Editing Peckham (section)

==History==
"Peckham" is a [[Saxon people|Saxon]] place name meaning the village of the [[River Peck]], a small stream that ran through the district until it was enclosed in 1823. Archaeological evidence indicates earlier [[Roman Britain|Roman]] occupation in the area, although the name of this settlement is lost. ''The Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names'' (1991, 1998) gives the origin as from the Old English *''pēac'' and ''hām'' meaning ‘homestead by a peak or hill’. The name of the river is a back-formation from the name of the village. Peckham Rye is from Old English ''rīth'', stream.

Following the [[Norman Conquest]], the [[Manorialism|manor]] of Peckham was granted to [[Odo of Bayeux]] and held by the [[Ancient Diocese of Lisieux|Bishop of Lisieux]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lysons |first=Daniel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rs9BAAAAYAAJ&q=hackney+19th+century |title=The Environs of London: Being an Historical Account of the Towns, Villages, and Hamlets, Within Twelve Miles of that Capital : Interspersed with Biographical Anecdotes |date=1792 |publisher=A. Strahan |pages=118 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Camberwell {{!}} British History Online |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/london-environs/vol1/pp68-121 |access-date=2022-10-22 |website=www.british-history.ac.uk}}</ref> It was described as being a hamlet on the road from Camberwell to [[Greenwich]].<ref name=":0" />

Peckham came within the newly created [[Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell]] and [[County of London]] in 1889.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new-london/vol6/pp269-286|title=Camberwell - British History Online|website=www.british-history.ac.uk}}</ref> In 1965, the borough was abolished and the area then fell roughly within of the newly created London Borough of Southwark.

Peckham appears in [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 as ''Pecheham''. It was held by the [[Bishop of Lisieux]] from [[Odo of Bayeux]]. Its Domesday assets were: 2 [[hide (unit)|hide]]s. It had land for 1 [[plough]], {{convert|2|acre|m2}} of [[meadow]]. It rendered 30 [[shilling]]s (£1.50).<ref>[http://www.gwp.enta.net/surrnames.htm Surrey Domesday Book] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030192829/http://www.gwp.enta.net/surrnames.htm |date=30 October 2007 }}</ref>

The manor was owned by King [[Henry I of England|Henry I]], who gave it to his son [[Robert, Earl of Gloucester]]. When Robert married the heiress to [[Camberwell]] the two manors were united under royal ownership. [[John of England|King John]] probably hunted at Peckham and local anecdotes suggest that the right to an annual [[fair]] was granted to celebrate a particularly good day's sport. The fair grew to be a rowdy major event lasting three weeks until its abolition in 1827.

Peckham became popular as a wealthy residential area by the 16th century and there are several claims that [[Christopher Wren]] had local links. By the 18th century the area was a more commercial centre and attracted industrialists who wanted to avoid paying the expensive rents in central London.  Peckham also boasted extensive [[market gardening|market gardens]] and [[orchard]]s growing produce for the nearby markets of London. Local produce included melons, figs and grapes. The formal gardens of the Peckham [[Manor House]], rebuilt in 1672 by [[Sir Thomas Bond]] were particularly noticeable and can be seen on the [[John Rocque's Map of London, 1746|Rocque map of 1746]]. The manor house was sacked in 1688, as its then owner [[Sir Henry Bond, 2nd Baronet|Sir Henry Bond]] was a Roman Catholic and staunch supporter of [[James II of England|James II]]. The house was finally demolished in 1797 for the formation of Peckham Hill Street, as the Shard family developed the area. Today Shard's Terrace, the block that contains Manze's Pie and Mash shop, and the western side of Peckham Hill Street represent this [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] planned expansion.

