Tulse Hill is a district in the

London Borough of Lambeth Lambeth () is a London borough in South London, England, which forms part of Inner London. Its name was recorded in 1062 as ''Lambehitha'' ("landing place for lambs") and in 1255 as ''Lambeth''. The geographical centre of London is at Frazier ...

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the boroughs, in whole or in part, of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Richmond, Southwark, ...

that sits on Brockwell Park. It is approximately five miles from Charing Cross and is bordered by

Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th centu ...

Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half ...

Herne Hill Herne Hill is a district in South London, approximately four miles from Charing Cross and bordered by Brixton, Camberwell, Dulwich, and Tulse Hill. It sits to the north and east of Brockwell Park and straddles the boundary between the London b ...

, Streatham and West Norwood.

History

The area known as Tulse Hill is part of the former

Manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

or Manors of Bodley, Upgroves and Scarlettes whose precise boundaries are now uncertain. The name of the area comes from the Tulse family who came into ownership of farmland in the area during the period of the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with " republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from th ...

in the 1650s. Sir Henry Tulse was

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

in 1683 and his daughter Elizabeth married

Richard Onslow, 1st Baron Onslow Richard Onslow, 1st Baron Onslow PC (23 June 1654 – 5 December 1717), known as Sir Richard Onslow, 2nd Baronet from 1688 until 1716, was a British Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1679 to 1715. He was ...

. The land remained in Onslow ownership until 1789 when most of it was purchased by William Cole. The estate was further divided on Cole's death in 1807. The western part was left to "Mercy Cressingham, spinster" (now commemorated by the Cressingham Gardens estate in the area) and the eastern part -now mostly occupied by Brockwell Park - was left to Richard Ogbourne who promptly sold it on to John Blades. In 1810 Tulse Hill Farm was the only building in the western part of the area. The

enclosure Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or " common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...

of land in the parish of

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area ex ...

in 1811 led to the construction of Effra Road in the area immediately to the north. Together with improvements to Brixton Road by the local turnpike trust this greatly improved road communications with central London, and the value of the local landholdings. Mercy Cressingham eventually married Dr Thomas Edwards, who took the initiative in buying extra land to make an access from

Brixton Hill Brixton Hill is the name given to a section of road between Brixton and Streatham Hill in south London, England. Brixton Hill and Streatham Hill form part of the traditional main London to Brighton road (A23). The road follows the line of a ...

in 1814 and laying out two new roads, Lower Tulse Hill Road (now known simply as Tulse Hill) and Upper Tulse Hill Road (now Upper Tulse Hill), by 1821. A plan of 1821 in the

RIBA The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

Library shows a proposed speculative development of both the Edwards estate and the adjacent Blades estate with large detached villas, although only the former actually came to fruition. The new roads were adopted by the parish in 1822. An 1832 map shows that Tulse Hill still had only a few buildings on the new roads in contrast to nearby recently developed areas in

and Norwood and the longer established hamlet of

. However, by 1843, there was a continuous line of houses, predominantly detached and usually with separate coach houses along the full length of Lower Tulse Hill Road from Brixton to the top of the hill. Development of the area to the east of this road commenced in 1845 when Trinity Rise was built to connect Upper Tulse Hill with Norwood Road. Holy Trinity Church on Trinity Rise was built in 1855-6 and is now

grade II listed 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 Ir ...

. Major development of the area further east did not come until the opening of the

and Tulse Hill railway stations in the 1860s. Most of the original villas with large gardens on the original Edwards-Cressingham landholding have been redeveloped at much higher densities for council housing since the 1930s. The most prominent survival of 19th century Tulse Hill is Berry House, later called Silwood Hall, and now forming the front part of St Martin-In-The-Fields High School for Girls, a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

secondary school which has outlasted the nearby 1950s schools. The redevelopment of Tulse Hill after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

by 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 ...

had included the construction of two large secondary schools - Tulse Hill School and Dick Sheppard School (originally for girls only). Both schools have now closed, and their sites have been redeveloped for housing of very contrasting types. The Dick Sheppard School site was redeveloped as Brockwell Gate, a gated Regency style with houses and apartments overlooking Brockwell Park. The site of Tulse Hill school was redeveloped as affordable housing.

Politics

Tulse Hill is represented on the

Lambeth London Borough Council Lambeth London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Lambeth in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, and one of the 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. The council meets at Lambeth Town Hall ...

by councillors for the Brixton Rush Common, St Martin's, and West Dulwich wards. All three wards are held by the Labour Party although the ward now known as West Dulwich was historically a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

ward until the

2014 Lambeth London Borough Council election The 2014 Lambeth Council election was held on 22 May 2014 to elect members of Lambeth Council in Greater London, England. This was on the same day as other local elections. The election saw the Labour Party further increase its majority on th ...

. Tulse Hill is represented in the London Assembly by

Marina Ahmad Marina Masuma Ahmad ( bn, মেরিনা মাসূমা আহমদ) is a British Labour Party politician and trade unionist who has been the London Assembly Member for Lambeth and Southwark since 2021. She represented Crystal Palace ...

and in Westminster by

Helen Hayes Helen Hayes MacArthur ( Brown; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress whose career spanned 80 years. She eventually received the nickname "First Lady of American Theatre" and was the second person and first woman to have w ...

and Bell Ribeiro-Addy. In March 2022 Lambeth Council initiated a consultation with residents as to renaming the area, to avoid a possible association with Henry Tulse who was once a board member of the Royal African Company, a slave-trading concern in the seventeenth century.

