A Gazetteer of Dulwich Roads and Place Names
Compiled in 1997 by Patrick Darby for the Dulwich Society, with assistance from fellow members of the Society's History Sub-Committee, specially Mary Boast and Brian Green. Revised 2009 by Bernard Nurse.
This gazetteer is restricted, for reasons of space, to those roads and place-names falling mostly within the old boundary of the Dulwich Estate. For the location of addresses and photographs taken in 2008 of local streets see Google Maps and Street View.
The dates when names have been approved for roads and flats have been given when known, but this does not necessarily indicate when building took place. A new name could replace an older one to avoid confusion and names could be assigned before buildings were erected.
The main sources used are:
W H Blanch, The Parish of Camberwell (1875)
L S Sherwood, Camberwell place and street names and their origin, (1964)
London Borough of Southwark. Department of Architecture. Street naming Section,
Listing of all streets in Southwark: historical data (1986). Computer print-out in Southwark Local History Library
Correspondence files in the press cuttings collection, Southwark Local History Library, particularly useful for the names of post-war Council estates.
Dulwich Society Newsletter (to 2009) and Journal (autumn 2009-)
Corrections and further details would be welcomed and should be sent to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
ACACIA GROVE, S.E.21
Built and so-named in 1866. A supposedly Masonic association (suggested in 'Camberwell Place
and Street Names and their Origin', Camberwell Borough Council, 1964) is rather tenuous, and
there is no convincing explanation for the name, except as the epitome of suburbia.
ALLEYN CRESCENT, S.E.21 see ALLEYN PARK
ALLEYN PARK, S.E.21
So-named (like ALLEYN CRESCENT and ALLEYN ROAD) in 1877 after Edward Alleyn, actor-
manager, lord of the manor of Dulwich from 1606 to 1626, and Founder of Dulwich College in
1619. It was previously known as Palace Road. (see Dulwich Society Journal 162, Autumn 2009
pp34-70
ALLEYN ROAD, S.E.21 see ALLEYN PARK
ALLISON GROVE, S.E.21
The house and estate later comprising Allison Grove was ancient copyhold. In 1795 it was
conveyed to Caleb Marshall. After his daughter Allison Allen Marshall (later Mrs Castondeick)
died in 1859, the property was enfranchised by her heir T. W. Parker, who named the development
Allison Grove, after his benefactress, in 1868. 'Allison Towers' stood on the corner with Dulwich
Common until the early 1960s. The house of the Joyce family (the most well-known, indeed
notorious, member of which was William Joyce, alias 'Lord Haw-Haw', Nazi propagandist), in
Allison Grove, was ironically the first in Dulwich to be bombed during the 1940 Blitz.
ARDBEG ROAD, S.E.24 see DULWICH HOUSE ESTATE
Originally named Ardbeck Road, possibly because of the estate’s association with William
Beckwith Towse (see Beckwith Road). Later renamed Ardbeg, a village in Argyll, perhaps to avoid
confusion with Beckwith Road.
ARNHEM WAY, S.E.22 see EAST DULWICH GROVE ESTATE
ARNOULD AVENUE, S.E.5 see CLEVE HALL ESTATE
ATTLEBOROUGH COURT, S.E.23 see SYDENHAM HILL ESTATE
AYSGARTH ROAD, S.E.21
Between Pickwick Road and Boxall Road. Named in 1896 after a Yorkshire estate briefly owned by
Edward Alleyn.
BAIRD GARDENS, S.E.21
Name approved in 1959. Formerly the site of Thornhill House. John Logie Baird (1888-1946), the
television pioneer, lived for a time at 3 Crescent Wood Road, and carried out many of his
experiments at his laboratory at the Crystal Palace.
BARCLAY WAY, S.E.22 see LORDSHIP LANE ESTATE
BARKER WAY, S.E.22 see LORDSHIP LANE ESTATE
BASINGDON WAY, S.E.5 see DENMARK HILL ESTATE
BEAUVAL ROAD, S.E.22
Named in 1894 after the de Cherries (or Cherry) family of Camberwell, whose ancestors were lords of the manor of Beauval Liguiere in the early 17th century.
BECKWITH ROAD, S.E. 24 See DULWICH HOUSE ESTATE
Off Half Moon Lane. Named in 1891 after William Beckwith Towse, friend and executor of Thomas
Lett. Towse, as trustee of the estate, was responsible for laying out the building plots.
BEECHWOODS COURT, S.E.19
Between Fountain Drive and Crystal Palace Parade; the name, approved in 1985, is presumably a
reference to Dulwich Woods.
BELL MEADOW, S.E.19
Named after Bell Meadows, which were three fields (6 acres in all, one of them called the Bell
Field) at the back of 'The Bell' Inn in Dulwich Village (first mentioned in 1690, and on the site of
the Old College entrance to Dulwich Park). The development with Hunters meadow (q.v.) in
Dulwich Wood Avenue was named in 1974.
BEW COURT, S.E.22 see LORDSHIP LANE ESTATE
BLANCHEDOWNE, S.E.5 see DENMARK HILL ESTATE
.
BOWEN DRIVE, S.E.21 see KINGSWOOD ESTATE
.
BOWLEY CLOSE, S.E.19
One of four access roads on the site of Crystal Palace High Level Station named in 1983.
Derivations unknown (although those of the latter two may reasonably be guessed at). The four
comprise:
BOWLEY CLOSE;
BOWLEY LANE;
BURNTWOOD VIEW;
SPINNEY GARDENS.
BOXALL ROAD, S.E.21
Formerly Boxall's Row. In about 1773 John Shaw (Wheelwright) and William Levens (Builder)
built six brick houses at the eastern end (starting with a Wheelwright's shop) of what became Boxall
Row, for Robert Boxall, lessee of 'The Greyhound' Inn. The road was gradually extended westward,
to link up with Turney Road in the 1870s.
BREAKSPEARE, S.E.21
The small development off College Road, just north of Sydenham Hill Station was named in 1963. It
is on the site of a Georgian house of the same name.
BROMLEIGH COURT, S.E.23 see SYDENHAM HILL ESTATE
BURBAGE ROAD, S.E.21 and S.E.24
Named in 1883 after Richard Burbage (died 1619), a near contemporary (and perhaps rival) of
Edward Alleyn.
The BURIAL GROUND, S.E.21
A small triangular piece at the north end of what had been Carter's Garden, laid out for a burial
ground by Edward Alleyn in 1616. Enlarged, apparently for the second time, in 1821. In 1857 it
was ordered that burials were to be discontinued after 10th October of that year, except for family
vaults etc.
BURNTWOOD VIEW, S.E.19 see BOWLEY CLOSE
BYRON COURT, S.E.22 see LORDSHIP LANE ESTATE
CALTON AVENUE, S.E.21
Previously named Calton Road in 1884, when the road was being laid out. The Calton family were
owners of Dulwich Manor between 1544 and 1606. Thomas Calton bought it from intermediaries of
Henry VIII's, and his grandson Sir Francis Calton sold it to Edward Alleyn.
CAMPBELL COURT, S.E.22 see LORDSHIP LANE ESTATE
CARVER ROAD, S.E.24
In 1858 Canon Alfred Carver was appointed Master of Dulwich College, and almost single-
handedly transformed the College into one of the country's leading schools. Under him it moved, in
1871, from the old College in Dulwich Village to the present buildings in College Road. The road
off Herne Hill was named in 1912 when first laid out. (see Dulwich Society Newsletter 161,
Summer 2009, pp31-3).
CASINO AVENUE, S.E.24
Named after 'Casino' (also spelt 'Casina', or even 'Cassina'), the house designed by John Nash and
completed by 1800 for Richard Shawe, Warren Hastings' leading Counsel at his impeachment and
trial from 1790 to 1797. The mansion on the corner of Red Post Hill and Herne Hill which was
demolished in 1906, had a large estate attached, with gardens designed by Humphrey Repton,
including the lake (now reduced in size) in Sunray Gardens. The road was named in 1921 as part of
the Sunray Estate. (see Dulwich Society Newsletter 161, Summer 2009, pp19-21).
CEDAR CLOSE, S.E.21
Off Thurlow Park Road. Derivation unknown.
CHAMPION HILL, S.E.5
Formerly The Terrace and named in 1934 after the 18th century Camberwell family of de
Crespigny, of Huguenot origin, which included Sir Claude Champion de Crespigny, whose estate
was nearby. In 1806 boundary stones (still in situ) were ordered to be placed near Champion Hill, to
show which part of that road was College property.
CHESTNUT PLACE, S.E.26
Modern development on Sydenham Hill on the site of the former Lambeth Water Works
CHURCH APPROACH, S.E.21
The connecting road between Alleyn Road and South Croxted Road, leading to Emmanuel Church,
formerly Cross Road.
