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Sydenham
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{{otheruses}}
{{infobox London place|
|Place= Sydenham
|Borough=
London Borough of Lewisham Lewisham
|Traditional=
Kent
|Constituency=
Lewisham_West_(UK_Parliament_constituency) Lewisham West
|PostTown= LONDON
|PostCode=
London SE26 SE26
|DiallingCode= 020
|GridReference= TQ352714
|GLA=
Greenwich and Lewisham
}}
'''Sydenham''' is a place, for the most part, in the
London Borough of Lewisham; though some streets towards Crystal Palace Park and
Penge are in the
London Borough of Bromley, and some streets off Sydenham Hill are in the
London Borough of Southwark.
Less than 200 years ago Sydenham was a sleepy hamlet in the Kent countryside. The building of the railway and Crystal Palace transformed Sydenham into a fashionable Victorian town for Londoners to visit. Inevitably both grew and merged to now make Sydenham an integral multi-ethnic part of South East London.
Sydenham, Sepham, Cypenham or Sippenham as it has been known was a heavily wooded area of fine oaks, yew trees and quiet country lanes. There were some cottages on the lane from Northwood (now Norwood) to Southend (now Downham).
In 1801 work was started on the Deptford to Croydon canal. This passed through Sydenham and 'The Greyhound' Inn was built where the road passed over the canal. The canal did not prosper long and it was taken over, filled in and converted into a railway.
All changed in 1852 when the Directors of the Railway company had the bright idea of buying and moving
the Crystal Palace built by St Joseph Paxton for the
Great Exhibition in 1851 from Hyde Park to Sydenham. Their idea was to encourage Londoners to take a day out 'in the country' to visit the new enlarged Crystal Palace set in its own pleasure gardens complete with pools, fountains and even a Dinosaur Theme Park. A sort of combination of Disneyland and Jurassic Park!
This would increase traffic on the trains, they could charge for a wide range of entertainments and even benefit from development of a suddenly fashionable area around Lawrie Park and Newlands Park. The houses got progressively smaller towards Lower Sydenham and Bell Green, site of one of London's major gas works.
The population grew from 2,800 in 1841 to 4,500 (1851), 10,595 (1861), 20,000 (1871) and around 40,000 by 1900.
In 1871 Sydenham was imortalised in the works of the exiled
Camille Pissaro - the most famous of which, a view along Lawrie Park Avenue towards St Bart's Church, now hangs in the National Gallery.
The '''Beast of Sydenham''', as of
25 March 2005, is a large, panther-like black animal which has been spotted around the area, and attacked a man. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4370893.stm] (BBC Article) , [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1443798,00.html] (from The Guardian)
=Famous Residents=
*
Thomas Campbell poet;
*
Ernest Shackleton, the Antarctic explorer;
* Frank Shackleton, brother of Ernest Shackleton, rogue & Irish Crown Jewellery robber
*
W G Grace, England's greatest cricketer;
*
George Grove of musical dictionary fame;
*
John Logie Baird, the
television inventor;
*Dame
Cicely Saunders, founder of the modern hospice movement.
* Theophilus William Williams, preacher, bank manager, embezzler and first Mayor of Lewisham
=Nearest places=
*
Bellingham%2C_London Bellingham
*
Crystal Palace, London Crystal Palace
*
Dulwich
*
Forest Hill, London Forest Hill
*
Honor Oak
*
Penge
*
West Norwood
=Nearest railway stations=
*
Penge East railway station
*
Sydenham railway station
*
Sydenham Hill railway station
*
Lower Sydenham railway station
*
Penge West railway station
=Schools=
Sydenham contains two secondary schools
Sydenham High School and
Sydenham School.
Category:Districts of London
Category:Lewisham
External links
-
Sydenham.org.uk Community website and forum.
-
Sydenham Society Local community group.
-
Virtual Sydenham
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