Downham is a district of south-east London,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, within the

London Borough of Lewisham Lewisham () is a London boroughs, London borough in south-east London; it forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham. The local authority is Lewisham London Borough Council, based in Catford. The Prime Merid ...

. It borders the

London Borough of Bromley The London Borough of Bromley () is the southeasternmost of the London boroughs that make up Greater London, bordering the ceremonial county of Kent, which most of Bromley was part of before 1965. The borough's population is an estimated 332,3 ...

, and is located north of

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, c ...

and south of

Catford Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green and Catford South wards. The population of Catford, includ ...

. Downham was named in honour of Lord Downham, who was chairman of the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

between 1919 and 1920. The

Prime Meridian A prime meridian is an arbitrary meridian (a line of longitude) in a geographic coordinate system at which longitude is defined to be 0°. Together, a prime meridian and its anti-meridian (the 180th meridian in a 360°-system) form a great ...

passes just to the west of Downham.

History

Origins of Downham estate

Before 1920, the area had no houses, apart from a shooting range close to Rangefield Road and areas of farmland in the period around 1890. Some belonged to Holloway Farm and others to Shroffolds Farm. Following the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, local boroughs like

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home ...

and

Bermondsey Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham ...

as well as the

CCfelt it was essential to reduce overcrowding by erecting more residential property and exceed that which was provided by private landlords. The final spur for the LCC to commence works in the area was the new law of 1923 that provided government funding to enable residential developments to be built by local governments. As a result, the

Downham Estate The Downham Estate is a London County Council cottage estate in Downham, south east London. It is mainly in the London Borough of Lewisham and partly in the London Borough of Bromley. The Downham Estate provides an example of the programme of b ...

was developed towards the end of the 1920s by the LCC.

Historic demography

The area of the estate was in the region of 522 acres (2.1 km²), with 461 acres (1.9 km²) in the

Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham The Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham was a Metropolitan borough in the County of London between 1900 and 1965, when it became part of the London Borough of Lewisham along with the Metropolitan Borough of Deptford. History The borough was formed b ...

, (from 1965 the

) and 61 acres (0.2 km²) in the

Municipal Borough of Bromley Bromley was a local government district in northwest Kent from 1867 to 1965 around the town of Bromley. The area was suburban to London, and formed part of the Metropolitan Police District and from 1933 was included in the area of the London Pa ...

(from 1965 the

); the estate stretched for about 1.25 miles (2 km). Prior to this, most of the terrain was countryside. However, parts around

Grove Park railway station Grove Park is a railway station in southeast London, England. It is located on Baring Road (the A2212) within Travelcard Zone 4, and serves the areas of Grove Park and Downham in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is down the line from . I ...

to the east had already begun to experience some building works. In this territory, which was the then furthest extreme of London, 5659 homes of different sizes were built. 408 apartment complexes of four storeys were also erected. At the time of development, the area was considered 'a showpiece, a cottage estate'. With less than 20 houses to an acre, and shops and abundant greenery, the area was of relatively low population density. An official Lewisham publication around 1930 considered Downham to be 'a Garden City'.

Downham estate in the 1920s

Those who were the first to live on the Downham estate late in the 1920s had mostly been relocated from certain less pleasant parts of the inner city like

Rotherhithe Rotherhithe () is a district of south-east London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, as well as the Isle of D ...

and East London, and these new homes were of a much higher standard than their previous homes. The arrival of new people in the Downham area led to some unexpected results. In 1926, residents of Alexandra Crescent (at that time, a private street in Bromley) appointed Albert Frampton, who had developed Alexandra Crescent, to build a dividing wall (the Downham Wall). Some private home owners in Bromley wanted to prevent the working class 'vulgar people' from the Downham estate from accessing the neighbouring middle-class area. They also wanted to prevent them from using this as an access route into the town centre of Bromley. Frampton made a formal application to Bromley Council on 16 February 1926 to build the dividing wall. The council refused to make a decision on the application, but the brick wall was built nonetheless across Valeswood Road at its junction with Alexandra Crescent and was known as a 'class wall'. It was seven feet high and was fortified at the top with broken pieces of glass. That pre-war class wall was a stark reminder of the great increase in gated communities, barrier-walls and the use of private security by wealthier people in various parts of the growing metropolis. The first Shopping Week took place in June 1929, and both the Downham Tavern and Splendid Super Cinema opened in 1930.