The village was the last stopping point for many cattle [[Droving|drover]]s taking their livestock for sale in London. The drovers stayed in the local inns (such as the ''Red Cow'') while the cattle were safely secured overnight in holding pens. Most of the villagers were agricultural or horticultural workers but with the early growth of the suburbs an increasing number worked in the brick industry that exploited the local [[London Clay]]. In the early 18th century nonconformist preacher [[Samuel Chandler]] was minister in Peckham.<ref name=":0"/>

In 1767 [[William Blake]] visited [[Peckham Rye]] and had a vision of an [[angel]] in a tree. In 1993, at the request of the Dulwich Festival,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dulwichfestival.co.uk/|title=Homepage – Dulwich Festival – #VirtualDulwichFestival|first=Dulwich|last=Festival|website=Dulwich Festival}}</ref> artist Stan Peskett painted a mural of Blake's vision next to the Goose Green playground in [[East Dulwich]].

===19th century===
[[File:Peckham Rye stn entrance.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Peckham Rye railway station]] entrance off Rye Lane]]
At the beginning of the 19th century, Peckham was synonymous with [[Peckham Rye]]: a "small, quiet, retired village surrounded by fields". Since 1744 [[stagecoach]]es had travelled with an armed guard between Peckham and London to give protection from [[highwaymen]]. The rough roads constrained traffic so a branch of the [[Grand Surrey Canal]] was proposed as a route from the [[River Thames|Thames]] to [[Portsmouth]]. The canal was built from [[Surrey Commercial Docks]] to Peckham before the builders ran out of funds in 1826. The abbreviated canal was used to ship soft wood for construction and even though the canal was drained and backfilled in 1970, Whitten's timber merchants stood on the site known as Eagle Wharf until it closed in 2019 and the location was designated for development.<ref>{{Cite web|last=www.girafficthemes.com|first=Giraffic Themes {{!}}|title=Whitten Timber bids farewell|url=https://peckhampeculiar.tumblr.com/post/186067467452/whitten-timber-bids-farewell|access-date=2021-03-12|website=THE PECKHAM PECULIAR|language=en}}</ref>

[[File:203 to 213 Queen's Road, Peckham.jpg|thumb|left|203 to 213 Queen's Road, Peckham]]

In 1851 [[Thomas Tilling]] started an innovative [[Bus|omnibus]] service from Peckham to London. Tilling's buses were the first to use pre-arranged bus stops, which helped them to run to a reliable timetable. His services expanded to cover much of London until his horses were requisitioned for the [[British Army|Army]] in the [[First World War]].

During the mid-19th century, housing had spread north and west of Peckham Rye. The area in the north, towards [[Old Kent Road]], on land previously owned by the Hill family (from whom the name Peckham Hill Street was derived) was initially known as '''Peckham New Town''', although it would later become synonymous with Peckham in general (and the "New Town" was abandoned). In the area west of [[Peckham Rye Common]] and [[Peckham Rye Park]], many large houses were built.

[[File:Peckham eel and pie.jpg|thumb|upright|Manze's Eel and Pie House, Peckham]]
[[File:Camberwell Met. B Ward Map 1916.svg|thumb|A map showing the Peckham wards of Camberwell Metropolitan Borough as they appeared in 1916]]
[[Peckham Rye railway station]] was opened, in 1865. With the arrival of the railway and the introduction of horse-drawn trams about ten years later, Peckham became accessible to artisans and clerical staff working in the city and the docks. Housing for this socio-economic group filled almost all the remaining fields except the Rye. In 1868 the [[vestry]] of Camberwell St Giles bought the Rye to keep it as [[common land]]. Responding to concerns about the dangerous overcrowding of the common on holidays the vestry bought the adjacent Homestall Farm (the last farm in the area) in 1894 and opened this as Peckham Rye Park.

With the influx of younger residents with money to spend Rye Lane became a major shopping street. Jones & Higgins opened a small shop in 1867 (on the corner of Rye Lane and Peckham High Street) that became the best known department store in south London for many years. It closed in the 1980s. In 1870 [[George Gibson Bussey]] moved to Peckham and set up a firm described as "Firearms, Ammunition & Shooting” at the Museum Works, Rye Lane, Peckham. The Museum of Firearms was built in 1867. The [[Ordnance Survey]] Map of 1868 shows the museum building with a rifle range at the rear extending along the side of the railway embankment for 150 yards.

