Dulwich (; ) is an area in

south London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

, England. The settlement is mostly in the

London Borough of Southwark The London Borough of Southwark ( ) in South London forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council ...

, with parts in the

London Borough of Lambeth Lambeth () is a London borough in South London, England, which forms part of Inner London. Its name was recorded in 1062 as ''Lambehitha'' ("landing place for lambs") and in 1255 as ''Lambeth''. The geographical centre of London is at Frazi ...

, and consists of

Dulwich Village Dulwich Village is an affluent area of Dulwich in South London, England. It is located in the London Borough of Southwark. History "Dulwich Village" is also the name of the village High Street. Residents in Dulwich Village have to pay ground re ...

East Dulwich East Dulwich is an area of South (London sub region), South East London, England in the London Borough of Southwark. It forms the eastern part of Dulwich, with Peckham to the east and Camberwell to the north. East Dulwich is home to the Dog Kenn ...

West Dulwich West Dulwich ( ) is a neighbourhood in South London on the southern boundary of Brockwell Park, which straddles the London Borough of Lambeth and the London Borough of Southwark. Croxted Road and South Croxted Road mark the boundary between Sou ...

, and the Southwark half of

Herne Hill Herne Hill () is a district in South London, approximately four miles from Charing Cross and bordered by Brixton, Camberwell, Dulwich, and Tulse Hill. It sits to the north and east of Brockwell Park and straddles the boundary between the London ...

(which is often referred to as the North Dulwich triangle). Dulwich lies in a valley between the neighbouring districts of

Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...

(to the north), Crystal Palace,

Denmark Hill Denmark Hill is an area and road in Camberwell, in the London Borough of Southwark, London, England. It is a sub-section of the western flank of the Norwood Ridge, centred on the long, curved Ruskin Park slope of the ridge. The road is part of ...

, Forest Hill,

Peckham Peckham ( ) is a district in south-east London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon place name meaning the vi ...

Sydenham Hill Sydenham Hill forms part of Norwood Ridge, a longer ridge and is an affluent Human settlement, locality in southeast London. It is also the name of a road which runs along the northeastern part of the ridge, demarcating the London Boroughs of ...

, and

Tulse Hill Tulse Hill is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in South London that sits on Brockwell Park. It is approximately five miles from Charing Cross and is bordered by Brixton, Dulwich, Herne Hill, Streatham and West Norwood. History The a ...

. For the last four centuries Dulwich has been centred on the

College of God's Gift The College of God's Gift, often referred to as the Old (Dulwich) College, was a historic Foundation (charity), charity founded in 1619 by the Elizabethan actor and businessman Edward Alleyn who endowed it with the ancient Manor of Dulwich in so ...

, also known as the "Old College", which owned most of the land in the area today known as the

Dulwich Estate The Dulwich Estate, previously the Estates Governors of Alleyn's College of God's Gift at Dulwich, is a Charitable organization, registered charity in England, one of the successors to the historic charity Edward Alleyn's College of God's Gift t ...

. The College, founded with educational and charitable aims, established three large

private schools A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their financial endowme ...

in the 19th century (

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

Alleyn's School Alleyn's School is a 4–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, independent, day school and sixth form in Dulwich, London, England. It is a registered charity and was originally part of Edward Alleyn's College of God's Gift charitable foundatio ...

and

James Allen's Girls' School James Allen's Girls' School, abbreviated JAGS, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school situated in Dulwich, South London, England. Founded in 1741, it is the second oldest girls’ independent school in Great Britain, with ...

). In recent decades four large state

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

s have opened in the area (

The Charter School East Dulwich The Charter School East Dulwich is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in the Dulwich area of the London Borough of Southwark, England. On 9 March 2015, it was announced by the Department for Education that The Charter Scho ...

The Charter School North Dulwich The School North Dulwich (formerly The Charter School) is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in the Dulwich area of the London Borough of Southwark, England. Background The Charter School was born out of a need for a goo ...

