The Rising Sun pub, now converted to a residential building
Telegraph Hill rises to around 50 metres (160ft) at its highest point and was formerly known as Plowed Garlic Hill.[2][3] It gained its current name from a semaphore telegraph station which was constructed on the summit of the hill circa 1795.[4] The signalling station was one of the points from which news of Wellington's victory at Waterloo was flashed to London. It was removed in 1823.[2][4]
The poet Robert Browning at one time lived at the foot of Telegraph Hill, in a cottage which he wrote looked like a 'goose pie'.[2]
For many years Telegraph Hill was covered by market gardens owned by the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, one of the ancient livery companies of London. In the late 19th century the Haberdashers decided to develop Telegraph Hill for housing. The company had already built terraced housing on its land nearer New Cross Road when it commissioned a study of the development potential of Telegraph Hill in 1859. The surveyor recommended 'the erection of dwelling houses of a high standard' on wide tree-lined streets.[2]
Most construction took place around 1871. The villas are distinctive in style and as a result of this architectural unity Telegraph Hill is now a conservation area.[5] The company added Haberdashers' Aske's School for boys and girls (named after one of its members Robert Aske, and now Haberdashers' Hatcham College) in 1875, a separate Haberdashers' Aske's girls' school in 1891 and St Catherine's Church in 1894.
In the 1895 the London County Council opened Telegraph Hill Park to the public.[6]
St Catherine's Church
St Catherine's Church was built in 1893 on the summit of Telegraph Hill.[7] Designed by the surveyor to the Haberdashers Company as part of their development of the area around Telegraph Hill, it was destroyed by fire on 6 May 1913, allegedly arson by suffragettes, and rebuilt “with a larger chancel” by Stock, Page & Stock (i.e. the present church, although that was badly damaged in World War 2).[8][9][10][11][12][13] No description has been found of the original church.
In 1993, the vicar and curate of St Catherine's Church met with local residents and set up the Telegraph Hill Festival.[14] Since then, the Vicar and Parochial Church Council (PCC) of St Catherine's Church has, in partnership with Telegraph Hill Centre, been instrumental in working with local residents to set up a controversially named 'hill station' cafe as part of its ownership of the whole site.[15]
Telegraph Hill Centre
Telegraph Hill Centre was built in 1971 and opened in 1972 by Bishop Trevor Huddleston and actress Glenda Jackson. Funding from London Borough of Lewisham was cut in 1986/7 and ownership and funding of the site reverted to St Catherine's Church.[16] In 1993, the vicar and curate of St Catherine's Church met with local residents and set up the Telegraph Hill Festival.[14] Centre is now a self-funded entity owned by St Catherine's Church, and continues to provide services with and for the community on Telegraph Hill and its surrounding areas.[15]
Telegraph Hill Festival
Telegraph Hill Festival ran for 25 years and included musical events, plays, public art and open studios across the area, becoming increasingly noted for its public engagement and popularity in its last five years up to 2019.[17][18]
Telegraph Hill Park
Telegraph Hill ParkMemorial to Olaudah Equiano
Telegraph Hill Park is in two halves on either side of Kitto Road; the upper park contains tennis courts which apparently occupy the site of the telegraph station which gave the hill its name.[19] This upper part is the only part of the park to allow dogs, and is a popular spot amongst the local community for watching the New Years fireworks across London due to its excellent vantage point and view across the London skyline. The lower park contains ponds, children's playgrounds and a concrete space for ball games as well as a statue of Olaudah Equiano.[19] A farmers' market is held in the lower park on every Saturday 10am-3pm.
Telegraph Hill Society
The Telegraph Hill Society was a local residents' group which campaigned for improvements to the area.[20]
The hill's other secondary school, Telegraph Hill School, closed in 2003. A campaign by local parents failed to persuade the council to establish a new secondary school on the site. Instead, a sixth form centre called Crossways Sixth Form was built on the site, and opened in 2004. The site was taken over by Christ the King Sixth Form College in 2013. Telegraph Hill also has a primary school: the Edmund Waller Primary School, in Waller Road.