CLEVE HALL ESTATE, S.E.5
The Cleve Hall Estate in north Dulwich takes its name from Cleve Hall (long since demolished) on
Champion Hill, leased in 1807 to George Sharp, and in 1895 to Mrs S. A. Bennett. The Camberwell-
born poet Robert Browning (1812-1889), had a favourite spot near Cleve Hall where he looked out
over London, and the roads on the estate were named in 1952 after people associated with him. The
group comprises:
ARNOULD AVENUE, after Sir Joseph Arnould, a barrister, author and judge, born in Camberwell
in 1815;
DOMETT CLOSE, after Alfred Domett (1811-87), born in Camberewell Grove and later Prime
Minister of New Zealand;
DOWSON CLOSE, after the Dowson brothers, Christopher and Joseph, who lived in Camberwell
Church Street;
MONCLAR ROAD, after Count Amédée de Ripert-Monclar;
WANLEY ROAD, after Nathaniel Wanley, the 17th century Coventry divine whose writings
influenced Browning.
COBB COURT S.E.24
Cobb Court and Royston Court in Burbage Road were built by Agombar & Sons and
completed about 1958. The names, as identified by Sherwood, which were given to the blocks
of flats, have remote connections with Dulwich College and hence Richard Burbage:
James Cobb (1756-1818) was a playwright, one of whose operas had music written by Thomas
Linley, whose portrait by Gainsborough hangs in the Dulwich Picture Gallery.
Richard Royston (1599-1686) was a bookseller who published John Donne’s sermons (see Donne
Court, a development nearby).
COKERS LANE, S.E.21
Now the name given to part of the development on the west side of Croxted Road which includes
Pymers Mead and Perifield, Cokers was originally a collection of several fields, about 46 acres in
all, occupying the sites of the various Sports Grounds on the south side of Dulwich Common.
Converted from coppice woodland to "earable [sic] & tillage" not long before Edward Alleyn's death
in 1626. The original name of Cokers was last mentioned in 1725, until its revival in 1965.
COLBY MEWS, S.E.19
The Rev. Edmund Colby was appointed as Schoolmaster Fellow of Dulwich College (by the
Parliamentarians) in 1645, but discharged thirteen years later. Colby Mews adjoins north of
COLBY ROAD, q.v..
COLBY ROAD, S.E.19
See COLBY MEWS above. Laid out after the construction of the railway in the 1860s, and the
name approved in 1867. One of the early occupants was Annie Besant, the 19th century social
reformer.
COLLEGE GARDENS, S.E.21
South of the Dulwich Picture Gallery, in College Road, and on the site of the College’s garden and
orchard which had been carefully cultivated from the 17th century. The name was in use by the time
of the 1871 census.
COLLEGE ROAD, S.E.21
The northern section of the road, from the Old College southwards as far as the Mill Pond, was
originally known in the 14th century as 'Estrete' (i.e. East Street). Southwards from the Mill Pond
the road was constructed by John Morgan, who leased fields at the foot of Grange Lane in the late
1780s, to connect Dulwich with Penge. In return he was permitted to build, and take tolls from, the
Toll gate, to pay for the upkeep of what remains a private road. This section was called Penge Road
until the name College Road was assigned in 1876.
CONEY ACRE, S.E.21
In 1626-27 Thomas Downer paid £1 rent for Conie Acre. We cannot identify its position precisely,
but it is known to have adjoined old fields called Newlands and the Eighteen Acres, between the
present Herne Hill Stadium and Dulwich Village. The present Coney Acre, between Rosendale
Road and Croxted Road, is part of the development which includes Walkerscroft Mead and
Perifield.
CONSTABLE WALK, S.E.21
Off College Road, on the west side. Named in 1969 either after Colonel Constable (Colonel being
his first name, not his rank), who farmed Dulwich Court Farm in the early to mid-19th century, or
more likely in view of the nearby Gainsborough Court and Hogarth Court, after the painter John
Constable 1776-1837). The artist had no direct connection with Dulwich, except that his copy of a
painting by Ruisdael in the Picture Gallery was acquired by the gallery in 2006.
COPPEDHALL, S.E.21
The original Coppedhall was one of the houses on the north side of Dulwich Common, between the
modern Gallery Road and College Road (and probably not far from the modern 'Orchard' Junior
Boarding House of Dulwich College), first mentioned (as "le Coppedhalle") in 1435. The name,
which simply implies a tiled pitched roof, is not mentioned in the records after 1523, until its
modern reappearance for a housing development in Croxted Road.
COTMAN COURT, S.E.19
Development in Farquhar Road, named in 1979, presumably after the artist John Sell Cotman (1782-
1843).
COUNTISBURY HOUSE, S.E.26
In Crescent Wood Road, named in 1953; Countisbury is a parish in Devon near Lynmouth.
COURT LANE, S.E.21
First mentioned in 1599, as "the highway leading from the Manor House", and referred to as
Dulwich Court lane in 1619, from Dulwich Court Farm, later Constable's Farm (129 or so acres,
formerly the demesne lands of the lord of the Manor), which lay on either side of it, the southern
fields later forming the nucleus of Dulwich Park. First mentioned as Court Lane in 1834. D. H.
Allport, writing in 1953 (Dulwich Village, p.31), remarked that "Many residents in Dulwich will
remember the elm-lined hedgerows which bordered the old lane, the deep ruts and the mud of
Stygian blackness which formed its surface in winter time ..."
COURT LANE GARDENS, S.E.21
Court Lane Gardens is set back from Court Lane, on the north side of Dulwich Park, and was named
in 1909.
COURTMEAD CLOSE, S.E.24
11 copyhold acres near Cortemede, held by the Ode family for a century, is first mentioned in 1471.
Court Mead (measured as 10 acres in 1605) lay on the west side of Gallery Road, next to both Gilcot
Lands and Croxted Lane, and was later incorporated into the grounds of 'Belair'. The modern
Courtmead Close is near the northern end of Burbage Road, on the east side and was named in 1970.
COX'S WALK, S.E.21 & S.E.26
In 1704. John Cox, the lessee of the Green Man, an inn on the site of the later Grove Tavern, was
given permission to cut a walk through Dulwich Woods to Sydenham Hill. He hoped to increase his
trade by attracting visitors to the celebrated Sydenham Wells on the other side of the hill.
CRESCENT WOOD ROAD, S.E.26
Formerly Crescent Road, but renamed in 1891. Part of the south-eastern boundary of the old Manor,
and present Dulwich Estate, bisects the 'island' between Crescent Wood Road and Sydenham Hill.
CROSSTHWAITE AVENUE, S.E.5 see DENMARK HILL ESTATE
CROUCHMAN'S CLOSE, S.E.26
Crouchmans (first mentioned 1400) was a 3-acre piece of land on the site of the present 'Bell House'
in College Road. In 1629 Edmund Redman, Dulwich husbandman, was leased a house and lands
called Agnesfields, Dickriddinges and Crouchmans, 29 acres in all, for 21 years at £17 10/- p.a. A
subsequent lessee (from 1769) was Thomas Wright, who built Bell House. The name was given in
1968 to a development between Low Cross Wood Lane and Sydenham Hill.
CROXTED ROAD, S.E.21
Formerly Croxted or Croxsted Lane, or Crokstrete (suggesting an allusion to its crooked route as one
possible origin for the name), and forming (from Herne Hill southwards) the greater part of the
western boundary of the old Manor. First mentioned, as Crokstrete, in 1335. At some time between
1444 and 1557 Croxted lane had become the standard name for it. In 1821 a letter from Lord
Thurlow's Solicitor complained that Mr Swan [of Belair], in widening his ditch, had cut into
Crockshutt [sic] Lane instead of his own estate, to the danger and inconvenience of cottages at the
lower end of the lane. Writing in 1880, John Ruskin included (in 'Fiction - Fair and Foul') a
description of Croxted Lane as it then was: 'Half-a-dozen handfuls of cottages are dropped here and
there; the lane is a deep-rutted cart-road, diverging into various pieces of waste, and bordered in
heaps of everything unclean; ashes and rags, beer bottles and old shoes [etc., etc.]'. Again, in
‘Praeterita'’ (1885) he wrote: 'In my young days Croxted Lane was a green by-road little else than a
narrow strip of untilled field. ... I have already noted with thankfulness the good I got out of the
tadpole-haunted ditch in Croxted Lane.'
DALKEITH ROAD, S.E.21
Just outside the Dulwich Estate, joining (as does the western end of Turney Road) Croxted
Road with Rosendale Road. Named in 1899 but the derivation is unknown.
DANECROFT ROAD, S.E.24
Also just outside the old Manor boundary, south-west of the old Casino House. The road was built
on the site of a large mansion called Carlton House with extensive grounds, the home of the art
collector, Elhanan Bicknell (1788-1861) and named in 1902.
DEKKER ROAD, S.E.21
The four 'D' roads linking Court Lane with Woodwarde Road, and so named between 1906 and
1908, comprise the following:
DEKKER ROAD, the most north-westerly of the four, after Thomas Dekker c1572-1632), poet and
dramatist, contemporary of Edward Alleyn, and mentioned in Henslowe’s Diary in Dulwich College
Archives; (see Dulwich Society Newsletters 158, Autumn 2008, pp31-33, and 159, Winter 2008,
pp32-33)
DESENFANS ROAD, named in honour of the benefactors of Dulwich Picture Gallery, Noel
Desenfans (1744-1807) and his widow Margaret (1731-1813);
DRUCE ROAD: Charles Druce founded, at the end of the 18th century, the firm of Solicitors (later
Druces and Attlee) which acted for Dulwich College and the Estates Governors for many years;
DOVERCOURT ROAD: So named in 1908 after a parish in Essex near Harwich. No explanation of
a supposed connection with Dulwich has been forthcoming. (see Dulwich society Newsletter 155,
Winter 2007, pp24-28).
