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We promote and encourage research into Dulwich's fascinating past and are always keen to welcome new members. We write for the Society’s publications, give talks and guide local walks. We curate exhibitions, produce information boards and contribute to celebrations such as the Dulwich Festival. We have information on nearly all the houses in Dulwich: if you email us your address we can tell you its age and who lived there. Local History Group terms of reference (PDF)
Contact: Ian McInnes,
Roger Deason, one of the historians at Dulwich Hamlet Football Club, has generously made his new book, 'Dulwich Hamlet FC: People and Places 1893-1914', available in pdf form here (PDF). There is also a map showing where the players lived and played, see here. His illustrated talk to complement the book was recorded and will be made available shortly.
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The Dulwich Society Local History Group has documented every place of worship in Dulwich, past or present, with its history. THe links below will take you to illustrated PDFs. There is also an interactive illustrated map of all the places of worship at GOOGLE MAPS HERE. If you would like to add anything to this project, please
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On the Street Where You Live, our online Dulwich Local History talks, are available below by clicking on each title. They are also available as a YouTube playlist on our YouTube channel and also on Bell House's YouTube channel, as they host the talks for us. The talks are illustrated with fascinating images of Dulwich's past and full of interesting information about our corner of the world. The talks are researched and given by members of our Local History Group, who take no payment, so all ticket sales go to local charities and we have raised £12,000 to date. The talks last just under an hour.
Dulwich Local History talks on YouTube (playlist)
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Dulwich has been home to many notable residents and our local history group is researching their lives and achievements. The people included in this list meet the following criteria:
- they made a contribution to national life;
- are known outside their work and local area; and
- lived or worked in Dulwich for a reasonable time (and not just attended a local school).
Dulwich is taken broadly as the Dulwich Estate and its immediate neighbourhood, including the Southwark side of Herne Hill, East Dulwich as far as Barry Road and Sydenham next to the Estate boundary.
Find out more by visiting: www.dulwichsociety.com/people
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As part of former Southwark Local Studies librarian Mary Boast's legacy, the Dulwich Society has collaborated with Dulwich College Archives in making the historic Dulwich Estate maps available on line. The estate extends from Denmark Hill to Crystal Palace and Herne Hill to Lordship Lane. Dating from 1806 through to 1974, the maps give a fascinating picture of the Estate's development over the last two hundred years.
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Before 1850 Dulwich was a small village in the centre of a valley with large houses built mostly in the previous hundred years in the best positions on the slopes. The impetus for development in the mid-Victorian period came with the expansion of London, the building of the railways and the reform of the charity, Alleyn’s College of God’s Gift, which owned most of Dulwich. Edward Alleyn (1566-1626) was an early modern actor and playhouse owner.
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Here's a little taster of the incredible history we have uncovered about Dulwich. Please see the rest of our Local History pages for more.
A brief history of East Dulwich
A brief history of West Dulwich (to come)
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King’s College Hospital was established in 1840 when the physician Robert Bentley Todd persuaded the Council of King's College London to spend £25,000 converting a workhouse on Portugal Street, near Lincoln’s Inn Fields, into a teaching hospital. It soon developed into a general hospital covering the slums in the nearby area and need was so great that patients soon slept two to a bed. In 1861 the workhouse was replaced by a new building costing over £100,000 but as the surrounding area was redeveloped the slums disappeared, leading to a decline in demand for the hospital so in 1913 King’s moved to Camberwell.
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Duncan Bowie has generously made his new book, Two Hundred Years of Dulwich Radicalism available in pdf form here: (PDF).
There are also three maps showing where the radicals lived:
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We research the architectural and social history of streets in Dulwich and have included a list of architects whose work appears in Dulwich.
Dulwich has lost many grand houses with distinguished residents but equally still retains many large houses with interesting stories. Read some of them here:
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Our Local History Group collaborated with Kingswood Arts, the community group that runs Kingswood House, to research the lives of some of the many people who worked in Kingswood House back when it was a private home and later when it was a Canadian wartime hospital. Community artist Kremena Dimitrova then made a beautiful exhibition to share the stories (see below), which now hangs in the café at the house. The original research by our group is available below, where you can find out about the appropriately-named Roots family who were gardeners going back generations, or the Burfoots who started out as coachmen but became chauffeurs when cars replaced horses. To introduce the house itself we have an article, Kingswood, and an online talk: Bovril Castle: the Story of Kingswood House.
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