The late 19th century also saw the arrival of George Batty, a manufacturer of condiments, whose main business stood at [[Finsbury Pavement]]. The company's Peckham premises occupied 19 railway arches. It was acquired by the [[Heinz|H. J. Heinz Company]] in 1905 as their first UK manufacturing base.

The southern end of Peckham was the location for the railway line that once served [[the Crystal Palace]] in [[Sydenham, London|Sydenham]]. Though the line was eventually dismantled due to the collapse of the embankment into the gardens of Marmora Road it is still possible to see large sections of it. The flats on Wood Vale and the full length of Brenchley Gardens trace its route.

Close by is the Aquarius Golf Club,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aquariusgolfclub.co.uk/pages.php/index.htmlAquarius|title=Aquarius Golf Club: Golf club and golf course in London,. www.aquariusgolfclub.co.uk|website=www.aquariusgolfclub.co.uk}}</ref> which is located over the cavernous Honor Oak Reservoir constructed between 1901 and 1909. When it was completed it was the largest brick built underground reservoir in the world<ref name="Honor Oak Reservoir 1">{{cite web | title = Honor Oak Reservoir | publisher = London Borough of Lewisham | url = http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/ForestHillAndHonorOakSecretsLeaflet.pdf | access-date = 1 September 2011 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120318025526/http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/ForestHillAndHonorOakSecretsLeaflet.pdf | archive-date = 18 March 2012 | df = dmy-all }}</ref> and is still one of the largest in Europe.<ref name="Honor Oak Reservoir 2">{{cite web | title = Honor Oak Reservoir | publisher = Mott MacDonald | url = http://www.projectmanagement.mottmac.com/projects/?mode=type&id=130093 | access-date = 1 September 2011 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111209183234/http://www.projectmanagement.mottmac.com/projects/?mode=type&id=130093 | archive-date = 9 December 2011 | df = dmy-all }}</ref> The reservoir now forms part of the Southern extension of the [[Thames Water Ring Main]].

[[Camberwell Cemeteries|Camberwell Old Cemetery]], on Forest Hill Road, is a later example of the ring of [[Victorian era|Victorian]] cemeteries that were built to alleviate the overcrowding of [[churchyard]]s that was experienced with the rapid expansion of London in the 19th century. The Stone House at its main entrance was used as a film location for ''[[Entertaining Mr. Sloane]]'' (1970), adapted from the [[Joe Orton]] play. It was gutted by fire in the mid-1970s and rebuilt some years later. Camberwell Old Cemetery did not have the grandeur of nearby [[Nunhead Cemetery]], which was one of the original London [[Necropolis|necropoleis]], and once nearing capacity it was replaced by [[Camberwell Cemeteries|Camberwell New Cemetery]] on Brenchley Gardens.

Brenchley Gardens Park follows the route of the old line to [[the Crystal Palace]] culminating at the High Level station. The park runs behind Marmora Road and the remains of the embankment then continues along Wood Vale where flats were built on it. The line was closed in 1954 following a decline in its use after the destruction of the Crystal Palace in 1936 and due to slippage in the structure of the embankment.<ref name="Route of Crystal Palace Railway Line">{{cite web | title = Crystal Palace (High Level) – Nunhead | publisher = London's Abandoned Stations | url = http://www.abandonedstations.org.uk/Crystal_Palace_line_2.html | access-date =17 July 2008 }}</ref>

===20th century===
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[[File:Edward Turner Blue Plaque.jpg|thumb|London Borough of Southwark [[blue plaque]] awarded to motorbike designer [[Edward Turner (motorcycle designer)|Edward Turner]] unveiled in 2009 at his former residence, 8 Philip Walk, Peckham. Turner had run a motorbike shop, Chepstow Motors on Peckham High Street]]
In the 1930s George Scott Williamson and [[Innes Pearse]] opened the Pioneer Health Centre in Queens Road. They planned to conduct a large experiment into the effect of environment on health.
'[[The Peckham Experiment]]' recruited 950 families who paid one [[shilling]] ({{Inflation|UK|{{Pounds, shillings, and pence|s=1}}|1926|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}) a week for access to something like a modern sports club with facilities for physical exercise, games, workshops and socialising with no mandatory programme. The centre moved into a purpose-built modernist building by the architect [[Owen Williams (engineer)|Sir Owen Williams]] in 1935.
[[File:Young man running on the North Peckham Estate.jpg|thumb|North Peckham Estate, 1984.]]