DELAWYK CRESCENT, S.E.24
Delawyk is an old spelling of Dulwich, dating from the 13th century, and was applied to a family
which originated in the area rather than to the area itself. The road name was approved in 1963 for
the Camberwell Borough Council development off Half Moon Lane.
DELFT WAY, S.E.22 see EAST DULWICH GROVE ESTATE
DENESMEAD, S.E.24 see HERNE HILL ESTATE
DENMARK HILL, S.E.5
Denmark Hill was named after Denmark Hall and the attached Tea Gardens, built by Luke
Lightfoot on the site of what is now the Fox on the Hill, in about 1768. Lightfoot apparently named
his place of entertainment after King Christian of Denmark, who was visiting England then, perhaps
in the hope of royal patronage. The Hall did not prove a success, although the tea gardens continued
a little longer.
DENMARK HILL ESTATE
After World War II four substantial mansions ranged along Denmark Hill, each with its own large
estate, were compulsorily purchased by the local authority, the proceeds of sale being applied
towards rebuilding, improving and enlarging the buildings of Dulwich College. The blocks of flats
on the estate were named 1951-4 after 19th century housing reformers, places or people associated
with John Ruskin (1819-1900), the influential writer and artist, who lived in one of the houses
formerly on the site.
CROSS COURT: Richard Assheton, 1st Viscount Cross (1823-1914) introduced legislation relating
to workers’ dwellings and factory conditions.
MATLOCK COURT: place in Derbyshire visited by Ruskin in his youth
MORRIS COURT: William Morris (1834-96), pioneer of the Arts and Crafts Movement influenced
by John Ruskin’s writings
MAYHEW COURT: Henry Mayhew (1812-87), author of London labour and London poor.
PERTH COURT: place in Scotland visited by Ruskin in his youth
SHAFTESBURY COURT: Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury (1801-85) led the
campaign to improve working conditions in factories and mines, and promoted better housing for the
working classes.
SWINBURNE COURT: Algernon Swinburne, poet and contemporary of Ruskin
TAYSIDE COURT: place in Scotland where Ruskin spent a considerable time in his youth
TORRENS COURT: William Torrens McCullagh (1813-94), promoted the Artisans’ Dwellings Act
of 1868.
Most of the roads on the estate were named in 1949 after old Dulwich place-names:
BASINGDON WAY: named after a prominent 16th century family who lived in Peckham
Rye.
BLANCHEDOWNE: First mentioned in 1400. The Court Rolls refer to the flooded footpath to the
church [i.e. of St Giles, Camberwell] between Myddelfeld & Blaunchysdoune in 1435.
Blanchedowne also adjoined Addingtons Mead, and lay in north Dulwich, not far from where its
namesake road is now to be found
CROSSTHWAITE AVENUE: A mis-spelling of Crosthwaite in the Lake District. John Ruskin was
introduced to the study of mineralogy at the Crosthwaite Museum in Keswick.
DYLWAYS: Another ancient variation (almost, anyway - it was never actually spelt that way) of
Dulwich.
GYLCOTE CLOSE: First mentioned, as Gylcoteland, in a Survey of Dulwich Woods of about 1542.
A field called Gillcotts lands (4 acres) was leased by Francis Calton to John Bone, with Hall Place,
in 1597. Gilcott Lands was included from 1659 onwards in leases of what became eventually the
Belair estate. The modern variation, Gylcote Close, is a southern spur of Crossthwaite Avenue.
WOODFARRS: A variation of Woodsires. The corruption of the name originates in Blanch's
misreading of the old-fashioned 's' for an 'f' in his 'Ye Parish of Camerwell' (1875).
DESENFANS ROAD, S.E.21 see DEKKER ROAD
DEVENTER CRESCENT, S.E.22 see EAST DULWICH GROVE ESTATE
DOMETT CLOSE, S.E.5 see CLEVE HALL ESTATE
DONNE COURT, S.E.24
A development in Burbage Road named in 1959 after John Donne (1572-1631), poet and Dean of St
Paul’s. He was the father of Edward Alleyn’s second wife, Constance.
DOVERCOURT ROAD, S.E.21 see DEKKER ROAD
DOWSON CLOSE, S.E.5 see CLEVE HALL ESTATE
DRAKE COURT, S.E.19 see FARQUHAR ROAD
DRUCE ROAD, S.E.21 see DEKKER ROAD
DULWICH
The name is first recorded in 967 AD and the earliest spellings were ‘Dilwyhs’ or ‘Dilwihs’,
meaning ‘the meadow where the dill grew’.
DULWICH COMMON, S.E.21
The road that now bears this name, and constitutes that part of the South Circular which bisects
Dulwich from east to west, marks the northern boundary of the old Common land on which local
tenants of the manor were permitted to graze their livestock, and forage for firewood and branches
for fencing and building. In 1606 the Common (including the woods) extended over 300 acres. An
Act of Parliament was passed in 1805 to 'Inclose' the Common, as a result of which the two
remaining copyholders were allocated between them one-sixteenth of the Common (or paid off
instead), and the College took the residue. It proceeded to enclose the Common that same year.
DULWICH HOUSE ESTATE, S.E.24
The Dulwich House estate in the nineteenth century occupied a large area of land between the later
Danecroft Road, Herne Hill, Ruskin Walk, Half Moon Lane, Ardbeg Road and Red Post Hill. It may
once have been part of Dulwich manor, although there is no evidence of that and, in 1900, the area
passed over to Camberwell from Lambeth. It forms the main part of what estate agents like to call
the ‘North Dulwich Triangle’ although being in the postal district of SE24 should be regarded as
being in Herne Hill.
The estate was owned by the Lett family of timber merchants, with part sold off around 1870. This
was developed in 1890/1 to form Warmington Road and Howlett’s Road. Dulwich House (near the
later Ardbeg Road) and the freehold of the rest of the estate was sold in 1890 by auction in nine lots.
Over the following fifteen years, most of the large houses which occupied the frontages on Herne
Hill were demolished and the existing roads laid out. Some of the street names were taken from the
names of earlier houses on the site, but most were assigned by builders and the associations have
not been established with any certainty.
See Ardbeg, Beckwith, Danecroft, Elfindale, Frankfurt, Hollingbourne, Howlett’s,
Warmington and Wyneham Roads and Holmdene Avenue.
DULWICH OAKS PLACE, S.E.21
A small development in College Road, by Sydenham Hill Station. The name is a modern invention,
but not inappropriate.
DULWICH VILLAGE, S.E.21
Name in use by the time of the 1841 census. Formerly known simply as the High Street. (see
Dulwich Society Newsletter 152, Spring 2007, pp25-27)
DULWICH WOOD AVENUE, S.E.19
So named in 1939 (having previously, since 1879, been simply 'The Avenue').
DULWICH WOOD PARK, S.E.19
The lower part of the route (linked with Crystal Palace Parade by the southern stretch of College
Road which seems more naturally to belong to Dulwich Wood Park) constructed for the opening of
the Crystal Palace at Sydenham in 1854, and originally named Victoria Road. Re-named in 1876.
DUNTON COURT, S.E.23 see SYDENHAM HILL ESTATE
DYLWAYS, S.E.5 see DENMARK HILL ESTATE
EAST DULWICH GROVE, S.E.22
Connecting Lordship Lane with Dulwich Village. In 1879 the old lane (formerly extending
westward no further than the present Thorncombe Road), where gipsies were often to be found
encamped, was extended and given its present name. In 1887 James Allen's Girls' School moved
from the Village to its present site in East Dulwich Grove.
EAST DULWICH GROVE ESTATE
Camberwell Borough Council’s development on either side of East Dulwich Grove was named in
1965 in honour of the 'friendship link' between Camberwell and Deventer, in the Netherlands.The
roads were given either Dutch place-names or called after Dutch artists.
ARNHEM WAY (place-name)
DELFT WAY (place-name)
DEVENTER CRESCENT (place-name)
HILVERSUM CRESCENT (place-name)
ISEL WAY, a place in Deventer
KEMPIS WAY, named after Thomas à Kempis, the 15th century religious writer, who studied at
Deventer;
NIMEGEN WAY (place-name)
STEEN WAY, named after the 17th century artist, Jan Steen;
TERBORCH WAY, named after another 17th century artist, Gerard Terborch, who lived in
Deventer.
VELDE WAY, named after the 17th century family of Dutch artists
EASTLANDS CRESCENT, S.E.21
Took its name from 'Eastlands', a "substantial stuccoed residence standing well back from Court
Lane", and so named "from its position on the eastern side of the College lands". For some years it
was "occupied as a school and in its later years by Mr Randall Higgins (of Jones & Higgins) and
subsequently by Sir Fred Hall, M.P. for Dulwich". The road was cut in 1931 through the former
estate attached to the house.
ELFINDALE ROAD, S.E.24
Named in 1902 after Elfindale Lodge, a house on Herne Hill demolished for the development.
See DULWICH HOUSE ESTATE
ELIOT BANK, S.E.26
Marking the point at which the eastern boundary of the old manor turned south-west. Derivation
unknown.
