Greenwich History

Lee History

Lewisham History

More South London History Timelines

Watling Street ran near Blackheath.

Medieval Blackheath

1011-3 The Danes camped at Blackheath after sailing up the Thames to attack London.

1381 June: Start of The Peasant's Revolt. Wat Tyler (1341 – 15 June 1381)) camped at Blackheath & John Ball (c. 1338-1381) preached there: When Adam Delved and Eve Span, Who was then the Gentleman (meaning hereditary ruling class). 13 June: Rebels entered London. 15 June Wat Tyler killed and rebels left London. John Ball executed and his head displayed on London Bridge.

1415 Henry V greeted at Blackheath on his return from his victory at Agincourt.

1450 June: Jack Cade Rebellion (against corruption on the court of Henry V1). 5,000 followers camped at Blackheath during the Kentish rebellion. July: Rebels defeated at London Bridge andJack Cade killed.

Tudor Blackheath

1497 Due to King Henry V1’s tax to pay for an invasion of Scotland, Michael Joseph led Cornish Rebellion and marched to London. Hoped to gain support from people of Kent who rebelled in 1450 he marched to Blackheath with 9,000 followers but gained little local support. June: Cornish rebels defeated at battle of Deptford Bridge and then at Blackheath. Michael Joseph executed and his head displayed on London Bridge.

Stuart Blackheath

1608 Royal Blackheath Golf Club founded.? If so, the first British golf club.

1669 Sir John Morden (1623-1708), a member of the British East India Company, purchased Wricklemarsh Manor, an estate of over 250 acres with a mansion house. 

1695 Sir John Morden founded Morden College on the north-east corner of the Wricklemarsh Estate. Housed 40 single or widowed 
men   - ‘poor Merchants... and such as have lost their Estates by accidents, dangers and perils of the seas or by any other accidents ways or means in their honest endeavours to get their living by means of Merchandizing”. 1755 print: 

Georgian Blackheath

1722 Rangers House built probably by John James (c. 1673-1746).

1723 John James designed Wricklemarsh, an early Palladian  mansion, for Sir Gregory Page (c. 1695 -1775).

1766 Reference to Royal Blackheath the oldest English golf club. 

1780 Blackheath Caverns re-discovered.

1790 Sketch of Windmill on Blackheath next to the Gunsmith tavern.

1792 The Blackheath Golfer by the painter Lemuel Francis Abbott (c.1760 – 1802). Dedicated ‘To the Society of Goffers at Blackheath, a leading member of the South London golfing Society that was to become the Royal Blackheath Golf Club. It is of Captain William Innes and his caddie, who is dressed in the pensioner’s uniform of the Greenwich Naval Hospital . Morden College and a windmill seen in the background. 

1803 John Cator (1728-1806) finished demolishing Wricklemarsh House to develop the Cator Estate.

1807 The Paragon developed by Michael Searles (1750–1813) on Cator Estate.
 

Regency Blackheath

1820s Blackheath Park Estate or Cator Park estate developed by John Barwell Cator (1791-1850).

1830 Trinity Chapel (later St Michael & All Angels) opened on Cator Estate. Designed by George Smith (1782-1869) in the Gothic Revival style.

1830s Blackheath windmills dismantled.

1845 Blackheath Literary Institute opened.

1849 Blackheath station opened for North Kent Railway. Built by George Smith (1782-1869).

1858 Blackheath Rugby Club formed (2nd oldest in UK).

Mid Victorian Blackheath 

1860s  Stanford’s Map of London & Its suburbs (Blackheath section)           

1867 All Saints Church built on Blackheath. Designed by Benjamin Ferrey (1810-1880) in the Gothic Revival Style.

1870 Rink Hall opened (on site of post office).

Late Victorian Blackheath 

1880 Blackheath School for Girls opened.
Photo of Blackheath Tranquil Vale.

1881 Conservatoire of Music opened

1895 Blackheath Halls established by William Webster (1855-1910) on Lee Road as a concert hall for Blackheath Conservatoire of Music.

     

Edwardian Blackheath

c.1905 Photo of funfair on Blackheath. 
   

Blackheath in WW1.
191? Photo of 20th London Regiment (Blackheath & Woolwich)

Inter-War Blackheath     

1922 Maze Hill Memorial unveiled on Armistice Day. Harry Bolton Sewell unveiled the official memorial for the borough. Harry Bolton Sewell was the father of local Victoria Cross winner Lt Cecil Sewell (1895-1918). The memorial is to 1,600 local dead and casualties in World War 1.

1923 Blackheath Royal Golf Club relocated to Eltham Lodge.

1935 Roxy Cinema opened at 3 Old Dover Road. Designed by Bertie Crewe (1860-1937).

1937 Blackheath Preservation Society founded. It still exists as The Blackheath Society.

Blackheath in WW2.

1945 Tranquil Vale after a V2 Rocket attack.

Post War Blackheath        

1948 Territorial Army Display (b&w film 0:25)

1954 Eric Lyons (1912–1980) built modernist Span houses in Blackheath utilising natural surroundings. Care was taken to retain the Cator Estate's mature trees. 

1960 Billy Smart’s Circus on Blackheath (b&w film 2:51)

1963 Roxy Cinema renamed ABC Blackheath.

1964 Royston Summers (1931-2012) built North Several,  a group of seven houses in two terraces on Orchard Drive houses using passive solar heating.

1974 ABC Blackheath closed on Old Dover Road.

1981 ABC Blackheath demolished.

2004 Blackheath Halls acquired by Trinity College of Music as a performance and rehearsal space for their students, and for professional and community groups.

Books: 
Blackheath Centenary 1971 - N Rhind (1971)
Blackheath Village and its Environs Vol I - N Rhind (1976)
Blackheath Village and its Environs Vol II - N Rhind (1983)
Blackheath Village & Environs: Volume III- N Rhind (2017)
Blackheath Past - Felix Barker