Deptford St Nicholas was a civil parish in the metropolitan area of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, 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 The Commission for Building Fifty New Churches (in London and the surroundings) was an organisation set up by Act of Parliament in England in 1711, to implement the New Churches in London and Westminster Act 1710, with the purpose of building f ...

to meet the demands of the growing population. The ancient parish of

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...

was split in 1730 with the southern part around the new church becoming

Deptford St Paul The Metropolitan Borough of Deptford was a Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, 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 Bo ...

. 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 Kent is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Greater London to the north-west. ...

to the

County of London The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government A ...

in 1889. It became part of the

Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich The Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich was a metropolitan borough in the County of London between 1900 and 1965. It bordered the boroughs of Woolwich, Lewisham and Deptford and, across the River Thames, the borough of Poplar and the County Bo ...

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 The Royal Borough of Greenwich (, , or ) is a London borough in southeast Greater London, England. The London Borough of Greenwich was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The new borough covered the former area of the Metropolita ...

in 1965 and following boundary changes in 1994, part of the former parish is now in the

London Borough of Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is a London boroughs, London borough in south-east London, England. 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 ...

Creation

It was created in 1730 by an act of parliament, the Saint Nicholas, Deptford (Parish) Act 1729 ( 3 Geo. 2. c. 33) when the

ancient parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

was split into St Nicholas and

St Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

parishes. The split was prompted by the building of a new Church of St Paul by the

. The ancient parish of Deptford had been divided between Kent and Surrey, but St Nicholas was entirely within the Hundred of Blackheath in Kent.

Geography

St Nicholas was geographically smaller than St Paul and had a much higher population density. It was bounded by the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

to the north and

Deptford Creek Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 1 ...

to the east. It consisted of the maritime settlement of Lower Deptford adjacent to the river around

Deptford Dockyard Deptford Dockyard was an important Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard and base at Deptford on the River Thames, operated by the Royal Navy from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. It built and maintained warships for 350 years, and man ...

Government

The parish was governed by a

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

from 1730 to 1855. The parish was grouped with Greenwich and Deptford St Paul into the Greenwich District in 1855 when it came within the district of the

Metropolitan Board of Works The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the upper tier of local government for London between 1856 and 1889, primarily responsible for upgrading infrastructure. It also had a parks and open spaces committee which set aside and opened up severa ...

. The local authority became Greenwich District Board of Works and the parish elected vestrymen to the authority. The parish was transferred from the

to the

in 1889 and the Metropolitan Board of Works was replaced by the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

Poor law

Following the

Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 (4 & 5 Will. 4. c. 76) (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the British Whig Party, Whig government of Charles ...

the parish was grouped into the Greenwich Poor Law Union with Greenwich, Deptford St Paul and Woolwich. The parish elected three of the twenty members of the

board of guardians Boards of guardians were ''ad hoc'' authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930. England and Wales Boards of guardians were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish overseers of the po ...

. Woolwich left the union in 1868. The union ceased to exist and the parish had no further role in the administration of the poor law following the

Local Government Act 1929 The Local Government Act 1929 ( 19 & 20 Geo. 5. c. 17) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made changes to the Poor Law and local government in England and Wales. The act abolished the system of poor law unions in England ...

Abolition

The parish became part of the

in 1900 and the Greenwich District Board of Works was replaced by Greenwich Borough Council. The civil parish had only nominal existence for administration of the Poor Law until 1930 when it was abolished, and the borough and parish of Greenwich became aligned. All civil parishes were then abolished in Greater London on 1 April 1965. The former area of the parish became part of the London Borough of Greenwich in 1965, but following boundary changes in 1994, the former parish is now split between the

and the

Royal Borough of Greenwich The Royal Borough of Greenwich (, , or ) is a London borough in southeast Greater London, England. The London Borough of Greenwich was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The new borough covered the former area of the Metropolita ...

Population

The population of the parish was as follows:

References

{{reflist 1730 establishments in England 1930 disestablishments in England History of local government in London (pre-1855) Parishes united into districts (Metropolis) Former civil parishes in the Royal Borough of Greenwich History of the London Borough of Lewisham Deptford