Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell

London - Pax Britannica

Camberwell (/ˈkæmbərˌwɛl/) is a district of South London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is located 2.7 miles (4.3 km) southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This early parish included the neighbouring hamlets of Peckham, Dulwich, Nunhead, and part of Herne Hill (the rest of Herne Hill was in the parish of Lambeth). Until 1889, it was part of the county of Surrey. In 1900 the original parish became the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell. In 1965, most of the Borough of Camberwell was merged into the London Borough of Southwark. To the west, part of both West Dulwich and Herne Hill come under the London Borough of Lambeth. The place now known as Camberwell covers a much smaller area than the ancient parish, and it is bound on the north by Walworth; on the south by East Dulwich and Herne Hill; to the west by Kennington; and on the east by Peckham.

Camberwell appears in the Domesday Book as Cambrewelle. The name may derive from the Old English Cumberwell or Comberwell, meaning 'Well of the Britons', referring to remaining Celtic inhabitants of an area dominated by Anglo-Saxons. An alternative theory suggests the name may mean 'Cripple Well', and that the settlement developed as a hamlet where people from the City of London were expelled when they had a contagious disease like leprosy, for treatment by the church and the clean, healing waters from the wells. Springs and wells are known to have existed on the southern slope of Denmark Hill, especially around Grove Park.
It was already a substantial settlement with a church when mentioned in the Domesday Book, and was the parish church for a large area including Dulwich and Peckham. It was held by Haimo the Sheriff (of Kent). Its Domesday assets were: 6 hides and 1 virgate (i.e. 750 acres (300 ha)); 1 church, 8 ploughs, 63 acres (25 ha) of meadow, woodland worth 60 hogs. It rendered £14. Up to the mid-19th century, Camberwell was visited by Londoners for its rural tranquillity and the reputed healing properties of its mineral springs. Like much of inner South London, Camberwell was transformed by the arrival of the railways in the 1860s. Camberwell Green is now a very small area of common land; it was once a traditional village green on which was held an annual fair, of ancient origin, which rivalled that of Greenwich.

The parish of Camberwell

Camberwell St Giles is the name given to an ancient, and later civil, parish in the Brixton hundred of Surrey. The parish covered 4,570 acres (18.5 km2) in 1831 and was divided into the liberty of Peckham to the east and the hamlet of Dulwich to the southwest, as well as Camberwell proper. The parish tapered in the south to form a point in what is now known as the Crystal Palace area. In 1801, the population was 7,059 and by 1851 this had risen to 54,667.[8] In 1829, it was included in the Metropolitan Police District and in 1855 it was included in the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Board of Works, with Camberwell Vestry nominating one member to the board. In 1889 the board was replaced by the London County Council and Camberwell was removed administratively from Surrey to form part of the County of London.

The Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell

In 1900, the area of the Camberwell parish became the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell.[10] In 1965, the metropolitan borough was abolished and its former area became the southern part of the London Borough of Southwark in Greater London. The western part of the area is situated in the adjacent London Borough of Lambeth.

Industrial history

The area has historically been home to many factories, including R. White's Lemonade, which originated in Camberwell, as well as Dualit toasters. Neither of these companies is now based in the area.