Telegraph Hill is a largely residential

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...

bounded by

Nunhead Nunhead () is an inner-city suburb in the London Borough of Southwark, England,Southwark Council Nunhead and Peckham Rye Community Council southeast of Charing Cross. It is the location of the Nunhead Cemetery.BBC London Nunhead Cemetery/ref> ...

and

Brockley Brockley is a district and an wards of the United Kingdom, electoral ward of south London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham south-east of Charing Cross. It has been named the best area of London to live in. It is an area rich in Vi ...

and is an

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

just south of

New Cross New Cross is an area in south-east London, England, south-east of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham and the London_postal_district#List_of_London_postal_districts, SE14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, London, St Jo ...

in the

London Borough of Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is a London boroughs, London borough in south-east London, England. 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 ...

in southeast

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England.

History

Telegraph Hill rises to around at its highest point and was formerly known as ''Plowed Garlic Hill''. It gained its current name from a semaphore telegraph station which was constructed on the summit of the hill circa 1795. The signalling station was one of the points from which news of Wellington's victory at Waterloo was flashed to London. It was removed in 1823. The poet

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian literature, Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentar ...

at one time lived at the foot of Telegraph Hill, in a cottage which he wrote looked like a 'goose pie'. For many years Telegraph Hill was covered by market gardens owned by the

Worshipful Company of Haberdashers The Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies, is an ancient merchant guild of London associated with the silk and velvet trades. History and functions The Haberdashers' Company received its first ro ...

, one of the ancient livery companies of

. In the late 19th century the Haberdashers decided to develop Telegraph Hill for housing. The company had already built terraced housing on its land nearer New Cross Road when it commissioned a study of the development potential of Telegraph Hill in 1859. The surveyor recommended 'the erection of dwelling houses of a high standard' on wide tree-lined streets. Most construction took place around 1871. The villas are distinctive in style and as a result of this architectural unity Telegraph Hill is now a conservation area. The company added Haberdashers' Aske's School for boys and girls (named after one of its members Robert Aske, and now

Haberdashers' Hatcham College Haberdashers' Hatcham College (formerly Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College) is a state secondary school with academy status and a music specialism in New Cross, south-east London. The school was formerly a grammar school, then a comprehensi ...

) in 1875, a separate Haberdashers' Aske's girls' school in 1891 and St Catherine's Church in 1894. In the 1895 the London County Council opened Telegraph Hill Park to the public.

St Catherine's Church

St Catherine's Church was built in 1893 on the summit of Telegraph Hill. Designed by the surveyor to the Haberdashers Company as part of their development of the area around Telegraph Hill, it was destroyed by fire on 6 May 1913, allegedly arson by

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

s, and rebuilt “with a larger chancel” by Stock, Page & Stock (i.e. the present church, although that was badly damaged in World War 2). No description has been found of the original church. In 1993, the vicar and curate of St Catherine's Church met with local residents and set up the Telegraph Hill Festival. Since then, the Vicar and Parochial Church Council (PCC) of St Catherine's Church has, in partnership with Telegraph Hill Centre, been instrumental in working with local residents to set up a controversially named '

hill station A hill station is a touristic town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley. The English term was originally used mostly in Western imperialism in Asia, colonial Asia, but also in Africa (albeit rarely), for towns founded by ...

' cafe as part of its ownership of the whole site.

Telegraph Hill Centre

Telegraph Hill Centre was built in 1971 and opened in 1972 by Bishop

Trevor Huddleston Ernest Urban Trevor Huddleston (15 June 191320 April 1998) was an English Anglican bishop. He was the Bishop of Stepney in London before becoming the second Archbishop of the Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean. He was best known for ...

and actress

Glenda Jackson Glenda May Jackson (9 May 1936 – 15 June 2023) was an English actress and politician. Over the course of her distinguished career she received List of awards and nominations received by Glenda Jackson, numerous accolades including two Academy ...

