East Dulwich was originally in the county of
Surrey. It is a classic example of a late Victorian suburb.
Saxon Dulwich
967 Edgar the Peaceful granted
Dilwihs to a thane. Dilwihs meant 'meadow where the dill grew'
Medieval Dulwich
Lordship Lane was the boundary of Dulwich Manor
with Friern Manor
Tudor Dulwich
1538 Dulwich no longer property
of Bermondsey Abbey with Dissolution
1544 Dulwich granted to Thomas Calton by Henry VIII.
Stuart Dulwich
1605 Estate sold to Edward Alleyn
by F Calton
Georgian Dulwich 1725 Friern Manor farm house built.
1739 Spa set-up by a Mr Cox the owner of the Green Man (now Grove Tavern Harvester)
1740s Cox’s Walk cut to link Dulwich Spa with Sydenham Wells
1799-1801 Byron went to Dr Glennie's Academy (previously The Green Man)
1803 Samuel Matthews, The Dulwich Hermit, was murdered in Dulwich Woods
1805 (+1814) Dulwich Common enclosed
1820 Print of Dr Glennie’s Academy

c1825 Dr Glennie;s Academy closed
1826 East Dulwich Chapel built at start of Lordship Lane
opposite Goose Green.
Victorian Dulwich 1851 Dulwich's population: 1,632
1863 Dr Glennie's Academy rebuilt as The Grove Tavern
1865 St John's Church built amidst green fields.
Lordship Lane Railway Station opened near to Wood Vale (it ran to Crystal Palace).

1868 East Dulwich station opened as Champion Hill Station
1872 St John's & St Clements school moved to
Northcross Road.
1873 Concrete House built -549 Lordship Lane.
Friern Manor farm closed

1874 St Peter's Church built.
1877 Emmanuel Congregational Church opened on Barry Road
1883 Heber Road School
1887 Dulwich Hospital opened
1890 Dulwich Park opened
Dulwich Grove Congegational Church opened on Melbourne Grove.
1892 Dulwich Baths opened on East Dulwich Road
1893 Dulwich Fire Station opened (closed 1947 after war
damage).
1897 Dulwich Library opened
Enid Blyton born at 354 Lordship Lane (destroyed in WW2)
Edwardian Dulwich 1900 Part of the borough of Camberwell.
Grove Vale School opened.
1901 Author CS Forrester moved aged two to 58 Underhill Road (Blue Plaque) with his family.
He later attended Alleyn’s School and Dulwich College

Dulwich's Population: 10,247
1902 Imperial Hall opened in Grove Vale (later East Dulwich Odeon).
1908 Tram line built to Dulwich
1910 Colour-tinted postcard of Lordship Lane

1912 Dulwich Hamlet FC moved to Dog Kennel Hill.
Aquarius Golf Club opened.
Pre-War Dulwich
1923 Imperial Hall became Pavilion.
Grove Tavern rebuilt
1931 New Dulwich Hamlet FC stadium opened.
1938 Pavilion opened (later East Dulwich Odeon).
WWII & Dulwich
1940 German bombers blitzed London.
1944 V1 & V2 flying bombs caused widespread damage & loss of live especially on Sat 5 August: when the Co-op in Lordship Lane was hit by a VI flying bomb & 23 people killed.
Post War Dulwich
1946 Pavilion, Grove Vale, became Odeon East Dulwich.

Many prefabs built for emergency housing
1952 End of electric trams.
1965 Became part of new borough of Southwark.
1966-72 Dawson Heights, Overhill Road, built by Southwark Council.
1972 East Dulwich Odeon closed. Later became London House.
1977 East Dulwich Police Station opened.
1990s Gentrification of East Dulwich.
1994 St John's & St Clements school moved to
Adys Road.
2003 London House (old East Dulwich Odeon) demolished.
Bibliography:
The Story of Dulwich - Mary
Boast (1975 London Borough of Southwark)
East Dulwich - John D Beasley (South Riding Press 2001)
Dulwich: A History - Brian Green (2002) |