Kingsdale Foundation School Kingsdale Foundation School (KFS) is a British mixed secondary school with academy status in West Dulwich, London, with an age range of 11–19 (Year 7 to sixth form). Admissions to the school are coordinated by the Southwark London Borough C ...

and

Harris Boys' Academy East Dulwich Harris Boys' Academy East Dulwich (HBAED) is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status for boys, located in the Peckham area of the London Borough of Southwark, England. Students arrive from 55 different feeder schools. The school f ...

). Dulwich formed part of the ancient

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Camberwell in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, which became the

Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell Camberwell was a civil parish and metropolitan borough in south London, England. Camberwell was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey, governed by an administrative vestry from 1674. The parish was included in the area of responsibility of ...

within 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; in 1965, the borough was abolished and the area became part of the newly created London Borough of Southwark.

History

The first documented evidence of Dulwich is as a hamlet outside London in 967 AD, granted by King

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used masculine English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Edgar'' (composed of ''wikt:en:ead, ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''Gar (spear), gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the Late Midd ...

to one of his thanes. The name of Dulwich has been spelt in various ways since the Medieval period: Dylways, Dullag and most commonly Dilwysshe (from dile-wisc 'meadow where the

dill Dill (''Anethum graveolens'') is an annual herb in the celery family Apiaceae. It is native to North Africa, Iran, and the Arabian Peninsula; it is grown widely in Eurasia, where its leaves and seeds are used as a herb or spice for flavouring ...

grew'). The land was granted in 1127 by King Henry I to

Bermondsey Abbey Bermondsey Abbey was an English Benedictine monastery. Although generally regarded as having been founded in the 11th century, it had a precursor mentioned in the early 8th century. It was centred on what is now Bermondsey Square, the site ...

who then owned the surrounding land. In 1333, the population of Dulwich was recorded as 100. In 1538,

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

sold the area to goldsmith Thomas Calton for £609. Calton's grandson Sir Francis Calton, due to financial reasons, sold the Manor of Dulwich for £5,000 in 1605 to

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

actor and entrepreneur

Edward Alleyn Edward Alleyn (; 1 September 156621 November 1626) was an England, English actor who was a major figure of the Elizabethan theatre and founder of the College of God's Gift in Dulwich. Early life Alleyn was born on 1 September 1566 in Bishop ...

. He vested his wealth in a charitable foundation, the

, established in 1619. The charity's modern successor, The Dulwich Estate, still owns in the area, including a number of private roads and a tollgate. As part of the foundation, Alleyn also constructed a school, the Christ's Chapel (where Alleyn is buried) and

alms house An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the poor of a locality, for those who had held cer ...

s in Dulwich (today the Dulwich Almshouse Charity). Alleyn's original school building is no longer used for that purpose, instead now housing the Estate's Governors. In the 17th century, King

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. Charles was born ...

visited Dulwich Woods on a regular basis to hunt. In 1738, a man named Samuel Bentyman was murdered in Dulwich Woods. On 5 August 1677

John Evelyn John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diary, diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society. John Evelyn's Diary, ...

writes that he took the waters at Dulwich. The Dulwich waters were cried about in the streets of London as far back as 1678. In 1739, Mr. Cox, master of the Green Man, a

tavern A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...

situated about a mile south of the village of Dulwich, sunk a well for his family. The water was found to be possessed of

purgative Laxatives, purgatives, or aperients are substances that loosen stools and increase bowel movements. They are used to treat and prevent constipation. Laxatives vary as to how they work and the side effects they may have. Certain stimulant, lubri ...

qualities, and was for some time used medicinally. While the water was popular much custom was drawn to the adjoining tavern, and its proprietor flourished. The oak-lined formal avenue, known as Cox's Walk, leading from the junction of Dulwich Common and Lordship Lane was cut soon after 1732 by Francis Cox to connect his establishment of the Green Man Tavern and Dulwich Wells with the more popular Sydenham Wells. By 1815 the Green Man had become a school known as Dr. Glennie's academy in Dulwich Grove, although it was demolished about ten years later. Among the pupils here there were a few who became well known,

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

, General Le Marchant and Captain Barclay. Dr Glennie held Saturday evening concerts which attracted visitors from outside the family circle, such as the poet Thomas Campbell, then living in nearby

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne un ...

