is a place in the
London Borough Of Lambeth . It is a multicultural Inner London suburb situated south of
Brixton . Streatham is 5.5 miles (8.8 km) south of
Charing Cross .
Streatham means "the hamlet on the street". The street in question started as the
Roman Road from the capital
Londinium to an assumed Roman port (Novus Portus in
Ptolemy 's
(Ptolemy)Geographica ) near
Portslade . This road is confusingly referred to as
Stane Street in some sources, although it diverges from the main London-Chichester road at
Kennington .
After the departure of the Romans, the road remained an important trackway. From the seventeenth century it was adopted as the main coach road to
Croydon and
East Grinstead , and then on to
Newhaven and
Lewes . In 1780 it then became the route of the
Turnpike road from London to
Brighton , and subsequently became the basis for the modern
A23 .
This road (and its traffic) have shaped Streatham's development.
Streatham's parish church, St Leonard's, goes back to
Saxon times, although only the medieval tower remains in the present church. The medieval parish covered an extensive area, including most of modern
Balham and parts of
Tooting .
The village remained largely unchanged until the 18th century, when the village's natural springs, known as Streatham Wells, were first celebrated for their health giving properties. The reputation of the spa, and improved
Turnpike roads, attracted wealthy
City Of London merchants and others to lay out their country residences in Streatham. Few of these large houses still remain, as the area was rapidly urbanised as London expanded.
In the 1730,
Streatham Park , a Georgian country mansion was built by the brewer
Ralph Thrale on land he bought from the
Lord Of The Manor - the
Fourth Duke Of Bedford . Streatham Park later passed to Ralph's son
Henry Thrale , who with his wife
Hester Thrale entertained many of the leading literary and artistic characters of the day, most notably the lexicographer
Samuel Johnson . The dining room contained 12 portraits of
Henry's guests painted by his friend
Joshua Reynolds . These pictures were wittily labelled by
Fanny Burney as the
Streatham Worthies .
Streatham Park was later leased to
Prime Minister Lord Shelburne , and was the venue of the negotiated peace with France. Streatham Park was demolished in
1863 .
One large house which survives is Park Hill, on the north side of Streatham Common, rebuilt in the early 19th century for the Leaf family. It was latterly the home of Sir
Henry Tate , sugar refiner, benefactor of local libraries across south London, and founder of the
Tate Gallery at
Millbank .
Development accelerated after the opening of the railway station at Streatham Hill on the West End of London and in west London. Another generously sized development was Roupell Park, the area near Christchurch Road promoted by the
Roupell family. Other streets adopted more conventional suburban layouts. There is now a mixture of buildings from all architectural eras of the past 200 years.
Between the
First World War and
Second World War Streatham developed as location for entertainment, with the Streatham Hill Theatre (now a bingo hall), three cinemas, the Locarno ballroom (now Caesar's nightclub) and Streatham Ice Rink all adding to its reputation as "the West End of South London". With the advent of fast electric tram services it also grew as a shopping centre serving a wide area to the south. In the 1930s large numbers of apartment blocks were constructed along the High Road, which were attractive to various emigré communities arriving in London after fleeing
Hitler 's
Germany .
In the 1950s Streatham had the longest and busiest shopping street in south London. Streatham was the site of the first
Waitrose supermarket which opened in 1955. However a combination of factors led to gradual decline through the 1970s and a more rapid decline in the 1980s. These included long term population movements out to
Croydon ,
Kingston and
Sutton ; the growth of heavy traffic on the
A23 (main road from central
London to
Gatwick Airport and
Brighton ), and a lack of redevelopment sites in the town centre. This culminated in 1990 when the closure of Pratts - a
Department Store , which had grown from a Victorian draper's shop, and had been operated since the 1940s by the
John Lewis Partnership - coincided with the opening of a large
Sainsburys supermarket 1km south of the town centre. More recently Sainsbury's opened a smaller 'Local' branch on the High Road, close to the site of the first J Sainsbury store in Streatham (opened in 1895). The company also has offices in Streatham. Other fairly recent additions, such as Argos, are located on the site of Pratts' (see above) but the retail recovery has been slow, and vacant space has been taken by a growing number of restaurants and bars.
Contemporary Streatham is a place of contrasts, with middle class families occupying houses in leafy streets that sell for in excess of £500,000 while families of asylum seekers, predominantly from
Somalia and other north and east African countries are crammed into bedsits above High Road shops.
In September 2002,
Streatham High Road was voted the "Worst Street in Britain" in a poll organised by the
BBC ''Today'' Programme and
CABE . This largely reflected the dominance of through traffic in the High Road. On a positive note this was a catalyst for
Lambeth Council and
Transport For London 's Steet Management to start co-operating, and there is now a joint funding arrangement for ongoing streetscape improvements, although spending has been slowed because of TfL's budgetary shortfall.
Investment and regeneration had begun before the poll, with local amenity group,
The Streatham Society , leading a successful partnership bid for funding from central government for environmental improvements. Work started in winter 2003-04 with the refurbishment of Streatham Green and repaving and relighting of the High Road. In 2005 Streatham Green won the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association 'London Spade' award for best public open space scheme in the capital.
The only official
English Heritage blue plaque in central Streatham is on the childhood home of composer
Sir Arnold Bax in Pendennis Road. Just within the modern boundaries of Streatham Hill, although historically it was in
Norwood , there is also a blue plaque on the house in Lanercost Road where
Arthur Mee the writer of
Arthur Mee's Children's Encyclopedia lived.
Perhaps because of its good late night transport connections to the West End, and the availability of apartments as well as family houses, Streatham and nearby
Brixton Hill have attracted entertainers to live in the area since the days of Music Hall.
There is a
Streatham Society plaque to comedian
Tommy Trinder in Wellfield Road. Others with local connections include actors
Roger Moore , and
June Whitfield , and alternative comedians
Eddie Izzard and
Jeremy Hardy .
Aleister Crowley , later dubbed "The Wickedest Man In the World", spent his teenage years during the 1880s in Streatham at a house opposite the present ice rink.
Drum and Bass DJ
Grooverider is from Streatham as are the first
Mayor Of London and former head of the GLC
Ken Livingstone and super model
Naomi Campbell .
Cynthia Payne was a renowned "madam" who made the headlines in the 1970s and 1980s with her brothel in Ambleside Avenue, Streatham.
Afghan warlord
Zardad Khan lived in Gleneagle Road, Streatham, before his arrest in 2003.
There has been a
Streatham Constituency of the
House Of Commons since 1918, when it was carved out of the former
Wandsworth Constituency .
