Lower Sydenham

Sydenham () is a district of south-east London, England, which is shared between the London boroughs of Lewisham, Bromley and Southwark. Prior to the creation of the County of London in 1889, Sydenham was located in Kent, bordering Surrey. Historically, the area was very affluent, with the Crystal Palace being relocated to Sydenham Hill in 1854. Today, Sydenham is a diverse area, with a population of 28,378 (2011 census) and borders Forest Hill, Dulwich, Crystal Palace, Penge, Beckenham, Catford and Bellingham.

History

Originally known as Shippenham, Sydenham began as a small settlement, a few cottages among the woods, whose inhabitants grazed their animals and collected wood. In the 1640s, springs of water in what is now Wells Park were discovered to have medicinal properties, attracting crowds of people to the area. Sydenham grew rapidly in the 19th century after the introduction of the Croydon Canal in 1809 which linked the Grand Surrey Canal to Croydon and a reservoir was constructed in Sydenham. However, the canal was never successful and closed in 1836 resulting in it being the first canal to be abandoned by an Act of Parliament. The London & Croydon Railway purchased the canal for £40,250 and quickly converted the alignment for a railway from London Bridge to West Croydon, opening in 1839. After the railway opened potential gas companies began to consider the Sydenham area with the Crystal Palace and District Gas Company having works at Bell Green, which continued production until 1969; a retail park now occupies most of the site.

In 1851 the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park was housed in an immense glass building, called the Crystal Palace. In 1854 the building was bought by a private company, dismantled and re-erected at Penge Peak on Sydenham Hill (now Crystal Palace Park). Exhibitions, concerts, conferences and sporting events were held at the Crystal Palace (until it burned down in 1936), and Sydenham became a fashionable area with many new houses being built. In 1871 the French impressionist painter Camille Pissarro produced ''The Avenue, Sydenham'', a largely still recognisable view on today's Lawrie Park Avenue; the painting is now owned by the National Gallery.

In 1860, the Walter Cobb department store at Lawrie Place, Kirkdale (now known as Cobbs Corner) opened, lasting until the 1980s. In 1872, the Children's Hospital, Sydenham opened. It closed in 1991, its services being now part of the University Hospital Lewisham.In 1884, Upper Sydenham railway station opened on the Crystal Palace and South London Junction Railway linking Crystal Palace to London Victoria via Peckham Rye.The station and the line were poorly used despite new houses being built in the area, as passengers preferred to use other stations near-by, Sydenham Hill (opening in 1863), Crystal Palace (Lower Level) and Sydenham which were on more direct routes. The ill fate of the Crystal Palace in 1936 saw patronage reduced and the route finally closed in 1954.

Sydenham was attacked by enemies during the Second World War. The gas works were a target, but were never damaged. The railway which ran through Upper Sydenham station was damaged, and some homes in the area were destroyed.

Local area

Sydenham is divided into several localities:

Sydenham Hill in the Boroughs of Lewisham and Southwark runs alongside Dulwich and Sydenham Woods on one of the highest points of Greater London being 112 metres above sea level. From here, the City of London skyline is visible. Sydenham Hill has an abandoned railway tunnel from the Crystal Palace and South London Junction Railway located within the Woods. Another railway tunnel (one of the longest in Britain being 1,958 metres) goes beneath on the Chatham Main Line with station at the London end serving both Sydenham Hill and the College area of Dulwich.

Upper Sydenham is also located on Sydenham Hill and is a part of the Parish of St Bartholomew. It is diverse both racially and in terms of income; the central section of Kirkdale was Sydenham's original High Street. Renamed "Kirkdale" in 1936, the area now has a small range of shops including Tesco Express, local pubs and off-licences. Sydenham School is located on Dartmouth Road with Forest Hill Library and Forest Hill Pools alongside Thorpewood Avenue. Green Flag awarded Sydenham Wells Park, the location of the once famous Springs is one of the largest parks within the postcode. Upper Sydenham is also the location of the Sydenham Park allotments, the Sydenham electricity sub station which had a major fire in 2008 and the Sydenham Hill estate.