, and Robert Barker, inventor of the

panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...

. Following the closure of the school, the building reverted to its original use and was known as the Grove Tavern. The building has now been boarded up and neglected for many years by owners the Dulwich Estate. In 1803, Samuel Matthews – known as the " Dulwich Hermit" – was also murdered in Dulwich Woods; he was buried in Dulwich Old Cemetery. 1811–1814 saw the building of the

Dulwich Picture Gallery Dulwich Picture Gallery is an art gallery in Dulwich, south London. It opened to the public in 1817 and was designed by the Regency architect Sir John Soane. His design was recognized for its innovative and influential method of illumination f ...

The school founded by Alleyn expanded in 1842 into a small new building, designed by

Sir Charles Barry Sir Charles Barry (23 May 1795 – 12 May 1860) was an English architect best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster (also known as the Houses of Parliament) in London during the mid-19th century, but also responsi ...

who designed

Westminster Palace The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the ...

, known as the Old Grammar School next to the Old College. In 1857, the foundation was restructured as part of a nationwide review of educational foundations; this resulted in a significant expansion of the school, which was split into an Upper School (later

) which moved into new buildings designed by Charles Barry (junior) in 1870, and a Lower School (later

) which moved to its present day site in Townley Road in 1887. By 1901, the population had grown to 10,247 from a smaller population of 1,632 in 1851 due to the development of railway networks and a growth in housing for the middle and working classes. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Dulwich was hit by many V-1 flying bombs and

V-2 rocket The V2 (), with the technical name ''Aggregat (rocket family), Aggregat-4'' (A4), was the world's first long-range missile guidance, guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed during the S ...

s. A possible explanation for this is that the British military when announcing V-1 and V-2 explosions deliberately gave map co-ordinates four miles north of the truth in an attempt to protect densely populated central London and focus the drops on the open spaces in the suburbs instead.

Geography

There are a number of recognised districts in Dulwich: *

which includes the traditional village centre *

which is a mainly residential area bordering

West Norwood West Norwood is a largely residential area of south London within the London Borough of Lambeth, located 5.4 miles (8.7 km) south south-east of Charing Cross. The centre of West Norwood sits in a bowl surrounded by hillsides on its east, ...

and

. *

(the Southwark half) which forms the North Dulwich Triangle, borders

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

Loughborough Junction Loughborough Junction is an area in Herne Hill, South London, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is located equidistant between Herne Hill, Brixton and Camberwell providing excellent transport connections to Central London. While it is not a ...

and

. * Sydenham Hill Wood and Dulwich Wood – The southern border includes Sydenham Hill station, St. Stephen's Church and the mid-century housing estates of Great Brownings and Peckarmans Wood. *

, also a residential area, bordering Peckham Dulwich Village contains the original shopping street and still contains nearly all of its original 18th and 19th century buildings. It remains very uncommercialised and is a conservation zone. The village borders on Dulwich Park, where the Dulwich Horse and Motor Show is held every year.

Sport and leisure

Dulwich is also home to

Dulwich Hamlet F.C. Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of and play at Champion Hill. History The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson. Th ...

, founded in 1893 and competing in the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

today. They ground share with another

Non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

club Fisher F.C. at Champion Hill in East Dulwich. In recent years

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

acquired the site and built Dulwich Hamlet a new ground. The Old Alleynian Football Club is a local

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

team originally for former pupils of

, but is now open to all who wish to play. Alleyn Old Boys Club – former pupils of Alleyn's School – is located on Burbage Road. Dulwich has two running clubs, namely Dulwich Park RC and Dulwich Runners.

