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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,
The Local History Group answers a wide variety of enquiries from the general public. Here are some examples of recent queries. If you would like to follow up on any of these please contact us on
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Information sought on the Old Blew House, Dulwich Common, in connection with research on the life of John Prescott Hallett (1908-1982)(17.09.2026)
An enquirer seeking information on the Victory Beer House 157, Lordship Lane (16.09.2026)
A masters student of the conservation of historic brick buildings or structures seeking advice about a possible case study in Dulwich. (14.09.2026)
An enquiry for any historical or architectural information (old maps, photographs, plans or references) to the development of a group of houses on Mount St Aidan’s Park and Upland Road, particularly when they were built, whether they were designed as part of a larger development or estate, and any information you may have about their original design. (14.09.2026)
Having seen the 'substack' on 31 Sydenham Hill an enquirer wondered whether there was any information on the houses that used to be where Crouchman's Close is now (at the junction of Sydenham Hill and Crescent Wood Road). (12.09.2026)
An enquiry about the name of the housekeeper at Glenlea, where the Dutch resistance was based. (16.08.2026)
A query about where the book stall/shop at West Dulwich Station was c1900 (28.07.2026)
An enquirer seeking information about stained glass and the names presented on it, which may have come from St. James East Dulwich (26.07.2026)
Remembering the house 'Innisfallen', following an article on Greendale and its residents (17.07.2026)
An enquirer seeking any images of Lordship Lane and East Dulwich, including trams, for a newspaper article. (08.07.2026)
Did the famous actor Timothy Spall live in our house (12 Dunstan Road, SE22) possibly in the 1980s? (03.07.2026)
An enquirer searching for any photos/drawings/paintings of Lake House in Dulwich, as part of assembling a family history (15.06.2026)
An enquirer seeking information on 100 Lordship Lane during the period 1936-1940, as part of family history (13.06.2026)
An offer of a model of the Toll Gate Cottage (9 .06.2026)
Help requested to understand 20 Victorian houses in Oglander Road and who were the architects/developers, as they are similar in style to a house in Stanstead Road, Catford (2.06.2026)
Would a bullet found in a Dulwich back garden have come from a fighter aircraft in the last war; and are there any other such records in the history group's archives? (9.05.2026)
Why doesn't the postbox on College Road just South of the tollgate bear any Royal insignia? (29.04.2026)
Street Origin (streetorigin.uk), a site dedicated to the history and etymology of street names across Britain, came across the Local History Group's item on the Casina and was very complimentary about the short history of the house. (26.04.2026)
Information about or a picture sought of Sir Jethro Teall's house at 174 Rosendale Drive. (31.03.2026)
An enquirer making a 60-second social video on the pubs of Lordship Lane, asking why they’re all on one side of the road. (15.03.2026)
An enquiry about the current Georgian mansion house at Malshanger, north Hampshire, and when or whether Edward Thurlow, the first Baron Thurlow, built and owned it as included in his Will.(9.03.2026)
An enquiry about where the names for the blocks of flats on the Kingswood Estate originated (03.2026)
An enquirer researching the poet Gloria Komai stumbled across an old tweet from the Dulwich Local History page and was seeking further information about a list of writers alongside, Dannie Abse and Muriel Spark. The context had been lost from the original Twitter page (started by a tweet about Dulwich's College Press). (20.02.2026)
Following Dulwich Society research on people of colour in Dulwich, featuring Dr. Seth Cudjoe, a request for more information about his time in the UK. (10.02.2026)
A request for information about Huguenot family connections in Dulwich (10.02.2026)
Where did the artist Elsie Henderson live? In or around 1905, was it Housefield or Hourfield or Homesfield on Thurlow Park Road? (22.01.2026)
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A selection of resources covering Dulwich during the two world wars.
World War One
- World War One Interactive Map: A joint venture by the Dulwich Society, Herne Hill Society and the Friends of West Norwood Cemetery commemorates the centenary of WW1 in an online interactive map. The map features locations in Herne Hill, Dulwich and Norwood and illuminates the contribution the area made to the war effort as well as the war’s impact on the lives of local people.
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A blue plaque is a historical marker installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that place and a famous person, event, or building. They can be part of the official scheme administered by English Heritage or organisations like Southwark Council. Dulwich has blue plaques commemorating one building and the people listed below, many of whom are detailed in our 'Who Was Who in Dulwich'. A Google map shows the locations of the blue plaques in Dulwich.
