Editing Deptford (section)

=== Early modern ===
[[File:Deptford Strond.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|A 1623 map of Deptford Strond with annotations by [[John Evelyn]] showing [[Sayes Court]] in the bottom-left corner, and Deptford Green as "The Common Greene" just above centre left (click for larger version)]]
A second settlement, '''Deptford Strand''' or '''Deptford Strond''', developed as a modest fishing village on the Thames until [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] used that site for a royal dock repairing, building and supplying ships, after which it grew in size and importance, shipbuilding remaining in operation until March 1869.<ref name= brit_deptford>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45272 ''Deptford''], Old and New London: Volume 6 (1878), pp. 143–64. accessed: 19 September 2009</ref>

[[Trinity House]], the organisation concerned with the safety of navigation around the British Isles, was formed in Deptford in 1514, with its first Master being [[Thomas Spert]], captain of the [[Mary Rose]]. It moved to [[Stepney]] in 1618. The name "Trinity House" derives from the church of Holy Trinity and St Clement, which adjoined the dockyard.<ref name=moorhouse>{{Cite book| author = Geoffrey Moorhouse  | title =Great Harry's Navy | publisher =Weidenfeld & Nicolson | year =2005 | location = London | pages =169, 170 | isbn =978-0-297-64544-3}}</ref>

Originally separated by market gardens and fields, the two areas merged over the years,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/lewisham/main/deptford.htm |title=Deptford |publisher= Ideal homes |access-date=17 August 2008  |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080601064304/http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/lewisham/main/deptford.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 1 June 2008}}</ref> with the docks becoming an important part of the [[Elizabethan era#Science, technology and exploration|Elizabethan exploration]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server.php?show=ConNarrative.38&chapterId=469 |title=The Tudor and Stuart port | work = About maritime London |publisher=Port Cities |access-date=9 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081222004120/http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server.php?show=ConNarrative.38&chapterId=469 |archive-date=22 December 2008}}</ref> [[Queen Elizabeth I]] visited the royal dockyard on 4 April 1581 to knight the adventurer [[Francis Drake]].<ref name= Green2000>Greenwich 2000 - ''[http://wwp.greenwich2000.com/info/local/deptford.htm Deptford Strand] {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110711125222/http://wwp.greenwich2000.com/info/local/deptford.htm |date=11 July 2011 }}''</ref> As well as for exploration, Deptford was important for trade – the [[Honourable East India Company]] had a yard in Deptford from 1607 until late in the 17th century,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/conMediaFile.484/The-East-India-Companys-Yard-at-Deptford.html |title= The East India Company's Yard at Deptford |publisher=Port cities |access-date=5 July 2010 |archive-date=9 June 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110609184430/http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/conMediaFile.484/The-East-India-Companys-Yard-at-Deptford.html |url-status= dead }}</ref> later (1825) taken over by the [[General Steam Navigation Company]]. It was also connected with the [[History of slavery|slave trade]], [[John Hawkins (naval commander)|John Hawkins]] using it as a base for his operations,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.paradise-inn-carriacou.com/slavetrade.php |title=Slavetrade in the caribbean, from the beginning till abolishment. |publisher= Paradise inn Carriacou |access-date=9 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100412005442/http://www.paradise-inn-carriacou.com/slavetrade.php |archive-date=12 April 2010}}</ref> and [[Olaudah Equiano]], the slave who became an important part of the abolition of the slave trade, was sold from one ship's captain to another in Deptford around 1760.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.itzcaribbean.com/olaudah_equiano.php |title=Olaudah Equiano, UK |publisher= It's Caribbean |access-date=9 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013124330/http://www.itzcaribbean.com/olaudah_equiano.php |archive-date=13 October 2008}}</ref><ref>''The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, Written By Himself, Volume 1'', [[Olaudah Equiano]], Kessinger Publishing, 2004, {{ISBN|1419167499}}</ref>

Diarist [[John Evelyn]] lived in Deptford at [[Sayes Court]], the manor house of Deptford, from 1652 after he had married the daughter of the owner of the house, [[Sir Richard Browne, 1st Baronet, of Deptford|Sir Richard Browne]].<ref>Douglas D. C. Chambers, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8996 'Evelyn, John (1620–1706)'], ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'', Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, January 2008, accessed 13 January 2008.</ref> After [[Stuart Restoration|the Restoration]], Evelyn obtained a 99-year lease of the house and grounds,<ref name=Deptford/> and laid out meticulously planned gardens in the French style, of hedges and [[parterre]]s. In its grounds was a cottage at one time rented by master woodcarver [[Grinling Gibbons]]. After Evelyn had moved to Surrey in 1694, [[Peter the Great]], the Russian [[tsar]], studied shipbuilding for three months in 1698 while staying at Sayes Court.<ref name=Green2000/> Evelyn was angered at the antics of the tsar, who got drunk with his friends who, using a wheelbarrow with Peter in it, rammed their way through a "fine holly hedge". Sayes Court was demolished in 1728-9 and a [[workhouse]] built on its site.<ref name=Deptford>{{cite book|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=45482|title= Deptford, St Nicholas, The Environs of London: volume 4: Counties of Herts, Essex & Kent|publisher= T Cadell and W Davies|date=1796|pages=359–85|last=Daniel Lysons|work=British History Online}}</ref> Part of the estates around Sayes Court were purchased in 1742 for the building of the [[Victualling Commissioners#The Victualling Yards|Navy Victualling Yard]], which was renamed the [[HM Victualling Yard, Deptford|Royal Victoria Victualling Yard]] in 1858 after a visit by Queen Victoria.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.london-footprints.co.uk/wkdeptmillwalladd.htm |title=Deptford & Millwall - add info |publisher=London-footprints.co.uk |access-date=5 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090820182731/http://www.london-footprints.co.uk/wkdeptmillwalladd.htm |archive-date=20 August 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This massive facility included warehouses, a bakery, a cattleyard/abattoir and sugar stores, and closed in 1961. All that remains is the name of Sayes Court Park, accessed from Sayes Court Street off Evelyn Street, not far from [[Deptford High Street]]. The [[Pepys Estate]], opened on 13 July 1966, is on the former grounds of the Victualling Yard.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mcad.demon.co.uk/tag1.htm |title=Pepys Estate Tenants Action Group |access-date=11 June 2010 |archive-date=26 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090626213023/http://www.mcad.demon.co.uk/tag1.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:Flats on Deptford Strand, SE8 - geograph.org.uk - 1492422.jpg|thumb|Surviving riverside building of the former [[HM Victualling Yard, Deptford|Royal Victoria Victualling Yard]]]]

The Docks had been gradually declining from the 18th century; the larger ships being built found the Thames difficult to navigate, and Deptford was under competition from the new docks at [[Plymouth]], [[Portsmouth]] and [[Chatham Dockyard|Chatham]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConNarrative.52/chapterId/775/Deptford-and-Woolwich-Londons-Royal-Dockyards.html |title=Deptford and Woolwich: London's Royal Dockyards - London's docks and shipping - Port Cities |publisher=portcities.org.uk |access-date=14 January 2010 |archive-date=10 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100110072751/http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConNarrative.52/chapterId/775/Deptford-and-Woolwich-Londons-Royal-Dockyards.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>