Local landmarks

Dulwich Park was opened in 1890. It was formerly farmland, part of the Court Farm, and now offers duck and rowing ponds, children's play area, bowling green, tennis court, bridle path for horse-riding, and a café. Dulwich Hospital in

Grove was designed by Henry Jarvis and built on of land purchased in

by the Guardians of the Poor of the Parish of St Saviour, Southwark, for the price of £50,000 in 1885. At the time of opening in 1887, it offered a 723-bed capacity. It was transformed from an infirmary into the Southwark Military Hospital during World War I, when it is estimated 14,000–15,000 wounded soldiers were treated at the hospital. After the Poor Law was abolished in 1930, the Southwark Union Infirmary was renamed Dulwich Hospital and the following year an operating theatre was built. In 1964, the hospital was aligned with King's College Hospital on Denmark Hill. There is no casualty department at Dulwich at present. However, in 2015 it was announced that Dulwich Hospital was to be closed and replaced by a school. There is a memorial fountain in Dulwich Village which is in remembrance to Dr George Webster, founder of the first

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union and professional body for physician, doctors in the United Kingdom. It does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The BMA ...

(BMA), who worked in Dulwich from 1815 until his death in 1875. Old Burial Ground, Dulwich Village, was created by

as part of the foundation of his College of God's Gift. The Archbishop of Canterbury, George Abbot, conducted the consecration on Sunday 1 September 1616. Guests included Edmund Bowyer, Thomas Grimes and

William Gresham William Lindsay Gresham (; August 20, 1909 – September 14, 1962) was an American novelist and non-fiction author particularly well-regarded among readers of noir. His best-known work is '' Nightmare Alley'' (1946), which was adapted to film i ...

. Thirty five Dulwich victims of the plague were buried in unmarked graves in the ground. Old Bridget, queen of the Norwood Gypsies (who appeared in the writings of

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...

) was also buried here in 1768. The ground was declared "full" in 1858, however the family of Louisa Shroeder obtained special permission for her remains to be interred in 1868. The ground's wrought iron gates and twelve tombs are Grade II listed. The old Grammar School adjacent to the Old College and Almshouses at the junction of Burbage Road and Gallery Road was designed by

Charles Barry Sir Charles Barry (23 May 1795 – 12 May 1860) was an English architect best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster (also known as the Houses of Parliament) in London during the mid-19th century, but also responsi ...

(senior).

Houses

Belair House on the boundary between

and Dulwich itself, is opposite

West Dulwich railway station West Dulwich railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in England, serving the West Dulwich area in the London Borough of Southwark, south London. It is located on opposite side of the south circular road from Belair Park, down the line fr ...

and was designed in 1785 for John Files. It remained a private house until 1938 when it came into the hands of Southwark Council. It fell into disrepair in the 1990s but was bought in 1998 and refurbished and turned into an upmarket restaurant. The house has a large park ground attached which is now public, including tennis courts and a children's play area. This area used to be the fields for its farm. The lake is the only substantial stretch of the ancient River Effra remaining above ground. Bell House (Dulwich) in College Road was designed in 1767 for Thomas Wright, a stationer and later

Lord Mayor of the City of London Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

. A large extension was added in the mid-19th century and it is accompanied by a lodge house. The house is Grade II listed. Its name comes from its Bell Tower situated on top of the original house and the bell was restored in the late 1990s. It became a

boarding house in 1926 and only returned to private ownership in 1993. The house was bought in the summer of 2016 by an educational charity. The Crown and Greyhound public house is in Dulwich Village. In the 19th century, two separate pubs stood in this area – the centre of Dulwich Village. The Crown was for the labourers of the area, while the Greyhound across the road, was for local gentry. The Greyhound was a coach stop on the London Piccadilly-Sittingbourne route.

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

was a frequent visitor to the village and used to drink at The Greyhound pub. The current pub known as "The Dog", is a Grade II listed building. In the 1960s, it used to be known as the venue of the "Dulwich Poets". One of the area's most famous residents and architects was Sir George Frederick Ellyatt (founder of the architecture practice, Ellyatt & Porter). He was responsible for the design or influence of in excess of 25 homes in the area, each built in its own individual style. One of the most notable homes was Crossways, 1 Dulwich Village, which he built as his own home following being granted permission to do so in January 1927 at a cost of just over £2000 and with a ground rent of £22 10s per annum. Uniquely, Ellyatt sought and was granted permission to build in 9" solid brick walls rather than 11" cavity walls (as was usual convention) as long as he used cement mortar. The site was originally occupied by a Georgian built home, known locally as "the Hall" which had become partially derelict during World War I and was demolished in 1925. Crossways still exists in substantially the same manner and form as when it was originally built. The Dulwich Wood and Sydenham Hill area contains mid-century housing estates designed by Austin Vernon and Partners for the

. Examples include Peckarmans Wood and Great Brownings.

