Hundred of Blackheath, Kent

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Blackheath
Blackheath-Hundred-map.gif
Map of the Hundred of Blackheath, published in 1797
Area
  183112,650 acres (51 km2)
  188717,316 acres (70 km2)
Population
  1851121,753
  1887234,987
History
  Createdin antiquity
  Abolished1889
  Succeeded byvarious, see text
Status hundred
   HQ Blackheath

Blackheath was an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent in England. It had become obsolete by the beginning of the 20th century in the wake of ongoing reforms to local government. The name "Blackheath" now refers to a district of SE London. [1] In 2022, the area of the old hundred lies mainly within the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

Contents

History

The name is first recorded as Blachehedfeld in 1166, meaning dark-coloured heathland. [1] The open space at Blackheath was the site of hundred meetings. [1] In the Domesday Book of 1086 it is recorded as the hundred of Grenviz (Greenwich), [2] which was part of the lathe of Sutton at Hone. [3] The hundred contained the parishes of Charlton, Chislehurst, St Paul and St Nicholas Deptford, Eltham, Greenwich, Kidbrooke, Lee, Lewisham, Woolwich and Mottingham.

The northern boundary with the Becontree hundred of Essex was mainly the River Thames; however there was also a short land boundary as the parish of Woolwich included two small exclaves north of the river, [4] totalling 402 acres (1.6 km2). [5] Also to the north along the river was a short boundary with the Isle of Dogs and the Tower division of the Ossulstone hundred of Middlesex. [6] In the west it bordered the Brixton hundred of Surrey. Within Kent, it was bounded by the hundreds of Bromley and Beckenham to the south, Ruxley to the south east and Lesnes to the east. [6]

In 1831, the hundred occupied 12,650 acres (51 km2). [7] The parishes of St Paul and St Nicholas, Deptford and the parish of Greenwich were included in the Metropolitan Police District by the Metropolitan Police Act 1829, and in 1840 the rest of the hundred was included by the Metropolitan Police Act 1839.

The population is recorded as 121,753 in 1851 and 187,696 in 1861. [8] In 1887 the hundred is recorded as occupying an area of 17,316 acres (70 km2), with a population of 234,987. [9]

Replacement

The hundreds of England declined in administrative significance because of the rise of various ad hoc boards which took over administrative functions. In 1855, most of the hundred (except Chislehurst and Mottingham) was included in the area of the Metropolitan Board of Works by the Metropolis Management Act 1855. The hundred fell into desuetude when the area (except Chislehurst and Mottingham) became part of the County of London in 1889. The entire area has formed part of Greater London since 1965.

In 1894 and 1900 all local government functions were effectively replaced by a system of districts, which were consolidated over time and finally replaced in 1965 by the London boroughs which are still in use today.

ParishDistrictLondon borough
Charlton Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich Greenwich
Chislehurst Bromley Rural District Bromley
Deptford St Nicholas Metropolitan Borough of GreenwichGreenwich
Deptford St Paul Metropolitan Borough of Deptford Lewisham
Eltham Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich Greenwich
Greenwich Metropolitan Borough of GreenwichGreenwich
Kidbrooke Metropolitan Borough of GreenwichGreenwich
Lee Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham Lewisham
Lewisham Metropolitan Borough of LewishamLewisham
Mottingham Bromley Rural DistrictBromley
Woolwich Metropolitan Borough of WoolwichGreenwich

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Becontree was an ancient hundred in the south west of the county of Essex, England. Its area has been entirely absorbed by the growth of London; with its name reused in 1921 for the large Becontree estate of the London County Council. Its former area now corresponds to the London Borough of Newham, the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and parts of the London Borough of Waltham Forest and the London Borough of Redbridge. Its early extent also included parts of what is now the London Borough of Havering.

Hundred of Brixton

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Horn Park Human settlement in England

Horn Park is an area of south east London south west of Eltham. It is located 12.5 km (7.8 mi) southeast of Charing Cross on the southwest edge of the Royal Borough of Greenwich and borders both the London Borough of Lewisham and the London Borough of Bromley. There is a public park also named Horn Park and two schools in the area. The River Quaggy flows northward though Horn Park, and the suburb is covered by the postcode district SE12, which was previously called the Lee postal district. There is community centre located in Horn Park Estate on Sibthorpe Road, that hosts a number of activities, such as Christian, council and MP meetings, and numerous classes including dance, karate and English.

Greenwich District (Metropolis)

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Woolwich (parish)

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Deptford St Nicholas

Deptford St Nicholas was a civil parish in the metropolitan area of London, England. The creation of the parish accompanied the building of the Church of St Paul's, Deptford, constructed by the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches to meet the demands of the growing population. The ancient parish of Deptford was split in 1730 with the southern part around the new church becoming Deptford St Paul. St Nicholas parish included the old maritime settlement and the dockyard adjacent to the River Thames. Civil parish administration was in the hands of the vestry until 1855 when the parish was grouped into the Greenwich District and the parish elected vestrymen to Greenwich District Board of Works. The parish was transferred from the County of Kent to the County of London in 1889. It became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich in 1900 and the local authority became Greenwich Borough Council. The civil parish had only nominal existence until 1930 when it was abolished. The area became part of the London Borough of Greenwich in 1965 and following boundary changes in 1994, part of the former parish is now in the London Borough of Lewisham.

Well Hall Human settlement in England

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Coldharbour, Greenwich Human settlement in England

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The Tarn

The Tarn is a 9 acres (3.6 ha) site on Court Road between Mottingham and Eltham, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, southeast London, United Kingdom, consisting of a public garden, a bird sanctuary nature reserve and a lake amongst woodland. The woodland and lake, which was historically known as Starbuck's Pond, were previously the southern part of the Great Park, one of three parks belonging to the estate of Eltham Palace and used as a royal deer hunting park for several centuries up until the English Civil War. As a garden The Tarn opened in 1935, after the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich acquired the site from the adjacent Royal Blackheath Golf Course. The Tarn remains largely unchanged since the 1930s and contains several shelters, benches, a public toilets building and a circular path which crosses a wooden footbridge spanning the lake. There is also an 18th-century ice house in the garden, which is a listed structure.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mills, A., Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names, (2001)
  2. British History Online - The Hundred of Blackheath
  3. Vision of Britain - Blackheath hundred
  4. British History Online - Map of Becontree Hundred, (1973)
  5. British History Online - The Origin of North Woolwich, (1973)
  6. 1 2 British History Online - Map of Blackheath Hundred, (1973)
  7. Vision of Britain - Blackheath hundred - area (historic map)
  8. John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales , (1870-72)
  9. John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles, (1887)