Transport

TULSE HILL WARD - PARISH MAP, TULSE HILL

Buses

The area is served by London Buses routes 2, 68, 196, 201, 322, 415, 432, 468 and P13.

Rail

Tulse Hill railway station ( Zone 3) is served by the Southern Metro via Peckham Rye line (to London Bridge) and the Thameslink Wimbledon loop (to

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roma ...

via Blackfriars,

City Thameslink City Thameslink is a central London railway station within the City of London, with entrances on Ludgate Hill and Holborn Viaduct. The station is on the Thameslink route between to the south and to the north. The station opened in 1990 to ...

, Farringdon, and St Pancras). The railway bridge over the A205 was frequently subject to vehicle strikes until a new warning system was installed in 2017. Nearby stations provide services to Victoria from

and West Dulwich (via the Southeastern Metro Bromley South line) and from West Norwood (via the Southern Crystal Palace line). The nearest

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The U ...

station is

on the

Victoria line The Victoria line is a London Underground line that runs between in south London and in the north-east, via the West End. It is printed in light blue on the Tube map and is one of the only two lines on the network to run completely undergr ...

Roads

At the southern end of Tulse Hill is a major road junction between the A204 (''Tulse Hill''),

A205 The South Circular Road (formally the A205 and often simply called the South Circular) in south London, England, is a major road that runs from the Woolwich Ferry in the east to the Chiswick Flyover in the west via Eltham, Lee Green, Catf ...

(''South Circular'') and the A215 (''Norwood Road'') where the historic Tulse Hill Hotel stands.

Cultural references in literature

The "Tulse Hill Parliament", a political club, features in P. G. Wodehouse's comic novel '' Psmith in the City''. The author attended Dulwich College, which is in the vicinity. Noel Streatfeild's novel "''Tennis Shoes''" (1937) is written about a family who live in Tulse Hill. Samson Young, protagonist in Martin Amis's ''

London Fields London Fields is a park in Hackney, London, although the name also refers to the immediate area in Hackney surrounding it and London Fields station. It is common land adjoining the Hackney Central area of the London Borough of Hackney. The p ...

'' goes to Tulse Hill to buy drugs. Jason Strugnell, a fictional poet in Wendy Cope's ''Making Cocoa For Kingsley Amis'', lives in Tulse Hill and mentions it a couple of times in "his" poems. Tulse Hill and its surrounding areas are locations in Mark Billingham's crime novel "''In The Dark''".

Prominent buildings

*''Brockwell Hall'' - built 1811-1813,

. *'' Brockwell Lido'' - opened 1938, grade II listed. *''Carisbrooke'' - mid 19th century villa, grade II listed. *'' Holy Trinity Church, Trinity Rise'' - built 1855–6, grade II listed. *'' St Martin-In-The-Fields High School for Girls'' - built mid 19th century, grade II listed. *'' Strand School'' - Grammar School building, opened in 1913 in Elm Park; it is now called Elm Court School. *''166 Tulse Hill'' - early-mid 19th century villa, grade II listed.

Notable people

* Julian Cope, lead singer of band Teardrop Explodes, lived at 149a Tulse Hill in the late 1980s where, as he described in his autobiography ''Repossessed'', he had a 40 ft Scalextric track and an extensive collection of Corgi, Dinky and other toy cars. * Michael Finnissy, composer * Sir William Henry Harris was a chorister at Holy Trinity Church towards the end of the 19th century. * The astronomers Sir William Huggins and his wife Margaret Lindsay, Lady Huggins, had a home and observatory known as Huggins' Observatory from about 1850 until 1915 at 90 Upper Tulse Hill. It no longer stands but was at the approximate location of today's Vibart Gardens. * The Ionides family lived there between 1838 and 1864.

Alexander Constantine Ionides Alexander Constantine Ionides ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Ιωνίδης), also known as Konstantinos Ioannou or Iplixis (; 1 September 1810 – 10 November 1890) was a British art patron and collector, of Greek ancestry. Life Alexander Cons ...

was Greek consul, art patron and donor. His son

Constantine Alexander Ionides Constantine Alexander Ionides (14 May 1833 in Manchester – 29 June 1900 in Brighton, el, Κωνσταντίνος Αλέξανδρος Ιωνίδης) was a British art patron and collector, of Greek ancestry. He was born in Britain on 14 Ma ...

left his collection of Old Masters to the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and ...

. * Mick Jones, guitarist in The Clash, lived in Christchurch House on Christchurch Road with his aunt during his childhood years. * Arthur Mee (1875–1943), British writer, journalist and educator, author of '' The King's England'' and '' The Children's Encyclopædia''. * Jean Charles de Menezes (1978-2005), Brazilian man killed by officers of the Metropolitan Police at

Stockwell station Stockwell is a London Underground station in Stockwell in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is located on the Northern line between Oval and Clapham North stations, and on the Victoria line between Brixton and Vauxhall stations. It is in Tr ...

after he was wrongly deemed to be involved in the previous day's failed bombing attempts. * John Sentamu, previous

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers ...

, was vicar of Holy Trinity Church for 13 years.Profile: Archbishop John Sentamu, BBC
/ref> * Euan Uglow, artist

References

External links

Hidden LondonNorwood ForumSouth London Botanical InstituteTulse Hill and Brockwell Park , British History OnlineTulse Hill & Dulwich Hockey Club
{{Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Lambeth Areas of London History of the London Borough of Lambeth Streets in the London Borough of Lambeth Geography of the London Borough of Lambeth District centres of London