Lower Sydenham & Bell Green is the location of the Sydenham Community Library, formerly run and funded by the local council. Alongside to the library is Home Park and the Home Park estate. The Bridge Leisure Centre is located on Kangley Bridge Road, near to railway station and an industrial estate home to Clarkes coach company, many other businesses and the Beckenham and Sydenham Cricket Ground. Bell Green retail park houses the Sydenham Gas Works and a large Sainsbury's superstore, formally part of the Savacentre brand. Other retailers include B&Q, Currys PC World, Next (with Costa Coffee), Aldi and McDonald's among others. The section of Kangley Bridge Road that runs south of Lower Sydenham Station is in the London Borough of Bromley and provides land for local employment.

Commercial area

Sydenham's main commercial area begins on Kirkdale around Cobbs Corner, continuing onto Sydenham Road, often known as "Sydenham High Street". It houses many independent shops, including a bakery, bookshop and several restaurants. Furthermore, Sydenham is noted for the number of independent coffee shops. Chain stores include Boots, Nando's, Lidl, Sainsbury's Local, Subway, Superdrug, Starbucks and Tesco Express. There is a Post Office branch and many estate agents. After recent closures, Natwest remains the only bank with a branch in the High Street. The first ever location of the Morley's chicken chain opened in Sydenham in 1985, and remains in operation today.

Since the Transport for London and Lewisham Council funded high street upgrade in 2012–13, there is now a monthly market located within the pocket squares, known as "Queensthorpe Square" and "Venner Square". The Greyhound pub reopened in 2017 and several new businesses are expected to open in 2018–19.

Community

Sydenham has a very active community, with several groups concerning the local area. Sydenham Town is the local website for the area, where residents can also voice their opinions in an on-line form. The Sydenham Society is a Civil society TV program '' How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?''
*Bud Flanagan — music hall singer/entertainer, died in Sydenham
*Denis Gifford — comics and film historian
*Wilfrid de Glehn — painter, was born in Sydenham
*W. G. Grace — England's greatest cricketer
*George Grove — of musical dictionary fame
*Rolf Harris — (Children's Tv & pop icon) was a key figure in the Sydenham Society
* Norman Hunter — writer and creator of '' Professor Branestawm''
*Kazuo Ishiguro — Literature Nobel Prize winner, Booker Prize winning novelist, wrote ''The Remains of the Day'' in Sydenham
*Richard Jefferies — the naturalist and author, lived at 20 Sydenham Park (a blue plaque indicates the house)
* Shivani Kapoor — Indian model, cousin of famous Bollywood sister actresses Karisma & Kareena Kapoor
*Flora Klickmann — editor of '' The Girls Own Paper'' from 1908 to 1931
*René Lalique — according to Henri Vever, Lalique studied at Sydenham Art College between 1878 and 1880
* Prof Edmund Albert Letts FRSE — chemist born here
*Margaret Lockwood — star of Alfred Hitchcock's ''The Lady Vanishes'' (1938)
*Lionel Logue CVO — Australian speech therapist and stage actor who successfully treated, among others, King George VI. He lived in a villa named Beechgrove from 1933 to 1940
* Linda Ludgrove — Commonwealth gold medallist swimmer
*Eleanor Marx — daughter of Karl Marx, lived and died in Sydenham
*Tsakane Valentine Maswanganyi — Opera singer, she first came to public notice as a member of the world-famous opera band Amici Forever
* Sandy Powell — three-time Academy Award winning costume designer
*John Scott Russell — naval architect who built the SS Great Eastern
* Dame Cicely Saunders — founder of the modern hospice movement
*Ernest Shackleton — the Antarctic explorer
*Francis Pettit Smith — one of the inventors of the screw propeller
*Charlene Soraia — alternative singer/songwriter, born and grew up in Sydenham
*Jason Statham — film actor
* David Henry Stone — Sheriff and Lord Mayor of London, lived at 'Fairwood' on Sydenham Hill
*David Wiffen — singer/songwriter, born in Sydenham in 1942
*Bill Wyman — member of The Rolling Stones, grew up in Sydenham
*Billy Zane — the Titanic actor once shared a home with then girlfriend Kelly Brook in Lawrie Park Road

Transport

Sydenham is served by National Rail and London Buses for its public transport. Sydenham is located in Travelcard Zones 3 and 4.