. Funding from London Borough of Lewisham was cut in 1986/7 and ownership and funding of the site reverted to St Catherine's Church. In 1993, the vicar and curate of St Catherine's Church met with local residents and set up the Telegraph Hill Festival. Centre is now a self-funded entity owned by St Catherine's Church, and continues to provide services with and for the community on Telegraph Hill and its surrounding areas.

Telegraph Hill Festival

Telegraph Hill Festival ran for 25 years and included musical events, plays, public art and open studios across the area, becoming increasingly noted for its public engagement and popularity in its last five years up to 2019.

Telegraph Hill Park

Telegraph Hill Park is in two halves on either side of Kitto Road; the upper park contains tennis courts which apparently occupy the site of the telegraph station which gave the hill its name. This upper part is the only part of the park to allow dogs, and is a popular spot amongst the local community for watching the New Years fireworks across London due to its excellent vantage point and view across the London skyline. The lower park contains ponds, children's playgrounds and a concrete space for ball games as well as a statue of

Olaudah Equiano Olaudah Equiano (; c. 1745 – 31 March 1797), known for most of his life as Gustavus Vassa (), was a writer and abolitionist. According to his memoir, he was from the village of Essaka in present day southern Nigeria. Enslaved as a child in ...

. A farmers' market is held in the lower park on every Saturday 10am-3pm.

Telegraph Hill Society

The Telegraph Hill Society was a local residents' group which campaigned for improvements to the area.

Schools and colleges

Telegraph Hill is home to the

. A

Coade stone Coade stone or ''Lithodipyra'' or ''Lithodipra'' () is stoneware that was often described as an artificial stone in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was used for moulding neoclassical architecture, neoclassical statues, a ...

statue of Robert Aske stands in the forecourt of Haberdasher's Boys' School in Pepys Road. It dates from 1836 and shows him in the robes of the

Haberdashers' Company The Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies, is an ancient guild, merchant guild of City of London, London associated with the silk and velvet trades. History and functions The Haberdashers' Company ...

, leaning on a plinth and holding the plans of the buildings in his hand. Robert Aske (24 February 1619 – 27 January 1689) was a

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

and

haberdasher __NOTOC__ In British English, a haberdasher is a business or person who sells small articles for sewing, dressmaking and knitting, such as buttons, ribbons, and zippers; in the United States, the term refers instead to a men's clothing st ...

in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

chiefly remembered for the charitable foundation created from his estate, which nowadays operates the Haberdashers' Schools. Aske was the son of an affluent

draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period ...

, and became a

Freeman Freeman, free men, Freeman's or Freemans may refer to: Places United States * Freeman, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Freeman, South Dako ...

of the

in 1643, being elected an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

of the

in 1666. The hill's other secondary school, Telegraph Hill School, closed in 2003. A campaign by local parents failed to persuade the council to establish a new secondary school on the site. Instead, a

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

centre called Crossways Sixth Form was built on the site, and opened in 2004. The site was taken over by Christ the King Sixth Form College in 2013. Telegraph Hill also has a primary school: the Edmund Waller Primary School, in Waller Road.

Politics

Telegraph Hill ward is one of 18 council wards that make up the

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 counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

borough council.

Demography

In comparison with overall numbers for London and England, the majority of Telegraph Hill ward's population is young; typically aged 34 and under, with a smaller than average population among the 35 plus and older age groups. Approximately 51% of the ward's population identified as white, while 8% identified as Asian/Asian British, and 30% as Black/African/Caribbean/Black British. Lewisham is the 15th most ethnically diverse local authority in England, and two out of every five residents are from a black, Asian or ethnically diverse background.

In popular culture

Telegraph Hill is a solo Synthpop project based in London.

Notes

External links

*
Telegraph Hill CentreThe next station to the west on the telegraph line
including image of the shutter telegraph here
More information about the Telegraph Hill's three borough councillors, on the Lewisham borough website
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928010628/http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/CouncilAndDemocracy/ElectedRepresentatives/Councillors/TelegraphHill , date=28 September 2007 Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Lewisham