ELMWOOD ROAD, S.E.24
Named in 1891, possibly after the ancient elm tree formerly in the front of 50 Half Moon Lane. Elm
Cottage and Elm Field were the names of former houses in Half Moon Lane.
See DULWICH HOUSE ESTATE
ELMWORTH GROVE, S.E.21
Part of a Council-built estate in Lambeth on the north side of Park Hall Road, west of Croxted Road
and marking the western boundary of the old Dulwich manor. Before 1906, the road was called Elm
Grove.
EYNELLA ROAD, S.E.22
'Backslang' (but not quite, when one works it out) for 'Alleyn[e]'. Constructed in 1898 on the line of
an old footpath from The Plough in Lordship Lane.
FARQUHAR ROAD, S.E.19
So named in 1864 after the then Chairman of the Crystal Palace Company, Thomas N. Farquhar. At
the northern end, on the west side, are three substantial blocks of flats named in 1959:
GLENHURST COURT;
KNOLL COURT;
LOWOOD COURT.
To the east of those blocks, and between Farquhar Road and Dulwich Wood Park, are another four
substantial blocks, built c.1960 and accessed by LYMER AVENUE and TYLNEY AVENUE (q.v.),
all named after contemporaries of Edward Alleyn, and coincidentally all also commemorated as four
of the eight Athletic Houses at Dulwich College, namely:
DRAKE COURT: Sir Francis Drake (1540-96), pirate, sea captain and explorer
GRENVILLE COURT: Sir Richard Grenville (1542-91), naval commander
MARLOWE COURT: Christopher Marlowe (c1564-93), playwright
RALEIGH COURT: Sir Walter Ralegh or Raleigh (1554-1618), explorer and writer
FERRINGS, S.E.21
A corruption of Feerings. A development on the west side of College Road, near the Toll
Gate named in 1967. Feringes Coppice was mentioned in 1575 and (in Alleyn's Diary) in 1621. It
took its name from an unknown member of the Feringe, Fearinge, or Feering (and a few other
variations) family,mentioned as Dulwich residents and tenants from 1561 to 1658. By 1642
Feerings Coppice had become simply Feerings (being no longer woodland), and was stated to be 24
acres. It lay on the west side of College Road, from Hunt's Slip Road to just north of Sydenham Hill
Station, so,perhaps more by luck than judgment, the modern planners have for once revived the
name (last used in 1765) for the right location.
FORBES COURT, S.E.19 see WOODLAND ROAD ESTATE
FOUNTAIN DRIVE, S.E.19
Formerly (until 1938) Fountain Road, so named after the drinking fountain which stood in the
Crystal Palace Parade, nearby.
FRANKFURT ROAD, S.E.24
Named in 1902 after Frankfurt Villa, a house on Herne Hill demolished for the development.
See DULWICH HOUSE ESTATE
FRANK DIXON CLOSE, S.E.21
With the adjoining Frank Dixon Way, was named after an Estates and College Governor of the
1930s, and so named in 1954.
FRANK DIXON WAY, S.E.21
As for Frank Dixon Close.
GAINSBOROUGH COURT, S.E.21
In College Road, just north of the Toll gate, and named in 1964 after the artist Gainsborough, who
has no known connection with Dulwich other than that seven paintings by him hang in the Dulwich
Picture Gallery.
GALLERY ROAD, S.E.21
Formerly Back Lane, from the Village to Dulwich Common. The Court Rolls for 1621 reported that
"the road next to the College, on the west part, is virtually ruined, but Edward Alleyn has laid out a
piece of land, containing 60 rods, adjoining the same, for a new road, to be made up at his expense
(with a bridge over the common sewer there) but afterwards to be maintained by the inhabitants."
Takes its name from the Dulwich College Picture Gallery (now the Dulwich Picture Gallery), the
first public picture gallery in London (and arguably anywhere in the world), designed by Sir John
Soane and built in 1814. The original collection was built up by various gifts and bequests to the
College, greatly added to by Sir Peter Francis Bourgeois and by Noel Desenfans and his wife
Margaret, whose mausoleum adjoins the Gallery on the Gallery Road side. Further south, on the
west side, stands 'Belair' now a restaurant called Beauberry House.
GARVENS, S.E.19
A mis-reading of Gawens. Like Feerings, this had been coppice woodland (24 acres), grubbed up
during Edward Alleyn's time, and lay on the east side of the present Alleyn Park, north of Dulwich
Wood Park. The land took its name from an unidentified member of the Gaweyn family, mentioned
in the Dulwich records numerous times between 1399 and 1468. The modern Garvens, named in
1973, is a small development on the south side of the western end of Dulwich Wood Avenue, near
Gipsy Hill.
GILES COPPICE, S.E.19
The first mention of the name is in 1626, recording a sale by Edward Alleyn to William Sewer of the
woods, underwoods, trees & bushes in Gileses Coppice. Further such sales are recorded more or less
regularly every ten years until 1695, shortly after which date the name ceased to be used and we can
guess that Lapse Wood was extended to include it. The modern road was named in 1968 and
extends south from Kingswood Drive, stopping just short of Dulwich Wood Park.
GILKES CRESCENT, S.E.21
So named in memory of Arthur Herman Gilkes, Master of Dulwich College 1885-1914, and laid out
in 1923, the year after Gilkes' death. Runs from East Dulwich Grove to Calton Avenue. In 1938
extended to incorporate part of the former Elms Road. (see Dulwich Society Newsletter 157,
Summer 2008, pp31-33)
GILKES PLACE, S.E.21
Formerly Elms Road and renamed, with GILKES CRESCENT q.v., in 1938, after some debate with
the residents.
GIPSY HILL, S.E.19
Named in 1883 after the gipsies whose encampments were a frequent feature of the Dulwich and
Norwood woods before the nineteenth century. The eastern side of the road (as far south as Colby
Road), along which lay a tributary of the river Effra, marked the western boundary of the Dulwich
estate.
GLAZEBROOK CLOSE, S.E.21
Sir Richard Tetley Glazebrook, a writer on Physics (1854-1926), went to Dulwich College, as did
three of his cousins, one of whom, Canon Michael G. Glazebrook (1853-1926) was President of the
Alleyn Club (the Old Boys' association of Dulwich College) in 1882. Glazebrook Close, named
after one or other of them in 1955, is the main part of the estate north of Acacia Grove.
GLENHURST COURT, S.E.19 see FARQUHAR ROAD
GLENNIE COURT, S.E.22 see LORDSHIP LANE ESTATE
GOULD COURT, S.E.19 see WOODLAND ROAD ESTATE
GRANGE LANE, S.E.21
A lease granted in 1745 reserved an 11-ft-wide cartway (now Grange Lane) for the College, through
to its woods. The 75 metre hedge formerly on the south side from 30 metres east of Toll Gate
Cottage had been dated to the 13th century, making it the oldest hedge in Dulwich and suggesting
that a trackway could have been existence then. The hedge was removed to enlarge the playing
field.
The road, previously called Occupation Road, takes it present name from the house half-way up
which was called The Grange from at least the time of the 1881 census.This house, built by Thomas
Lett in about 1822 and called Dulwich Wood Cottage in the 1860s),stands near the site of an earlier
building (called New Barn in 1746). The adjacent farm buildings survived until the 1930s and the
house was largely rebuilt after serious damage during the 1939-45 War by Gerald Fairlie, who lived
there for many years.
GREAT BROWNINGS, S.E.21
Brownynges is first mentioned in 1405, and two closes called greate Browninges and lyttell
Browninges in 1575. Although the evidence is not entirely consistent, Great Brownings (at the
Village end of Court Lane, on the north-east side) seems to have been about 7 acres, and Little
Brownings (south-west of it, on the same side of Court Lane) comprised two parcels, each of about
3½ acres. Great Brownings seems to have been retained, along with Howletts on the south side of
the old College, for the College's own purposes, until the land was developed in the 19th century.
The name was given in 1967 to a secluded modern development on the east side of College Road,
looping up northwards to Low Cross Wood Lane.
GREAT SPILMANS, S.E.22
First mentioned, as Spendelmanfeld, in 1404, and later divided into Great and Little Spilmans. Both
were included from 1659 onwards in leases of what became eventually the Belair estate, although
from 1743 Great Spilmans, which conveniently lay opposite the back gate of the old College, was
retained by the College for its own use. It later became Lloyds Register Sports Ground. The
modern development was named in 1955 and lies south of East Dulwich Grove, between Gilkes
Crescent and Calton Avenue.
GREEN DALE, S.E.5 and S.E.22
Formerly Green Lane and renamed in 1938. Its northern half was newly carved in 1806 across old
fields, but its southern section was a grassed lane, probably of great antiquity, leading to the old
parish church of St Giles, Camberwell.
GRENVILLE COURT, S.E.19 see FARQUHAR ROAD
The GROVE and GROVE GATE, S.E.21
The walk-way between Gallery Road and College Road, known to some as Lovers Lane or
Pensioners' Walk, but referred to officially from 1768 as the Grove, hence the Grove Field which lay
on its south side.
