is an area of the
London Borough Of Lewisham , on the south bank of the River
Thames in south-east
London . It takes its name ('Deep Ford') from its position where the road to London from
Dover and the channel ports cross the Thames tributary, the
River Ravensbourne (the tidal reach of which is also known as Deptford Creek).
The pilgrimage route to
Canterbury from London, followed by the pilgrims in
Chaucer 's "
Canterbury Tales ", crosses the Ravensbourne at Deptford and it is mentioned in the Prologue to the Reeve's Tale.
The
Battle Of Deptford Bridge took place on
17 June 1497 on a site adjacent to the River Ravensbourne. Rebels from
Cornwall , led by
Michael An Gof , had marched on London aiming to free Cornwall of its Norman rulers. Unable to muster support from people in Kent (the focus of
Jack Cade 's rebellion of
1450 ), they were soundly beaten by the King's forces.
In
1513 , King
Henry VIII decided to site a naval dockyard at Deptford, and this remained in operation until March
1869 . It was here that Russian
Tsar Peter The Great studied shipbuilding for three months in
1698 . He and some of his fellow Russians stayed at ''Sayes Court,'' the manor house of Deptford, where the absent owner was the diarist
John Evelyn . Evelyn inherited the house when he married the daughter of Sir Richard Browne in 1652. On his return to England at the Restoration, Evelyn had laid out meticulously planned gardens in the French style or hedges and parterres. He was seriously upset that Peter's friends got drunk and using a wheelbarrow with Peter in it succeeded in ramming their way through a fine holly hedge. Both house and garden have disappeared, but the site, still called "Sayes Court" and entered from Evelyn Street near Deptford High Street, is a run-down public park.
St Nicholas Church, the parish church, dates back to the 14th century but the current building is 17th century. The entrance to the churchyard features a set of skull-and-bones on top of the posts. A plaque on the north wall commemorates playwright
Christopher Marlowe , murdered in a nearby tavern on - according to the church's own records -
1 June 1593 .
Diarist
John Evelyn lived in Deptford at Sayes Court from
1652 (Peter the Great was a tenant there after Evelyn had moved to Surrey in
1694 ; in its grounds was a cottage at one time rented by master wood carver
Grinling Gibbons ). Part of the estates around the house were purchased in
1742 for the building of the Admiralty Victualling Yard, later (
1858 ) renamed the Royal Victoria Yard. This massive facility included warehouses, a bakery, a cattleyard/abattoir and sugar stores. It closed in
1960 .
Its railway station is one of the oldest suburban stations in the world, being built (c.1836-38) as part of the first suburban service (the London and Greenwich Railway), between
London Bridge and
Greenwich . Close to Deptford Creek is a
Victorian pumping station built in
1864 , part of the massive
London Sewerage System designed by
Civil Engineer Sir
Joseph Bazalgette .
Deptford is being gradually re-developed and is an ethnicly mixed neighbourhood of London with a lively street market and High Street. In February 2005, Deptford High Street was described as “the capital's most diverse and vibrant high street” by
Yellow Pages business directory, using a unique mathematical formula. A large former industrial site by the Thames called
Convoy's Wharf is scheduled to be redeveloped shortly. This will involve the construction of around 3,500 new homes and an extension of the town centre northwards towards the river.
The
Albany Theatre has a lively community arts programme. The
Laban Dance Centre , opened in February 2003 and designed by Swiss
Architect s
Jacques Herzog and
Pierre De Meuron , is an award-winning new building by Deptford Creek.
Deptford was also one of the first areas in south-east London to be served by a '
Bendy Bus ' route. These long, articulated vehicles are superseding some double-decker buses within greater London, offering easier access and faster boarding times due to multiple door sets.
The area, along with neighbouring
New Cross , has been touted as 'the new
Shoreditch ' by some newspapers and magazines, due to its supposedly developing arts and
Music Scene . Sceptics, however, point out that area has been an artistic and musical hotbed since at least the mid-70's (associated with the then-burgeoning
Squatter scene) and that the only new phenomenon is that of 'lifestyle' journalists venturing south of the river in search of cool. Among the famous musicians who started in the area are
Jools Holland ,
Dire Straits and, more recently,
Athlete . It ought to be of little surprise that many artists live and work in such close proximity to
Goldsmiths College .
Lewisham Council recently granted permission for the last remnants of the Deptford
Ragged School known as The Princess Louise Institute to be demolished and replaced by flats.
- Olaudah Equiano (African Slave - frequent visitor rather than resident)
- John Gast (1772-1837) worked in the Deptford shipyards and helped to organise the Thames shipwrights strike in 1802. He was also a dissenting preacher and ran the King of Prussia pub at 6 Union Street (now Albury Street), Deptford.
- George Julian Harney , (1817-1897), radical Chartist , was born in Deptford, the son of George Harney, a sailor.
- Margaret McMillan , Socialist and early years pioneer, opened one of the first Nursery School s in Deptford in 1910 . Rachel McMillan Nursery School is still open today.
- Jools Holland , (1958-), Blues Musician and TV personality for the {Link without Title} , played in Squeeze from 1974 until August 1980. He returned to play with them several times during the 1980s, as well as developing other music projects and his television career. In 1994, Holland started touring with his own Rhythm & Blues Orchestra and has continued to do so.
- John Cleveley (18th Century maritime artist)
- Peter I Of Russia (1672-1725) Emperor of Russia 1682-1725. Lived in Deptford at Sayes Court, a house rented from John Evelyn for about 3 months in 1798 while he studied shipbuilding in the adjacent shipyard. He and his entourage supposedly caused considerable damage to the house and grounds.
- John Evelyn (1620-1706) Writer, gardner and diarist. Lived at Sayes Court (which no longer exists).
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