Railway stations

*Sydenham for London Overground and Southern services to London Bridge, London Victoria, East & West Croydon, , , and Highbury & Islington. This is the busiest station, with up to 12 trains per hour off peak and a usage of 4 million passengers in year 2015-16
* and stations for Southeastern services to London Victoria, , and .
* station also is served by Southeastern but with services to London Charing Cross, , , London Bridge, and .

Buses

The area is served by routes 75, 122, 176, 181, 194, 197, 202, 227, 352, 356, 363, 450 and N63 linking Sydenham to Central London, Lewisham, Catford, Croydon,
Thornton Heath, Bromley, Shirley, Peckham,
Camberwell, Elephant & Castle, Blackheath, Forest Hill, Penge, South Norwood and Grove Park.

Roads

The South Circular Road passes close by in Forest Hill. High Street improvements being funded by Transport for London from September 2012 are making the increasingly busy Sydenham Road (A212) more user friendly. So far, Kirkdale to Mayow Road has been completed, with Mayow Road to Kent House Road currently, as of December 2013, being upgraded. The Kent House Road to Bell Green section is still waiting for funding to be found.

Geography

Sydenham is approximately to the south east of Charing Cross. It is also at the centre of many of south London's major shopping districts being south of Lewisham, north west of Bromley and north of Croydon.

Upper Sydenham and Sydenham Hill is located on the large Norwood Ridge formed of London Claygate beds deposits; Sydenham Hill is one of the highest points in London at 367 feet (112 m). Sydenham Hill Wood is a nine-hectare nature reserve located west of Sydenham Hill Road, along with Dulwich and Sydenham Hill Golf course. The hill was once covered by the Great North Wood which covered all of Sydenham, Norwood, Woodside, Gipsy Hill etc. In the 19th Century it was home to the spa and health resort of Sydenham Wells.

The western parts of Sydenham, from Upper Sydenham and Forest Hill towards Crystal Palace Park is a more leafy, suburban area with some parts like the ''Lawrie Park'' and ''Thorpes'' areas being more affluent than others. Lower Sydenham at the bottom of more gentle slopes being east of Upper Sydenham, south of Forest Hill and west of Bellingham. The River Pool, a tributary of the River Ravensbourne straddles the east of Lower Sydenham along the Hayes railway line.

Climate

The nearest Met Office climate station is based in Greenwich Park:

Location

Trivia

The Beast of Sydenham of 2005, was a large, panther-like black animal, which had been spotted around the area, and attacked a man. The beast was said to be 6 ft in length and 3 ft in height.

According to The Literary Miscellany, "John Hussey of Sydenham died in 1748 at the age of 116 years. For upwards of fifty years his breakfast had been balm-tea (lemon balm) sweetened with honey; and his dinner had been pudding; by which he acquired regular health".

The David Bowie song Can't Help Thinking About Me was written about his time living in Sydenham.

In March 2022, a crested caracara, named Jester, which escaped London Zoo, was spotted in Mayow Park, Sydenham.

See also

* Sydenham Hill Wood
* Sydenham, Christchurch named after Sydenham, London
* Sydenham, Sydney, New South Wales also named after Sydenham, London
* Sydenham School
* Sydenham High School
*The Crystal Palace

References

External links

Sydenham.org.uk
Community Forum for SE26

Sydenham Info
Community information for SE26

SE26.life forum for Sydenham

SEE3 Town Team
Portas Pilot website for Sydenham/Kirkdale/Forest Hill

Sydenham Arts
Official website of Sydenham Arts Charity.

Sydenham Society
Local community group.

{{Authority control

Districts of the London Borough of Lewisham
Areas of London
District centres of London