GYLCOTE CLOSE, S.E.5 see DENMARK HILL ESTATE
HALF MOON LANE, S.E.24
Known from ancient times as Greenstreet, and from the 1720s until about 1800 as Ireland Green
(after James and Thomas Ireland who leased land adjoining it from the College). According to local
tradition, an inn has stood on the site at the west end of the lane, nearest Herne Hill, since the middle
of the 17th century, but the first public house "known by the Sign of the Half Moon" was built by
Joseph Miller in 1760. In 1844 Edward Alleyn's original tombstone, removed many years before
from the College Chapel, was re- discovered in the skittle ground of the Half Moon. Between 1894
and 1896 the old Half Moon, much frequented by visitors from London on account of its garden and
rustic surroundings, was rebuilt. (see Dulwich Society Newsletter 161, Summer 2009, pp31-3
HAMBLEDON PLACE, S.E.21
On the south side of Dulwich Common, on the site of a house originally 'Toksowa' (built c.1790),
later the Toksowa Hotel, and renamed Hambledon House after Lord Hambledon, a principal bene-
factor of King's College Hospital (amongst others). From c.1950 to c.1970 it was used as a hostel
for nurses at King's. The housing development on the site was named in 1985.
HENRY DENT CLOSE, S.E.5
Small modern housing development off Champion Hill. Derivation of name unknown.
HERNE HILL, S.E.24
The name given to both a road and an area.The origin of the name is unknown but it may be old and
identifiable with 'Le Herne', a local Brixton field-name recorded c.1490. The road marks part of the
north- western boundary of the old Manor of Dulwich.The first houses were built on the Lambeth
side in the 1780s and the name was used shortly afterwards to distinguish the road going south from
the junction with Denmark Hill to the north and Red Post Hill to the west. The whole hill was
previously known as Dulwich Hill. The name came to encompass a wider area after the railway
station was built at the bottom of the road in 1862 and is now centred on SE24, half in the Lambeth
and half in Southwark..
HERNE HILL ESTATE,S.E.24
A Camberwell Borough Council development between Herne Hill and Carver Road, with two
blocks of flats named 1959/60 after local field names.
DENESMEAD: The first and only mention of the original field of this name was in 1472, as 2 acres
in Denesmede, lately Richard Wyther's.
PYNNERSMEAD: The original Pynners Mead or Pynners Leasue (indeed, the latter variant appears
more often, a leasue being another term for a meadow) was about 3½ acres somewhere in the area
bounded by Danecroft Road, Elmwood Road, Red Post Hill and Herne Hill, and was possibly named
after Richard de Pynnore, who witnessed a Dulwich deed in 1340, or after Margaret Pynnor,
mentioned in a Deed of Release of unspecified Dulwich property in 1473.
HIGHWOOD CLOSE, S.E.22
A development about 2005 off Lordship Lane on the site of the former Highwood Barracks of the
Territorial Army. High Wood was the scene of a devasting engagement during the Battle of the
Somme on 15 September 1916, when the locally recruited First Surrey Rifles took a line of
German trenches with a huge loss of life.
The courts are named after forests in England and Scotland: Ashdown, Caledonian, Epping, Mercia,
Savernake, Sherwood and Stoke.
HILLSBOROUGH ROAD, S.E.22
Marks an old footpath connecting East Dulwich and the Village. Named Hillsboro Road in 1884
and later renamed. Derivation unknown.
HILVERSUM CRESCENT, S.E.22 see EAST DULWICH GROVE ESTATE
HITHERWOOD DRIVE, S.E.19
Turning south from Kingswood Drive, and emerging into College Road and named in 1958. Hither
Wood was not one of the Dulwich Woods, although there is one reference, on the 1808 Estate Map,
to Hither Kings Wood (to distinguish it from Further Kings Wood).
HOGARTH COURT, S.E.19
Off Fountain Drive. Presumably named in 1970 after William Hogarth, the 18th century artist,
represented by two paintings in Dulwich Picture Gallery.
HOLLINGBOURNE ROAD, S.E.24
Named in 1891, perhaps after Hollingbourne, a parish in Kent,.
See DULWICH HOUSE ESTATE
HOLMDENE AVENUE, S.E. 24
Named 1891, derivation unknown. The only avenue on the former DULWICH HOUSE ESTATE
(q.v.)
HOWARD WAY, S.E.22 see LORDSHIP LANE ESTATE
HOWLETT'S ROAD, S.E.24
According to Blanch, the Camberwell historian, Howlettes Acre in Half Moon Lane was given by
Sir Edmund Bowyer in 1626 to the use of the poor of Camberwell and was sold by the parish to Mr
George Keen of Herne Hill in 1858. In 1888 J. P. Thol occupied 'Howlettes', a house (& 2 acres) on
the south side of Half Moon Lane. A completely different parcel of land called Howletts Mead, or
'The Howletts', or 'Howlettes Green', lay south of the old College, occupying most of the area
between Gallery Road and College Road. The road was laid out in 1890/1 with Warmington Road
and part of Half Moon Lane. With only two houses, it must be one of the smallest roads in London.
(Herne Hill Society Newsletter 104, Autumn 2008, p12). See DULWICH HOUSE ESTATE
HUNT WAY, S.E.22 see LORDSHIP LANE ESTATE
HUNTERS MEADOW, S.E.19
A modern invention for the development with Bell Meadow in Dulwich Wood Avenue, named in
1974. No such name appears in historical Dulwich records, although a Hunters Hill (2 acres) is
mentioned once, in a survey made in about 1600, but was probably a part of the land adjoining Red
Post Hill that happened, at the time, to be occupied by a Henry Hunter.
HUNTS SLIP ROAD, S.E.21
Formerly Union Road. Connecting College Road with Alleyn Park, and crossing over the railway
between West Dulwich and Sydenham Hill. So named in 1936, after Mr Hunt who had recently
leased adjoining land.
ILDERSLY GROVE, S.E.21
Named in 1878 and believed to be a mis-spelling of the surname of Thomas Iddersleigh, one time
Secretary of the Crystal Palace Company, although the theory seems implausible. However, the
derivation of the name is otherwise unexplained.
ISEL WAY, S.E.22 see EAST DULWICH GROVE ESTATE
JASPER ROAD, S.E.19
The eastern side of this road, at the far south-western extremity of Dulwich manor, was until
recently part of the Dulwich Estate. So named in 1870, possibly from Sir Walter Scott's novel
'Monastery' (although the connection is unclear).
KEMPIS WAY, S.E.22 see EAST DULWICH GROVE ESTATE
KENNOLDES, S.E.21
First mentioned in the Court Rolls for 1404, as 26 acres formerly called Gerardes, now Kinelles,
after Sir Robert Knolles (evidently pro- nounced with a hard 'k'). Dealings involving the freehold
Kenelles or Kennalls (probably approximating to the area between the east ends of Burbage Road
and Turney Road, and about 6 acres) figure frequently up to 1606, when Edward Alleyn bought it.
The name was applied in 1964 to a housing estate in Croxted Road, north of Acacia Grove.
KINGSWOOD DRIVE, S.E.19
Takes it name from Kingswood House, built by William Vizard in 1811-12 in the middle of an
estate of 75 acres, for which he paid £300 rent a year. In 1892 J. L. Johnston ("Mr Bovril") was
granted a lease of it, and after World War I the Vestey family took over, remaining there until after
the 1939-45 War. King’s Wood or King’s Coppice in Dulwich Woods is more likely to have been
named after Edward King a tenant in 1535 than any connection with royalty (William Darby,
Dulwich Discovered, 1966). The estate, or what had not already been built on at its fringes, was
taken over by the local authority, and in 1956 'Kingswood House' was re-opened as the new
Kingswood Centre. Kingswood Drive itself was so named in 1891.
KINGSWOOD ESTATE, S.E. 21
The various roads and blocks of flats named in 1950 on the estate take their names from Fellows of
the old College foundation before 1858, or Governors or masters of the new, most of whom are
listed in Blanch and identified in Sherwood. Two names have been mis-spelt – Bradlord should be
Bradford and Broderick, Brodrick.
Governors: Brod(e)rick, Buchanan, Carmichael, Hovenden, Huntley, Parnall, Ransford, Roundell,
Telfer
Chaplain: Oldham
Organists: Dowell, Garraway, Pierson
Ushers: Beresford, Holberry (but never admitted), Sawyer
Masters: Atwood, Barker, Blackstone, Bradl(f)ord, Dashwood, Julian, Kinsey, Markham,
Michaelson, Mellor, Roper
BOWEN DRIVE: Charles Synge Christopher Bowen, later Baron Bowen of Hollymount, was
appointed a Governor of Dulwich College in 1872. He became a Law Lord in 1893, and died the
following year.
LYALL AVENUE: Sir Alfred Comyn Lyall was appointed a Governor of Dulwich College in 1891.
SEELEY DRIVE: Harry Govier Seeley was an Assistant Master at Dulwich College in 1885.
