21 stand today. The green area is still marked as Knight's Hill on detailed maps, but is normally unmarked on modern streetmaps to avoid confusion. Originally, the northern Knight's Hill farm was part of the Manor of Levehurst, and later of the Manor of Leigham Court and the parish of Streatham.[5]
Local landmarks include West Norwood Cemetery, South London Theatre, St Luke's Church and the Old Library, originally endowed by Henry Tate and renovated by Lambeth Council in 2004 with the aid of grants from the Single Regeneration Budget. The modern library, which includes the Nettlefold Hall, was host to a popular local cinema club "Film on Thursday".
|
||||||||||||||||||||||