Editing Bellingham, London

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2009}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country                  = England
| map_type                 = Greater London
| coordinates              = {{coord|51.4311|-0.0245|display=inline,title}}
| region                   = London
| population               = 14,775
| population_ref           = (2011 Census. Ward)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=13688944&c=Bellingham&d=14&e=62&g=6333005&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&o=362&m=0&r=1&s=1476352143524&enc=1|title=Lewisham Ward population 2011|access-date=13 October 2016|publisher=Office for National Statistics |work=Neighbourhood Statistics}}</ref>
| official_name            = Bellingham
| london_borough           = Lewisham
| constituency_westminster = [[Lewisham West and Penge (UK Parliament constituency)|Lewisham West and Penge]]
| post_town                = LONDON
| postcode_district        = SE6
| postcode_area            = SE
| dial_code                = 020
| os_grid_reference        = TQ375715
| static_image_name        = St Dunstans church, Bellingham (geograph 1942605).jpg
| static_image_caption     = St Dunstan's Church, Bellingham
}}
'''Bellingham''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ɛ|l|ɪ|ŋ|ə|m}} {{respell|BEL|ing|əm}}) is an area of [[SE postcode area|south-east London]], England, within the [[London Borough of Lewisham]]. It lies south of [[Catford]], east of [[Sydenham, London|Sydenham]] and north of [[Beckenham]], and is part of the Catford postal district (SE6).

==History==

{{LCC cottage estates}}
According to author and historian [[Nick Barratt]], there was certainly a [[Saxon]] community at Bellingham.<ref>{{cite book |last=Barratt |first=Nick |author-link=Nick Barratt |year=2012 |title=Greater London – The Story of the Suburbs |location=Vauxhall Bridge Road, London |publisher=[[Random House]] |page=512 |isbn=9781847945327}}</ref> In 10th-century Anglo-Saxon charters, the place is referred to as ''Beringaham'' and by 1198 the name had changed from starting with 'Ber' to 'Bel' through [[Normans|Norman]] influence.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://hidden-london.com/gazetteer/bellingham/ |title=Bellingham, Lewisham |website=hidden-london.com |access-date=4 November 2021}}</ref> Some streets in Bellingham are named after the Saxon king [[Alfred the Great]] and his extended family: King Alfred Avenue, Elfrida Crescent and Arnulf Street.

The area was farmland for centuries, but the [[London County Council]] developed a [[London County Council cottage estate|cottage estate]] from 1919 to 1923 on the former Bellingham Farm,<ref>Lewisham Archive https://boroughphotos.org/lewisham/bellingham-farm-7/</ref> and was completed before [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite web |date=18 December 2020 |title=Lower Sydenham and Bell Green Vision Study – Baseline Appraisal |url=https://councilmeetings.lewisham.gov.uk/documents/s76825/A2%20We%20Made%20That%20LSBG%20Vision%20Study%20Baseline%20analysis.pdf |publisher=[[Lewisham London Borough Council]] |page=13 |access-date=3 October 2022}}</ref> The estate is bordered to the east and west by railway lines running south from [[Catford]]. Along the south it is bordered by Southend Lane, the [[A2218 road|A2218 main road]]. The [[River Ravensbourne]] runs through Bellingham, although it is either underground or part of a man-made section of the river. The [[Prime meridian (Greenwich)|Greenwich Prime Meridian]] passes to the east of Bellingham.

==Amenities==
Randlesdown Road serves as a mini '[[High Street]]' for Bellingham providing a local supermarket, men's and women's hair dressers, dry cleaner, [[Off licence#Off-licence|off licence]], news agent, fish and chip shop, The Fellowship pub and cinema, various takeaways and a gym (situated on Bellingham playing fields). It is known for being a very multicultural area.

Bellingham Green is a [[hexagon]]al public park at the centre of the estate.

==Transport==
[[Bellingham railway station]] serves the area with services to [[Kentish Town railway station|Kentish Town]] ([[Blackfriars railway station|London Blackfriars]] off peak) via [[Catford railway station|Catford]] and to [[Sevenoaks railway station|Sevenoaks]] via [[Swanley railway station|Swanley]]. Bellingham is served by many [[Transport for London]] buses connecting it with areas including [[Beckenham]], [[Biggin Hill]], [[Bromley]], [[Catford]], [[Central London]], [[Greenwich]], [[Shoreditch]], [[Camberwell]], [[Bermondsey]], [[Deptford]], [[Elephant & Castle]], [[Brockley]], [[Lewisham]], [[New Cross]], [[Orpington]], [[Peckham]] and [[Woolwich]].

==Pre-school and primary education==
Pre-schools, nurseries and kindergartens include Kindergarten Forest Hill in Bellingham Green and Umbrella House Day Nursery. Primary schools in Bellingham include Athelney Primary School, St Augustines and Elfrida Primary School.

==Image gallery==
{{Gallery
|title=Bellingham Estate, London Borough of Lewisham
|width=160 | height=170
|align=center
|footer=
|File:Henry Cooper's house on Farmstead Road.jpg
 |alt1=
 |Plaque showing former home of heavyweight boxing champion [[Henry Cooper]] at 120 Farmstead Road, Bellingham, London Borough of Lewisham
|File:Adolf Street, Bellingham LB Lewisham 2020.jpg
 |alt2=
 |Adolf Street in the Bellingham Estate which was constructed during [[Adolf Hitler's rise to power]] as leader of the German Nationalist Socialist Party
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{LB Lewisham}}
{{Public housing in the United Kingdom}}

[[Category:Districts of the London Borough of Lewisham]]
[[Category:Areas of London]]