Helene Aldwinckle (1920-2020)
76 Farquhar Road, SE19 1LT
Bletchley Park codebreaker, broadcaster & gallerist
John Logie Baird (1888-1946)
3 Crescent Wood Road, SE26 6RT
Inventor, electrical engineer, and television pioneer
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2016 marked the 400th anniversary of the historic Burial Ground at the heart of Dulwich Village. Originally planned by Edward Alleyn (1566-1626), early modern actor and playhouse owner, Lord of the manor of Dulwich from 1606 as part of his charity, Alleyn’s College of God’s Gift, which included Dulwich schools and alms houses, it was consecrated by the then Archbishop of Canterbury on 1 September 1616 following a service at Christ Chapel earlier in the morning.
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Dulwich is rich in historical resources such as old maps, plans and photographs and you can trace the history of the area over time, using the census, electoral registers and other archive material. Here are some good places to start:
Southwark Archives, 211 Borough High Street, London SE1 1JA
tel: 020 7525 0232
email:
website: Southwark Archives
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Dulwich has lost many grand houses with distinguished residents. Here are just a few:
- 7 Allison Grove, Dulwich Common
- Adon Mount, East Dulwich
- Beech House aka Warrigul
- Bessemer House and The Grange, Denmark Hill
- Breakspeare House, College Road
- Carlton House, Herne Hill
- The Chalet, Sydenham Rise
- Casino or Casina House, North Dulwich
- Cleve Hall
- The Elms, Dulwich Common
- Dulwich Hill House
- Dulwich Upper Woods
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The Local History group has made a list of Dulwich's existing boundary markers, see below, and a map, available here. Please let us know if there are any more.
In former times when maps were rare, it was usual to make a formal perambulation of the parish boundaries on Ascension Day or during that week, on what were known as Rogation Days. Knowledge of the limits of each parish needed to be handed down so that such matters as liability to contribute to the repair of the church or the right to be buried within the churchyard were not disputed.
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The Dulwich Society marked its 50th year by installing 12 commemorative plaques to those civilians killed during World War Two. Over 500 high explosive bombs and countless incendiaries fell on our small community; they were followed by 35 V1 flying bombs and three V2 rockets. Where possible, the plaques were unveiled by survivors or descendants of those killed and they bear the names and ages of those killed. This leaflet provides a guide to those memorials: PDF Download
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Here are the stories of some of the larger houses in Dulwich. They had various names over time; we have used the one by which they are best known.
- Belair, Gallery Road
- Bell House, College Road (link takes you to the Bell House website)
- Eller Bank, College Road (now DUCKS)
- The Chalet, Sydenham Rise
- Concrete House, Lordship Lane
- Glenlea or Tappen House
- Oakfield, Dulwich Common
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Thanks to Dulwich College, and in particular to the Keeper of the Archives Calista Lucy, the Court Rolls of the Manor of Dulwich have all now been photographed, and Patrick Darby of the Dulwich Society Local History Group has been transcribing and translating them. Images of those Rolls, with their transcriptions and (up to 1732) translations, are now available to view online. Patrick Darby has written an introduction to these remarkable insights into everyday life in Dulwich past.
Now available at www.dulwichsociety.com/courtrolls
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Our online Local History talks started in January 2021 and are a huge success. They reach a growing number of members, other Dulwich residents and even people further afield as we have had online attendees from Europe and the US. Feedback on the talks is always excellent and over 1,500 tickets have been sold, meaning that something like 3,000 people have attended, as many ticket holders watch with someone else. And this doesn’t include the people who watch the recordings on YouTube afterwards, who number over 1,000 so far.
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This is the story of the Friern Manor Farm Estate, in East Dulwich, from the late 18th Century leading up to its development for house building in the last quarter of the 19th Century. The Estate covered some 221 acres, 89.5 hectares. It was bounded approximately by what is now Barry Road to the north, Lordship Lane to the west and a more indented eastern boundary reflecting historic field patterns flanking Peckham Rye and stretched south as far as the present Horniman Museum buildings. St Clement and St Peter Church was built on the site of the Friern Manor farmhouse, the main farm of the Estate.
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