{{visible anchor|North Peckham}} was heavily redeveloped in the 1960s, consisting mainly of high-rise flats to rehouse people from dilapidated old houses. It was popular on its completion for offering a high quality and modern standard of living. However, high unemployment and a lack of economic opportunities led to [[urban decay]] and a period of decline in the late 1970s. The North Peckham Estate became one of the most deprived residential areas in Western Europe. Vandalism, graffiti, arson attacks, burglaries, robberies and muggings were commonplace, and the area became an archetypal London [[sink estate]]. As a result, the area was subjected to a £290 million regeneration programme in the late 1990s and early 2000s. After the beginning of the regeneration, the estate gained nationwide notoriety in the media when 10-year-old Nigerian resident [[Damilola Taylor]] was stabbed to death on the estate on 27 November 2000.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1841755.stm |work=BBC News | title=Changing face of Damilola estate | date=25 April 2002 | access-date=22 May 2010}}</ref> A gang operating in the area is the [[Peckham Boys]].<ref name=King>King, Lorraine. [https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/feb/11/ukcrime.theobserver "The inside story of gang life in Peckham"], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 11 February 2007. Accessed 9 August 2011.</ref>

In the early 1990s Peckham was a centre of underground music partly due to a large squat known as The Dolehouse in a disused, two-floor [[DHSS]] building near Peckham High Street.<ref>{{cite book|title=Pete Frame's Rockin' Around Britain: Rock'n'roll Landmarks of the UK and Ireland|first=Pete|last=Frame|publisher=Music Sales Group|year=1999|isbn=978-0-711-96973-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/peteframesrockin0000fram}}</ref> The building was already known for having featured in the cover shot of a 1980s pictorial biography of 1960s' mods, featuring them on their customised scooters outside the then Camberwell Labour Exchange. In 1989 the squatters adopted the name ''Dole House Crew'' and along with another local group of squatters called the "Green Circus", held regular gigs/parties in the building. They moved on to many other [[South East (London sub region)|South East London]] venues after the Peckham Dolehouse was evicted in late October 1990. A [[squatting|squatted]] [[social centre]] called the [[Spike Surplus Scheme]] ran from 1998 until being evicted by the council in 2009.

Peckham was one of the areas where riots took place during the [[2011 England riots]].<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14450557 "London riots: 'Everyone was very fired up'"], [[BBC News]], 9 August 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2011.</ref>

Peckham was home to the Peckham Black Women's Centre until 1990,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-07-30 |title=Transpontine: Peckham Black Womens Group 1985 |url=http://transpont.blogspot.com/2014/07/peckham-black-womens-group-1985.html |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=Transpontine}}</ref> and to [[the Black Lesbian and Gay Centre]] from 1992 to 1995.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rainbow Plaque: Black Lesbian & Gay Centre - Studio Voltaire |url=https://studiovoltaire.org/whats-on/black-lesbian-gay-centre-rainbow-plaque/ |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=studiovoltaire.org |language=en-GB}}</ref> In 2024 a [[Rainbow plaque|Rainbow Plaque]] commemorating the Black Lesbian and Gay Centre was unveiled on [[Bellenden Road]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=EDITOR |date=2024-02-20 |title=Peckham's Black Lesbian & Gay Centre marked with new Rainbow Plaque |url=https://diva-magazine.com/2024/02/20/black-lesbian-gay-centre-rainbow-plaque/ |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=diva-magazine.com |language=en-GB}}</ref>