KNIGHTS HILL, S.E.21
The Knight family was prominent in Dulwich and West Norwood from the 15th to the 17th
centuries. Knights Hill itself, west of Rosendale Road (not to be confused with the Knights Hill
linking West Norwood with Beulah Hill, S.E.27) is first mentioned in the Dulwich Court Rolls, by
reference to "... the pound outside the manor called Knighte[s]hill pound...", in 1608. Lord Thurlow,
the then Lord Chancellor, bought the Knights Hill Estate from the Duke of St Albans in 1785, and in
1846 his heirs sold it to Charles Ranken (another lawyer) of 'Belair'. Ranken sold it in 1859 to
Dulwich College at a low price so the College could benefit and the College promptly made a
handsome profit by selling off part of the estate to the railway company.
KNOLL COURT, S.E.19 see FARQUHAR ROAD
LAPSE WOOD WALK, S.E.23
'Lapsewood' was a mansion built on Sydenham Hill by Charles Barry, who lived there for many
years. It was later converted into flats, and has now been demolished. The name first occurs as 'the
Loppes' (an alternative name for Ambrook Hill Coppice) in 1581. By 1790 it was referred to as the
Laps, and in 1798 the College Surveyor, John Dugle- by, recorded that "... the Lapse is now
designed to remain in future as a wood... " The Lapse is the most easterly wood shown on the
Estate Map of 1808. Railway Approach was renamed Lapse Wood Walk in 1936.
LINCOLN MEWS, S.E.21
Adjoining Lings Coppice. No known authentic derivation.
LINGS COPPICE, S.E.21
First mentioned in a survey done for Henry VIII in 1542-43, Lings Coppice lay south of the old
mansion called Hall Place, within an area now bounded approximately by South Croxted Road,
Church Approach, and Alleyn Road/Alleyn Park. From 1633 (by which time it had been converted
to pasture, and divided into four or five closes) it was invariably leased with Hall Place. After 1685
the name fell into disuse, until its modern revival for an estate on the Lambeth side of Croxted
Road.
LINLEY COURT, S.E.21 see ROUSE GARDENS
LITTLE BORNES, S.E.21
In 1606 Thomas Calton sold to his elder brother Sir Francis "part of litle bornes (2 acres) the west
end of which lies toward Croxted Lane, late occupied by Thomas Fearinge deceased". Little Bornes
originally lay between Great Bornes and Napps in Croxted Road, and the present railway line
between Tulse Hill and North Dulwich bisects the old field. Its modern counterpart is a
development in Alleyn Park, south of Kingsdale School, named in 1962.
LITTLE BROWNINGS, S.E.23
For derivation and original site, see under Great Brownings. The two parcels of Little Brownings
eventually re-amalgamated as one 7 acre field, leased in 1663 with other land on the east and west
sides of Dulwich Village to Daniel Scrivener. After 1718 the name was discontinued, until its
revival in 1967 for a development off Sydenham Rise.
LLOYDS YARD, S.E.21 see MITCHELL’S PLACE
LOGGETTS, S.E.21
A development named in 1977 of three houses and six maisonettes on the site of 63 and 65 Alleyn
Park, and so-named from an Elizabethan game, similar to that of 'Aunt Sally', and mentioned but
once in the old court rolls of Dulwich manor.
LORD'S CLOSE, S.E.21
Off Thurlow Park Road in the London borough of Lambeth. The name may be a corruption of
Lordscroft (a 2-acre field mentioned once, in 1507), or possibly of the Lordship Close (a 3-acre field
in the vicinity of Red Post Hill, recorded from 1605 to 1611), or could perhaps be a reference to
Lord Thurlow.
LORDSHIP LANE, S.E.22
An ancient road, dividing the two manors, or 'Lordships' of Dulwich and Camberwell-Friern, known
as such since at least the 17th century, and probably for several centuries before that. Part of an old
route from London to the south, being a continuation of Dog Kennel Lane (now Dog Kennel Hill).
LORDSHIP LANE ESTATE S.E.22
The various blocks of flats and roads on this Council-built development at the junction of Dulwich
Common and Lordship Lane take their names from association with Dr. Glennie’s Academy on
the site of the nearby Grove Tavern (The Harvester). Glennie educated several boys who became
famous later in life, the most notable being Lord Byron; Glennie also entertained celebrities in art
and literature. The names of the houses were approved in 1950 and those of the various access roads
in 1985. The flats comprise:
BEW COURT: the present site of the Grove Tavern was formerly, in the 19th century, known as
Bew's Corner, after Old Mother Bew who ran a tea-shop there.
BYRON COURT: George Gordon, 6th Lord Byron 1788-1824. poet, attended the school 1799-1801.
CAMPBELL COURT: Thomas Campbell, 1777-1844, poet, lived at Sydenham and visited the
school
GLENNIE COURT: Dr Alexander Glennie ran a private academy nearby at the end of the
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries
MAXWELL COURT: Charles Maxwell, bought The Green Man public house in 1774 previously on
the site of Dr Glennie’s Academy.
McLEOD COURT: Sir Donald Mcleod, pupil at the school.
The roads within the estate are:
BARCLAY WAY; derivation unknown
BARKER WAY: Thomas Barker 1769-1847, artist and friend of Dr Glennie.
HOWARD WAY: Henry Howard 1767-1852, artist who visited Dr Glennie.
HUNT WAY: derivation unknown
MOORE WAY: Thomas Moore 1779-1852, Irish poet who visited Dr Glennie.
WILKIE WAY: Sir David Wilkie 1785-1841, Scottish artist who visited Dr Glennie
LOVELACE ROAD, S.E.21
On the Knight's Hill Estate in the London Borough of Lambeth, and named in 1926. Probably
named after the group of seven portraits of the Lovelace family in the Cartwright Bequest, Dulwich
Picture Gallery. (see Dulwich Society Newsletter 154, Autumn 2007, pp28-31)
LOW CROSS WOOD LANE, S.E.21
In 1787 John Morgan, lord of the manor of Penge and a lessee of Dulwich property in the Grange
Lane area, proposed making a new road from Penge to Dulwich High Road, via Dulwich Common,
at his own cost, with free use by the College and its tenants, and in that year he was granted a lease
of "so much of the College Wood adjoining Penge Common and Low Cross Lane as should be
necessary to make a road, not more than 30 ft wide, from the top of the wood down to the fields in
his occupation". In 1789 it was reported by the College Surveyor that "The Road down Locus Lane
is now the admiration of the County... ". The road in question was the modern COLLEGE ROAD,
q.v., Low Cross Wood Lane was named in 1936 (formerly called Church Walk) being now a
footpath linking that road with Crescent Wood Road.
LOWOOD COURT, S.E.19 see FARQUHAR ROAD
LYALL AVENUE, S.E.21 see KINGSWOOD ESTATE
LYMER AVENUE, S.E.19
Named in 1960 after the Rev. Cornelius Lymer, M.A. He had been Chaplain of Christchurch
College, Oxford, and was appointed the first Chaplain to Alleyn's College of God's Gift on 31st
August 1616, officiating at the consecration of the College Chapel. He left the Foundation on 30th
September 1617. see also Farquhar Road.
MARLOWE COURT, S.E.19 see FARQUHAR ROAD
MAXWELL COURT, S.E.22 see LORDSHIP LANE ESTATE
McLEOD COURT, S.E.22 see LORDSHIP LANE ESTATE
MILO ROAD, S.E.22
Connects Beauval Road with Lordship Lane. So named in 1894, possibly after Milo (or Milon), the
6th century Greek athlete who, however, is not thought to have had any connection with Dulwich!
MITCHELL’S PLACE, S.E.21
Named in 2000 for a new housing development after W.J.Mitchell, the builders, who had occupied a
yard on the site since 1919. Previously known as Lloyds Yard after the carpenter who occupied the
premises in 1837, and before that Tristam’s Yard.
MONCLAR ROAD, S.E.5 see CLEVE HALL ESTATE
MOORE WAY, S.E.22 see LORDSHIP LANE ESTATE
MORKYNS WALK, S.E.21
The original field called Morkyns was presumably named after the delightfully alliterative Reginald,
Richard, Robert, or Roger Morkyn, all of whom figure in the manorial Court Rolls between 1333
and 1335, and probably after Roger Morkyn, who alone survived until 1376 (and perhaps longer). It
comprised "a tenement & 17 acres called Morkynes", and judging by one or two references cannot
have been far from the present Half Moon Lane. The name has been resurrected and adapted for a
small development in Alleyn Park, named in 1972.
NAIRNE GROVE, S.E.24
On the east side of Sunray Avenue. So named in 1923 after Sir Perceval Nairne (1841-1921),
Solicitor,who lived at 176 Camberwell Grove. He was Chairman of the Seaman’s Hospital Society,
Greenwich, and the London School of Tropical Medecine.
NIMEGEN WAY, S.E.22 see EAST DULWICH GROVE ESTATE
NORMANDIE COURT, S.E.21
A development in Croxted Road, named in 1998; derivation unknown.
NORTHCROFTS, S.E.23
A development named in 1964 next to the T.A.V.R. Centre in Lordship Lane. The original 15 acre
Northcroft, first mentioned in 1402 (when it was divided up into typically 2-acre strips, in various
ownerships), was a triangular field, the present boundaries of which would be Half Moon Lane,
Herne Hill, and Ruskin Walk. After 1606 it was leased out as part of Alleyn's Dulwich estate, and
used as pasture. In 'Praeterita' (1885), John Ruskin wrote: "Central in each amphitheatre, the
crowning glory of Herne Hill was accordingly that, after walking along its ridge southward from
London through a mile of chestnut, lilac and apple trees hanging over the wooden palings on each
side, suddenly the trees stopped on the left, and out one came on the top of the field [i.e.
