Lordship Lane is an ancient thoroughfare, once rural, in

East Dulwich East Dulwich is an area of South East London, England in the London Borough of Southwark. It forms the eastern part of Dulwich, with Peckham to the east and Camberwell to the north. This South London suburb was first developed in the nineteent ...

, a suburb of the

London Borough of Southwark The London Borough of Southwark ( ) in South London forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London and London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas ...

in southeast

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

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 ...

, and forms part of the A2216. It runs north–south from Goose Green to Wood Vale. The Lordship Lane & North Cross Road area now has a wide selection of bars, restaurants and specialist retailers for the 'foodie' market.

Points of interest

The architecturally meritorious

Dulwich Library Dulwich Library opened on 24 November 1897. It is an example of a Passmore Edwards library and is located at No. 368 Lordship Lane in East Dulwich, southeast London, England. The Library is managed by Southwark Council. The library has been l ...

, 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 Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have b ...

was born on 11 August 1897 above a shop in Lordship Lane. A Southwark Blue Plaque was placed there in 2003 (above 352–356 Lordship Lane, near the library).

The Concrete House

One of the most architecturally interesting buildings in the area is at 549 Lordship Lane. The so-called "Concrete House" grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and is an example of a 19th-century

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

house. 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 English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

's Buildings At Risk register.

Southwark Council Southwark London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Southwark in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. History There have previously been a numbe ...

refused permission for its demolition. Derelict for many years it has now been restored with the help of the Heritage of London Trust into 5 flats, to be managed by Hexagon Housing Association. The Duke of Gloucester opened the completed building on 13 June 2013.

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 garden A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to ...

s to Victorian suburbs in the period 1865–1885. The tram line that once served Lordship Lane is long gone.

Lordship Lane station

Lordship Lane station was a station on the

Crystal Palace and South London Junction Railway The Crystal Palace and South London Junction Railway (CPSLJR) was built by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) from to Crystal Palace High Level to serve the Crystal Palace after the building was moved to the area that became known as ...

, built by the

London, Chatham and Dover Railway The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR or LC&DR) was a railway company in south-eastern England created on 1 August 1859, when the East Kent Railway was given parliamentary approval to change its name. Its lines ran through London and no ...

in 1865, which closed along with the rest of the line on 20 September 1954. 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

's Sydenham Hill Estate. This locality is also the subject of ''Lordship Lane Station, Dulwich'', an 1871 painting by Camille Pissarro,Pissarro Lordship Lane
Artchive. which now hangs at the

Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...

in London.

Gallery of shops and sites

File:EDT (East Dulwich Tavern), 1 Lordship Lane, London SE22 8EW.jpg, East Dulwich Tavern, 1 Lordship Lane File:Chener Books, 14 Lordship Lane, London SE22 8HN.jpg, Chener Books, 14 Lordship Lane File:East Dulwich Deli, 15-17 Lordship Lane, London SE22 8EW.jpg, East Dulwich Deli, closed, 15–17 Lordship Lane File:Paine and Hunter Opticians, 55 Lordship Lane, London, SE22 8EP.jpg, Paine and Hunter Opticians, 55 Lordship Lane File:Black Cherry, 21 Lordship Lane, London SE22 8EW.JPG, Black Cherry (bar & restaurant, closed), 21 Lordship Lane File:The Bishop, 27 Lordship Lane, SE22 8EW.jpg, The Bishop (pub & restaurant), 27 Lordship Lane File:Dulwich Cafe, 89 Lordship Lane, London SE22 8EP.jpg, Dulwich Cafe, 89 Lordship Lane File:William Rose Butchers, 126 Lordship Lane, London SE22 8RS.jpg, Willam Rose Butchers, 126 Lordship Lane File:The Lane Cafe, 135 Lordship Lane, London SE22 8HX.jpg, The Lane Cafe, closed, 135 Lordship Lane File:Franklins, 157 Lordship Lane, London SE22 8HX.jpg, Franklins (bar & restaurant), 157 Lordship Lane File:Police Station, 173-183 Lordship Lane, London SE22 8HA.jpg, Police Station, now a school, 173–183 Lordship Lane File:Baptist Church, 257 Lordship Lane, London SE228JF.jpg, Baptist Church, 257 Lordship Lane File:Blyton blue plaque.jpg, Enid Blyton blue plaque, 352 Lordship Lane

References

External links

Lordship Lane, East Dulwich

History of the Lordship Lane area

English Heritage on the Concrete House

Lordship Lane website

Lordship Lane Restaurants

{{coord, 51.4515, N, 0.0765, W, type:landmark, display=title Streets in the London Borough of Southwark Dulwich District centres of London