Information AboutPeckham |
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Peckham is an area of London , England , in the London Borough Of Southwark , located 3.5 miles (5.7 km) south-east of Charing Cross , about one mile (1.6 km) east of Camberwell and one mile (1.6 km) west of New Cross . Peckham has never been an administrative district, or a single Ecclesiastical Parish in its own right, but it developed a strong sense of identity in the 19th Century when Rye Lane was one of the most important shopping streets in South London . The area known as Peckham covers a large geographic area of South London and takes in many diverse communities. A traditional London Working Class community now coexists with communities that have their origins in Bangladesh , the Caribbean , China , India , Ireland , Nigeria , Pakistan , Turkey and Vietnam . As well as these communities there has been a steady Gentrification of some of the areas to the south of Peckham and this has meant an influx of cafés, wine bars, niche shops and artists' studios. A few highly publicised crimes have tarnished the area's reputation. Cases such as the murder of Damilola Taylor in November 2000 , the shooting of eight or nine (contemporary reports vary) people queuing outside ''Chicago's'' nightclub in the summer of 2000 and three murders in February 2007 (one of 15 year old Michael Dosunmu in his bedroom)1 have given the impression that Peckham is dangerous and lawless. However, incidents like this do not reflect the lives of a large majority of the people living in the area. 2 3 HISTORY 'Peckham' is a Saxon place name meaning the village of the river Peck, a small stream that ran through the district until it was enclosed in 1823 . Archaeological evidence indicates earlier Roman occupation in the area, although the name of this settlement is lost. Peckham appears in s. It had land for 1 Plough , 2 acres of Meadow . It rendered £1 10s 0d. Surrey Domesday Book The manor was owned by King Henry I who gave it to his son Robert, Earl Of Gloucester . When Robert married the heiress to Camberwell the two manors were united under royal ownership. John Of England probably hunted at Peckham and local anecdotes suggest that the right to an annual Fair was granted to celebrate a particularly good day's sport. The fair grew to be a rowdy major event lasting three weeks until its abolition in 1827. Peckham became popular as a wealthy residential area by the sixteenth century and there are several claims that Christopher Wren had local links. By the eighteenth century the area was a more commercial centre with extensive Market Gardens and Orchard s growing produce for the nearby markets of London. Local produce included melons, figs and grapes. The formal gardens of the Peckham Manor House, rebuilt in 1672 by Sir Thomas Bond were particularly noticeable and can be seen on the Rocque map of 1746. The Manor House was sacked in 1688, as its then owner Sir Henry Bond was a Roman Catholic and staunch supporter of James VII and II. The house was finally demolished in 1797 for the formation of Peckham Hill Street, as the Shard family developed the area. Today Shard's Terrace, the block that contains Manze's Pie and Mash shop, and the western side of Peckham Hill Street represent this Georgian planned expansion. The village was the last stopping point for many cattle drovers taking their livestock for sale in London. The drovers stayed in the local inns (such as ''The Red Cow'') while the cattle were safely secured overnight in holding pens. Most of the villagers were agricultural or horticultural workers but with the early growth of the suburbs an increasing number worked in the brick industry that exploited the local London Clay . In . At the beginning of the nineteenth century Peckham was a "small, quiet, retired village surrounded by fields". Since 1744 Stage Coach es had travelled with an armed guard between Peckham and London to give protection from highwaymen. The rough roads constrained traffic so a branch of the Grand Surrey Canal was proposed as a route from the Thames to Portsmouth . The canal was built from Surrey Commercial Docks to Peckham before the builders ran out of funds in 1826 . The abbreviated canal was used to ship soft wood for construction and even though the canal was drained and backfilled in 1970 Whitten's timber merchants still stands on the site of the canal head. In 1851 Thomas Tilling started an innovative omnibus service from Peckham to London. Tilling's buses were the first to use pre-arranged bus stops, which helped them to run to a reliable timetable. His services expanded to cover much of London until his horses were requisitioned for the army in World War I . Before Peckham Rye station was opened in 1865 the area had developed around two centres: north and south. In the north, housing spread out to the south of the Old Kent Road including Peckham New Town built on land owned by the Hill family (from whom the name Peckham Hill Street derives). In the south, large houses were built to the west of the common land called Peckham Rye and the lane that led to it. |
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