Northcrofts] sloping down to the South into Dulwich Valley - open field animate with cow and
buttercup, and below, the beautiful meadows and high avenues of Dulwich; and beyond, all that
crescent of the Norwood Hills.'"
PARFEW COURT S.E.23 see SYDENHAM HILL ESTATE
PARK HALL ROAD, S.E.21
Formerly Park Road (from 1872) and renamed in 1938. Until 1882, a mansion house known as Hall
Place, and referred to as the manor house in the 16th and 17th centuries, stood at the corner of Park
Hall Road and the west or Lambeth side of South Croxted Road (Darby, Dulwich Discovered,
1966).
OAKFIELD GARDENS, S.E.19
Took its name in 1959 from one of the three houses called Oakfield which at one time or another
have been found at different locations in Dulwich, this one being originally opposite the present
development.
PECKARMANS WOOD, S.E.26
A modern development named in 1964 snaking deep into old Dulwich woodland, along the brow of
the hill from Crescent Wood Road. Peckamins, first mentioned in 1621, was a 17-acre field of
pasture which had been converted from coppice woodland and remained so, although another larger
parcel of the former Peckamins Coppice (25 acres or so) retained its wooded character and its name
until the early 1800s. As for the derivation of the name, perhaps, at the time that Dulwich Manor
was owned by the Priory of Bermondsey, there was a dispute about rights of common for tenants of
its various manors (we know of one such dispute in 1225), and men from Peckham were given rights
of common in specific parts of the Dulwich woods which thus became known as the Peckham men's
coppice, the modern name being a contraction or corruption of that. (see Dulwich Society
Newsletter 153, Summer 2007, pp29-31).
PERIFIELD, S.E.21
The site of the original Perifield (first mentioned in 1329) can be located to the site presently
occupied by the Charter School (previously Dulwich High School for Boys and William Penn
School), and its history, remarkably, can be continuously traced from 1373 to the present day. In
1606 it was sold to Edward Alleyn, and thereafter its history is documented in leases granted by
Alleyn and subsequently by Dulwich College, almost all of which are still extant. The modern
Perifield is west of Croxted Road, adjoining Walkerscroft Mead, Pymers Mead, etc in the London
Borough of Lambeth and named in 1965.
PICKWICK ROAD, S.E.21
Named in honour of Charles Dickens' creation Mr Pickwick, who spent the end of his fictional life
in retirement in Dulwich. Dickens reputedly attended several Dulwich Club dinners at the famous
'Greyhound' inn (although there is no record in the Club Minutes of him doing so), and the road was
constructed in 1906 across the vacant site of the old inn, to Turney Road.
PLAYFIELD CRESCENT, S.E.22
Between Colwell Road and Lytcott Grove. Constructed in 1902 and supposedly so named because
Alleyn's School's playing fields adjoin it.
POND COTTAGES, S.E.21
First mentioned as 'Millpond Cottages' in 1791, when leased to William Oxlade. Renamed Pond
Cottages about 1890.For a comprehensive history of Pond Cottages, see the Dulwich Society
booklet 'A Dulwich Corner', published in 1994.
POND MEAD, S.E.22
Takes its name from Pond House (formerly Pond Place), a fine 18th century mansion at the junction
of Red Post Hill and Village Way, and in the former grounds of which the modern development was
built about 1966.
PRINCESS COURT, S.E.19
A development in College Road, named in 1965; derivation unknown.
PYMERS MEAD, S.E.21
When in the 1960s the local authority was trawling for possible names for new housing
developments, including those on the west side of Croxted Road, one of those submitted was
Pynners Mead, but unfortunately the name has now been perpetuated as the meaningless Pymers
Mead. The local authority got the name right, however, in naming one of the blocks of flats along
Herne Hill as Pynnersmead (see Herne Hill Estate).
RALEIGH COURT, S.E.19 see FARQUHAR ROAD
RED POST HILL, S.E.24 & S.E.22
The ancient highway from Dulwich to London, formerly (from at least 1335 until at least 1788)
called Aspole or Ashpole Lane. Its more modern name is derived from the old sign post on
Denmark Hill which was painted a distinctive red colour like several other examples in the West
Country. The “cross of direction called the Red Post” is shown on a map by James Edwards
published in 1800. The earliest reference traced is from the 1760s in the diaries of Richard
Randall (1736-1812) in Dulwich College archives. At its southern end was formerly the Crooked
Billet, later known successively as the King's Head and the White Hart, which was demolished in
1902. North Dulwich Railway Station, originally serving the London & Sutton line, dates from
1866.
ROCK HILL, S.E.26
Formerly Reservoir Road, this is a walkway linking College Road with Sydenham Hill, and an even
steeper climb than Low Cross Wood Lane. Named after the house called Rockhills, home of Sir
Joseph Paxton near the Crystal Palace.
ROSENDALE ROAD, S.E.21
Named in 1865 after Rosendale Hall, erected 1658 and demolished in the early 20th century. The
road was originally intended as a grand avenue leading towards the Crystal Palace, a plan effectively
spoiled by the owner of the Tritton Road site who built across the intended route. Only part of
Rosendale Road passes through the Dulwich Estate, and that only because the College bought the
Knights Hill Estate in 1860.
ROSEWAY, S.E.21
Built, as part of the Estates Governors' Cottage Building Scheme shortly after World War I, on a
meadow long used by Causton's Athletic Club.
ROUSE GARDENS, S.E.21
Named in 1961 after Harold Lindsey Rouse, a Director of Midland Bank Ltd and an Alleyn Old Boy
and local resident, who had died in 1959.
LINLEY COURT: portraits of the Linley family by Gainsborough are in the Dulwich Picture
Gallery.
WHITFIELD COURT: John Whitfield (died 1826) bequeathed money to Dulwich College to
provide bread and potatoes each year for twenty poor widows in Dulwich. (Blanch)
ROYSTON COURT, S.E.24 see COBB COURT
RUSHOLME GROVE, S.E.19
A modern development off Dulwich Wood Avenue; derivation of name unknown
RUSKIN WALK, S.E.24
The Victorian writer and critic John Ruskin lived much of his life in the Herne Hill area, from 1823-
43 at a house on the site of 26 Herne Hill, and from 1843 to 1872 leasing from the College a house
(later 163 Denmark Hill) built in 1807 on the site of another built in 1796. After Ruskin's time his
house became the Ruskin Manor Hotel. It was demolished in 1949. Ruskin Walk was a new road
constructed roughly on the line of an old walk-way called Simpson's Alley, which was renamed in
1905. (see Dulwich Society Newsletter 160, Spring 2009, pp31-33).
RYECOTES MEAD, S.E.21
John and Cristina de Reygate figure as vendors in a sale of a freehold messuage and 9 acres of land
in Dylewissh in 1311, and in 1405 Sir Robert Denny's holdings in Dulwich included "the tenement
lately called Reygates". This property passed to the Legh family of Streatham, who sold it to the
Drapers of Camberwell in 1542, and the last surviving Draper, Matthew, left it in his Will to Sir
Edmund Bowyer of Camberwell, who sold it in 1609 to Edward Alleyn. Unfortunately, there are no
definite clues as to where within Dulwich manor the property lay. We have much better information
on another, although un- related, parcel called Rigates Green, which was encircled by Dulwich
Common Wood and comprised 60 acres roughly where the various Sports Grounds on the south side
of the South Circular are now to be found, and included the fields called Cokers. The house called
Ryecotes, from which Ryecotes Mead directly takes its name, was so named by William Young, a
College and Estates Governor (and a distinguished local historian), who occupied it from 1858. In
1909 it was home to Sir Hiram Maxim, inventor of the Maxim gun, who is buried in West Norwood
Cemetery. The house was demolished in 1967 to make way for the present development.
SEELEY DRIVE, S.E.21 see KINGSWOOD ESTATE
SHACKLETON COURT, S.E.21
A Council development in Croxted Road named in 1955 after Sir Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922),
Antartic explorer and pupil in Dulwich College.
SOUTH CROXTED ROAD, S.E.21
The southern continuation (towards Gipsy Hill) of CROXTED ROAD. The line of the present road
follows that of Hall Lane, which is shown on a 16th century map in The National Archives. (see
Dulwich Society Journal 162, Autumn 2009, pp 34-7).
SPENSER MEWS, S.E.21
A development in Croxted Road, named about 1990, presumably after the Elizabethan poet,
Edmund Spenser.
SPINNEY GARDENS, S.E.19 see BOWLEY CLOSE
SPRINGHILL CLOSE, S.E.5
The first road south of the Fox on the Hill, leading into Champion Hill.
The name given in 1979 is presumably explained by the hill being supplied with natural springs.
STEEN WAY, S.E.22 see EAST DULWICH GROVE ESTATE
STONEHILLS COURT, S.E.21
A development off College Road. So named in 1959, after a house called ‘Stonehills’ which stood
on the site. This name had been given to the house by Frederick Arnold who had taken over the
lease in 1905. It had previously been called ‘Oakfield’. He took the name from that of his former
house in Streatham, probably to avoid confusion with two other houses also called ‘Oakfield’ in
Dulwich.
