Walworth

Walworth
Walworth
Walworth shown within Greater London
OS grid reference TQ325785
London borough
Ceremonial county Greater London
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town LONDON
Postcode district SE1 (Old Kent Road), SE17
Dialling code 020
Police Metropolitan
Fire London
Ambulance London
EU Parliament London
UK Parliament
London Assembly

Walworth is a district of south east London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is located 1.9 miles (3.1 km) south east of Charing Cross, near Camberwell and Elephant and Castle.

Major streets in Walworth include the Old Kent Road, New Kent Road and Walworth Road.

History

Walworth probably derives its name from the Old English "Wealhworth" meaning British farm.

Walworth appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Waleorde. It was held by Bainiard from Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury. Its domesday assets were: 3½ hides; one church, four ploughs, 8 acres (32,000 m2) of meadow. It rendered £3.[1]

John Smith House is on Walworth Road, and was renamed in memory of John Smith, who was leader of the Labour Party from 1992 up to his sudden death in 1994. A former headquarters of the Labour Party, it was often seen in news reports at election times and in the background as people came and went from meetings of the Labour Party National Executive Committee. It was used by the London Borough of Southwark as the home for its education department and reopened in July 2012 as a hostel.[2]

St. Peter's Church, Walworth's altar

St Peter's Church, Walworth, built circa 1825, is an excellent example of the neo-classical style of church built by Sir John Soane. It is an indication of the wealth of the middle-class merchants who then lived in the vicinity that they could afford an architect of such prominence. Charles Upfold was born at Walworth Common and baptised at St. Peters. The church is home to the Monkey Gardens - which was once home to a menagerie kept by a past Reverend of the Church, but is now a garden.

Manor Place Baths
Old industrial buildings on Horsley Street, part of the Aylesbury Estate in the background.

Manor Place Baths is a former wash house in Manor Place off Walworth Road. It is a grade II listed building. The building was renovated by Kagyu Samye Dzong, Tibetan Buddhist Centre who obtained a five-year lease in 2005. They opened it as their London centre, called Manor Place Samye Dzong on 17 March 2007. Adjacent is the Council's old recycling depot which is now closed and has been replaced by a new facility at 43 Devon Street, off Old Kent Road.[3]

Walworth is also home to the Pullens buildings - a mixture of Victorian live/work spaces and yards. Many of the flats are 1 bedroom, and some of the flats still connect to the Workshops of any of the three yards (Illife Yard, Peacock Yard and one other). They all share communal roof terraces with extensive views over to the West End.

Walworth also used to have a zoo, in Royal Surrey Gardens, which was visited by Queen Victoria.

East Street market is a major street market. There are plenty of parks in the area, including:

  • Michael Faraday Park
  • Salisbury Row Park
  • Nursery Row Park
  • Burgess Park
  • Victory Park

Politics

A map showing the wards of Southwark Metropolitan Borough as they appeared in 1916.

Walworth is made up of three wards - East Walworth, Newington and Faraday. All of the nine councillors for Walworth, are from the Labour Party.

Regeneration

Large amounts of regeneration and gentrification are occurring in Walworth, including the proposed demolition of the Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre, the newly built Strata tower, the demolition and regeneration of the Heygate and Aylesbury Estates and redevelopment of St Mary's Churchyard as a new park. The Bakerloo Line Extension is planned to complete in 2028/29 and will see two new stations built along Old Kent Road.[4]

Mentions in Culture

Walworth features in the 2016 novel by Stella Duffy London Lies Beneath, set in 1912.[5]

Famous ex-residents

Transport and local

Nearest places

Nearest underground station

Nearest National Rail station

References

  1. ↑ Surrey Domesday Book Archived 30 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ Safestay to open in Elephant & Castle, London, SE17 Safestay, 5 March 2012
  3. ↑ Kagyu Samye Dzong London at Manor Place Kagyu Samye Dzong London
  4. ↑ Bakerloo line extension - Have your say TFL, 15 February 2017
  5. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20180916102900/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/oct/20/london-lies-beneath-stella-duffy-review
  6. ↑ "Charlie Chaplin - Walworth Road". London Remembers. Retrieved 2018-09-18.
  7. ↑ "Frank E Stubbs VC - victoriacross". www.vconline.org.uk. Retrieved 2018-09-18.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.