Metropolitan Borough of Deptford
The Metropolitan Borough of Deptford was a Metropolitan borough in the County of London between 1900 and 1965, when it became part of the London Borough of Lewisham along with the Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham.
History
The borough covered the same area of the parish of Deptford St Paul, which had been separated from the neighboring parish of Deptford St Nicholas to its north in 1730. The rate-able values of the two parishes had been roughly equal when they were separated, but St Paul contained all the farmland to the south, the majority of which was built on over the next 170 years. When the Metropolitan Borough was created, consideration was given to reuniting the two parishes, but a closer equalization of rate-able value was served by uniting St Nicholas with Greenwich to the east.
The growth of the London conurbation had reached Deptford by the end of the eighteenth century but it had been a large industrial town well before this time: the Royal Docks and the Victualling Yard, which provisioned the Navy, and the various private dockyards, meant it was a prosperous and cosmopolitan town.
Deptford Town Hall was built between 1903 and 1905 on New Cross Road. The building is in a grand baroque style, featuring carvings of tritons and admirals to emphasize Deptford's maritime heritage. It is now used by Goldsmiths College.