Downham estate from the 1930s to the 1950s

By the 1930s, lack of clarity had arisen in regard to responsibilities in relation to the dividing class wall following complaints by LCC to authorities at Lewisham Council. The Town Council of Bromley was firm in its decision not to take down the wall, and curiously neither the LCC nor Lewisham Council felt able to do it either. There were many arguments and controversies about this class wall for close to 25 years. Eventually Bromley Council removed it in 1950 by which time World War 2 had ended. Action was taken largely because passage routes were required for the fire engines. Despite this minor glitch, the Downham Estate illustrates the nature of developments of council housing in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

in the period between the first and second world wars. The Downham estate and other projects of this nature around the time (for example

Becontree Becontree or Both pronunciations are given as Received Pronunciation in the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, but the form is prioritised (). The dialectologist Peter Wright wrote in 1981 that is the traditional pronunciation in the cockney ...

) were built in efforts to reduce the serious housing problem around the city. It was timely in the aftermath of the Second World War when much more housing was needed. The government felt the need to demonstrate the huge potential of public-sector home development especially as there was a need to de-slum and modernise the city. The central government also funded and subsidised such development project which were done in the name of the

. Among many new developments, Downham Health Clinic opened in Churchdown Road in 1932, Good Shepherd School opened in Moorside Road in 1933, Beckenham Place Park Recreation Area opened in 1936, and both the Downham Library and the Swimming Pool were opened to the public in June 1937.

Geography

Downham is bordered by Grove Park, Plaistow, Bromley Hill,

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and E ...

, Bellingham, Southend and Whitefoot. Green spaces in and close to Downham include Forster Memorial Park, Beckenham Place Park and

Downham Fields Downham Fields is a 20-acre park located in Downham, South East London. It is sometimes referred to in documents by the name Durham Hill, but this is not in common usage. It was left as parkland during the construction of the interwar Downham Est ...

. Whilst the area has recently lost Woolworths and all its banks, new facilities include Downham Sports and Leisure Centre as well as a Tesco Local. Marks and Spencers now serves as the grocery shop at the BP station which stands on the spot where the 2244-seater Splendid Cinema was in the 1930s. A

Quasar Laser A quasar is an extremely luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN). It is pronounced , and sometimes known as a quasi-stellar object, abbreviated QSO. This emission from a galaxy nucleus is powered by a supermassive black hole with a mass ranging ...

tag is located at the south of Downham Way near the Bromley Court Hotel.

Bonus Pastor Academy Bonus commonly means: * Bonus, a Commonwealth term for a distribution of profits to a with-profits insurance policy * Bonus payment, an extra payment received as a reward for doing one's job well or as an incentive Bonus may also refer to: Place ...

is located in Downham with two sites, Churchdown and Winlaton and has a large playing fields at Whitefoot Lane with the

Green Chain Walk The South East London Green Chain, also known as the Green Chain Walk, is a linked system of open spaces between the River Thames and Crystal Palace Park in London, England. In 1977 four London boroughs and the Greater London Council created ...

running through. Neighbourhood Renewal Unit and Lewisham Strategic Partnership have been implementing many projects in the area which include Housing and Environment, Health, Crime and Community Safety, Neighbourhood Management, Community Development, Children and Young People and Employment and Enterprise.

Education

Downham has two secondary schools, Bonus Pastor Catholic College and Haberdashers' Knights Academy (formerly Malory School until 2005). Primary Schools include Launcelot Primary School, Downderry Primary School, Merlin Primary School (now also part of the academy), Good Shepherd Primary School, Rangefield Primary School, Burnt Ash Primary School and Pendragon Special School for students aged 11 to 16 years.

Transport

Buses

*136 to

Elephant & Castle The Elephant and Castle is an area around a major road junction in London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark. The name also informally refers to much of Walworth and Newington, due to the proximity of the London Underground stati ...

via

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in the London Plan as one of ...

and Peckham and to Grove Park *181 to Lewisham via Catford and to Grove Park *208 to Lewisham via Catford and to

Orpington Orpington is a town and area in south east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is 13.4 miles (21.6 km) south east of Charing Cross. On the south-eastern edge of the Greater London Built-up Area, it is south of St Ma ...

via

*320 to Catford and to Biggin Hill via Bromley *336 to Catford and to

Locksbottom Locksbottom is a suburb of south-east London within the London Borough of Bromley, Greater London. Prior to 1965 it was within the historic county of Kent. It is located south of Bromley Common, west of Crofton, north-west of Farnborough, and e ...

via Bromley *N136 to Oxford Circus via Catford, Lewisham and Peckham and to Chislehurst via Grove Park (Night Service) *N199 to

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...

via Catford, Lewisham and

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

and to St Mary Cray via Bromley and Orpington (Night Service)

Rail

and are the nearest stations to Downham.

References

External links

General public information about Downham

Short history of the area
{{LB Lewisham Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Lewisham District centres of London