Politics
Telegraph Hill ward is one of 18 council wards that make up the Lewisham borough council.[24]
Demography
The lower park on Telegraph Hill features a monument to anti-slavery campaigner Olaudah Equiano, created in 2008 by children from the Edmund Waller School.
In comparison with overall numbers for London and England, the majority of Telegraph Hill ward's population is young; typically aged 34 and under, with a smaller than average population among the 35 plus and older age groups.[25]
Approximately 51% of the ward's population identified as white, while 8% identified as Asian/Asian British, and 30% as Black/African/Caribbean/Black British.[25] Lewisham is the 15th most ethnically diverse local authority in England, and two out of every five residents are from a black, Asian or ethnically diverse background.
Brockley is a district and an electoral ward of south London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham 5 miles (8 km) south-east of Charing Cross.
Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green and Catford South wards. The population of Catford, including Bellingham, was 44,905 in 2011.
Crofton Park is a mainly residential suburb and electoral ward in the London Borough of Lewisham.
Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Dockyards. This was a major shipbuilding dock and attracted Peter the Great to come and study shipbuilding. Deptford and the docks are associated with the knighting of Sir Francis Drake by Queen Elizabeth I aboard the Golden Hind, the legend of Sir Walter Raleigh laying down his cape for Elizabeth, Captain James Cook's third voyage aboard HMS Resolution, and the mysterious apparent murder of Christopher Marlowe in a house along Deptford Strand.
Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. As a part of Shoreditch, it is often considered to be part of the East End – the historic core of wider East London. It was historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. It lies immediately north of the City of London financial district, and was once part of the civil parish and subsequent Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, prior to its incorporation into the London Borough of Hackney.
Lewisham is a London borough in south-east London; it forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham. The local authority is Lewisham London Borough Council, based in Catford. The Prime Meridian passes through Lewisham. Blackheath, Goldsmiths, University of London and Millwall F.C. are located within the borough.
Lambeth is a London borough in South London, England, which forms part of Inner London. Its name was recorded in 1062 as Lambehitha and in 1255 as Lambeth. The geographical centre of London is at Frazier Street near Lambeth North tube station, though nearby Charing Cross on the other side of the Thames in the City of Westminster is traditionally considered the centre of London.
Haberdashers' Boys' School, until September 2021 known as Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, is a public school for pupils age 4 to 18 in Elstree, Hertfordshire, England. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Rugby Group.
Lewisham is an area of southeast London, England, six miles south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London, with a large shopping centre and street market. Lewisham had a population of 60,573 in 2011.
The Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies, is an ancient merchant guild of London, England associated with the silk and velvet trades.
New Cross is an area in south-east London, England, 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south-east of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham and the SE14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, Telegraph Hill, Nunhead, Peckham, Brockley, Deptford and Greenwich, and home to Goldsmiths, University of London, Haberdashers' Hatcham College and Addey and Stanhope School.
Downham is a district of south-east London, England, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It borders the London Borough of Bromley, and is located north of Bromley and south of Catford.
Forest Hill is a district of the London Borough of Lewisham in south east London, England, on the South Circular Road, which is home to the Horniman Museum.
Haberdashers' Girls' School is a private day school in Elstree, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as "Habs". The school was founded in 1875 by the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of London.
Haberdashers' Hatcham College is a state secondary school with academy status and a music specialism located in New Cross. The school was formerly a grammar school, then a comprehensive City Technology College and now an Academy operating between two sites near New Cross Gate in South-East London.
Robert Aske was a merchant and haberdasher in the City of London. He is remembered primarily for the charitable foundation created from his estate, which nowadays operates two schools in Hertfordshire, Haberdashers' Boys' School and Haberdashers' School for Girls, and others elsewhere.
Hatcham was a manor and later a chapelry in what is now London, England. It largely corresponds to the area around New Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham.
Haberdashers' Aske's School may refer to:
The Church of St. John the Baptist, Hoxton, usually known as St. John's Hoxton, is an English urban Anglican parish church in the Hoxton area of Shoreditch, within the London Borough of Hackney.
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