STRADELLA ROAD, S.E.24
Said to have been named in 1894 after Alessandro Stradella (1639-1682), one of the most
accomplished Italian composers in the 17th century. Any connection between him and the Herne Hill
area, where the road is to be found, is unclear.
SUNRAY AVENUE, S.E.24
The first entrance into Dulwich, travelling south from Denmark Hill, is Sunray Avenue, which leads
into Red Post Hill at its southern end. The road is traversed halfway along by another road also
called Sunray Avenue. So named in 1894. According to Sherwood, the name relates to ‘a plot of
land noted for its beautiful effects of sunrays at sunset’ .
SYDCOTE, S.E.21
On the north-west corner of Thurlow Park Road and Rosendale Road. The house of that name was
formerly next to Glenlea in Thurlow Park Road (not to be confused with the former Glenlea on
Dulwich Common).
SYDENHAM HILL, S.E.26 and S.E.23
Marks the longest section of the south-eastern boundary of the old Dulwich Manor and of the
modern Dulwich Estate. Sydenham is an early place-name, and is to be found in a document of
1319 as 'Cypenham'.
SYDENHAM HILL ESTATE, S.E. 23
The blocks of flats on the Sydenham Hill Estate were named in 1952 by Camberwell Borough
Council after particular Abbots (or Priors) of Bermondsey Abbey (or Priory), lord of the manor of
Dulwich from 1127 to the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538. They comprise:
ATTLEBOROUGH COURT, after John Attleborough (fl. 1399), the first abbot;
BROMLEIGH COURT, after John Bromleigh (fl. 1432);
DUNTON COURT, after Richard Dunton or Denton (fl. 1381), the first English prior;
PARFEW COURT, after Robert Parfew (fl. 1530), the last abbot;
THETFORD COURT, after Thomas Thetford (fl. 1413)
SYDENHAM RISE. S.E.23
Forms a triangle with Sydenham Hill and London Road, Forest Hill.
TERBORCH WAY, S.E.22 see EAST DULWICH GROVE ESTATE
THETFORD COURT S.E.23 see SYDENHAM HILL ESTATE
THORNCOMBE ROAD, S.E.22
Constructed in 1879 on the line of an old footpath leading from East Dulwich Grove to Dulwich, via
White Cottage. Probably named after a village in Dorset, but why is unclear.
THURLOW PARK ROAD, S.E.21
Named after Lord Thurlow, the 18th century Lord Chancellor who owned the Knights Hill Estate.
TOLLGATE DRIVE, S.E.21
So named in 1966 from the Toll Gate nearby in College Road, the only toll gate still in use in the
London area.
TOWNLEY ROAD, S.E.22
Margaret Townley was Edward Alleyn's mother's maiden name. The road was so named in 1884.
TURNEY ROAD, S.E.21
George L. Turney was a Vestryman of Camberwell Parish in 1863. The house numbers were
assigned in 1905, but the road had been laid out earlier and the name is shown on an 1876 map.
TYLNEY AVENUE, S.E.19
So named in 1960. Edmund Tylney was Master of the Queen's Revels under Elizabeth I in 1583,
and there is therefore a tenuous link with Edward Alleyn. See also Farquhar Road.
VELDE WAY see EAST DULWICH GROVE ESTATE
VILLAGE WAY, S.E.21
Linking Half Moon Lane with Dulwich Village, and built through the grounds of Pond House when
the railway line necessitated a detour in Half Moon Lane in the 1860s. The name was given in 1906
and part of East Dulwich Grove was absorbed in 1921.
WALKERSCROFT MEAD, S.E.21
Almost certainly named after Robert Waldecart of Ludham, mentioned as the purchaser in 1315 of a
freehold messuage and 9 acres in Dulwich (called Reygates). He must also have held two acres of
copyhold, subsequently referred to almost invariably (allowing for spelling variations) as
Walkerscroft. Evidence of its precise location is frustratingly absent, despite its frequent
appearances in the old records, from 1428 (as Fulkart). In 1497 there is (in view of the supposed
derivation) the significant spelling Walcardescrofte and, in 1568, Waulcardise Crofte. Walkerscroft
Mead, the name given in the 1960s to part of the development in Croxted Road which includes
Pymers Mead and Perifield, is accordingly tautologous.
WANLEY ROAD, S.E.5 see CLEVE HALL ESTATE
WARMINGTON ROAD, S.E.24
Off Half Moon Lane, at a right angle to Ruskin Walk. Probably so named, in 1889, after a parish in
Warwickshire. The road was laid out in 1890/1 with Howlett’s Road and part of Half Moon Lane.
(see Herne Hill Society Newsletter 104, Autumn 2008, p12). See DULWICH HOUSE ESTATE
WAVEL PLACE, S.E.26
Private development between Fountain Drive and Sydenham Hill. Named in 1985; derivation
unknown.
WELLDON COURT, S.E.21
A development off Croxted Road by Camberwell Borough Council. Named in 1955 after Rt Rev
James Welldon (1854-1937), Master of Dulwich College from 1883 to 1885.
WESLEY COURT, S.E.24
A development in Beckwith Road for the Greater London Council, completed in 1979 and named
after John Wesley (1703-91), one of the founders of Methodism. The Half Moon Lane Methodist
Church was on the site from about 1900 until demolished in the 1970s.
WHITFIELD COURT, S.E.21 see ROUSE GARDENS
WICKERS OAKE, S.E.19
Off Dulwich Wood Park and named in 1980. The famous ancient tree called the Vicar's Oak may be
sited, to within a few feet, to the centre of the roundabout at the southern end of Crystal Palace
Parade. The coppice wood to which the tree (the meeting point of four parishes, namely
Camberwell, Lambeth, Battersea and Streatham) gave its name is first mentioned in the Dulwich
records, as a close called Wickers Oake Coppice, in 1607. From 1645 onwards there are recorded
sales, every ten years or so, of the wood and underwood in Vicars (or Vickers) Oak (or Oake) Cop-
pice, given as 32 acres in 1668, until at least 1798, although the Vicars Oak itself seems to have
been cut down in 1678. In 1854 the new Crystal Palace Co. became occupier (and lessee, through
its nominee George Wythes) of substantial parts of Vicars Oak Wood and Kings Wood, and the
Crystal Palace Parade was constructed just within the eastern boundary of the old coppice wood.
WILKIE WAY, S.E.22 see LORDSHIP LANE ESTATE
WINTERBROOK ROAD, S.E.24
Named in 1896, apparently because the watercourse that ran across it in former times dried up in
summer, but flowed more freely in winter, as remembered by D H Allport, historian of Camberwell.
WOODFARRS, S.E.5 see DENMARK HILL ESTATE
WOODHALL AVENUE, S.E.21
A cul-de-sac off WOODHALL DRIVE, q.v.
WOODHALL DRIVE, S.E.21
An extended crescent off College Road, which took its name (in 1958) from the mansion Wood Hall
(101 College Road), which in the 1870s had replaced one called Woodhouse, built by Thomas Lett
c.1810, and later occupied by, amongst others, the historian George Grote, and James Eno of fruit
salts fame.
WOODLAND ROAD ESTATE, S.E.19
A Camberwell Borough Council development named in 1959 after natural historians associated
with the move of Crystal Palace from Hyde Park to Sydenham in the 1850s.
FORBES COURT: Edward Forbes (1815-54), author of the guide to the natural history department
GOULD COURT: John Gould (1804-81), ornithologist responsible for the display of stuffed birds
WOODSYRE, S.E.26
A development off Sydenham Hill named in 1963. As a place-name, Wood- sire (the more usual
spelling) first appears, in a reference to "the lord's land at Wodeshere", in 1335. William
Wodeshere, probably so named because he or his forebear had the job of tending the lord of the
manor's woods, is, intriguingly, mentioned in the same Court Roll, as being fined for his animals
damaging the lord's property at Wodeshere. Under Bermondsey Abbey and the Calton family,
Woodsire (com- prising 44 acres) remained part of the lord of the manor's demesne lands, essentially
Dulwich Court Farm on either side of Court Lane. Woodsire became subdivided into a number of
parcels: Woodsire Grove was 8 acres of mainly woodland on which Alleyn's School now stands;
Great Woodsires was about 30 acres at one point, and Little Woodsires 14 acres, but another ten
acres was carved out of Great Woodsires (leaving the latter at 20 acres), and added to an adjoining 3
acres to make another 13-acre parcel also, confusingly, called Little Woodsires. The 20 acres and
the 13 acres were thereafter included as part of Dulwich Court Farm, and the 14 acres, straddling
what is now East Dulwich Grove, was leased with a house which is now Lyndenhurst, but after 1719
the leases cease to refer to Little Woodsires by name.
WOODWARDE ROAD, S.E.22
Named in 1884 in honour of Edward Alleyn's first wife, Joan Woodward (died 1623).
WOODYARD LANE, S.E.21
So named in 1958 from the use to which the yard at the end of the lane was put by the Dulwich
Estates Governors, now the Estate Trustees.
WYNEHAM ROAD, S.E.21
Named in 1902, changed from Wenham Street. See DULWICH HOUSE ESTATE