Churches

Pissarro - st-stephen-s-church-lower-norwood-1870

All Saints Church, West Dulwich (Church of England) alongside Rosendale Road is a Victorian Gothic building, originally intended to be the cathedral for

. The church was built between 1888 and 1897 and designed by

George Fellowes Prynne George Halford Fellowes Prynne (1853–1927) was a Victorian and Edwardian English church architect. Part of the High Church school of Gothic Revival Architecture, Prynne's work can be found across Southern England. Biography Early life George H ...

, a pupil of

George Edmund Street George Edmund Street (20 June 1824 – 18 December 1881), also known as G. E. Street, was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex. Stylistically, Street was a leading practitioner of the Victorian Gothic Revival. Though mainly an eccl ...

. Although plans were scaled down it was still a huge building and is a Grade I listed building. Unfortunately it was gutted by a huge fire on 9 June 2000, the cause remains unknown. The building reopened in April 2006 after a three-year restoration project. St Barnabas' Church (Church of England) lies on Calton Avenue at the edge of

. The old church was designed by W H Wood of Newcastle upon Tyne and consecrated in 1894. However the original church burnt down in an arson attack by 'unknown persons' on Monday 7 December 1992. The "Phoenix appeal" raised money to build a new church and the replacement structure, designed by Larry Malcic with an all-glass spire, was opened in 1996. Grace Church Dulwich is situated on Turney Road and was built in 1900. The church is currently a conservative evangelical Church of England church and meets on Sunday mornings at 10:30. The building is otherwise home to Rosendale School. In the south, the spire of St. Stephen's Church can be seen above the trees of Dulwich Wood, adjacent to

Sydenham Hill railway station Sydenham Hill railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in England, serving Sydenham Hill, the Kingswood Estate, and Sydenham, London, Upper Sydenham, in south London. It is down the line from and is situated between and . The station and ...

Transport

Paying-the-toll-College-Road-London-SE21

Dulwich sits astride the South Circular (A205), one of London's

Ring Road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducin ...

s. Also passing through the area is the A2199 and College Road, which features a working

tollgate A tollbooth (or toll booth) is an enclosure placed along a toll road that is used for the purpose of collecting a Toll (fee), toll from passing traffic. A structure consisting of several tollbooths placed next to each other is called a toll p ...

dating back to 1789. The journey to

London Victoria Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a London station group, central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, London, Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named afte ...

from

takes about 12 minutes and there are direct trains to and from

London Blackfriars Blackfriars (), also known as London Blackfriars, is a London station group, central London railway station and connected London Underground station in the City of London. It provides Thameslink services: local (from North to South London), ...

and points north on the Thameslink line during the morning and evening peak periods respectively,

is 12 minutes from

London Bridge The name "London Bridge" refers to several historic crossings that have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark in central London since Roman Britain, Roman times. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 197 ...

and North Dulwich is 14 minutes from London Bridge. The nearest stations are in:

, North Dulwich,

Gipsy Hill Gipsy Hill in south London is a hilly and leafy neighbourhood spanning the southern parts of the London Boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark characterised for its stunning views of the City of London and Dulwich. Historically, north of its tra ...

Peckham Rye Peckham Rye is an open space and road in the London Borough of Southwark, London, England. The roughly triangular open space lies to the south of Peckham and consists of two contiguous areas, Peckham Rye Common to the north and Peckham Rye Park t ...

and

. Dulwich is served by

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...

routes 3, 12, 37, 40, 42,

176 Year 176 ( CLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Proculus and Aper (or, less frequently, year 929 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 176 for this year ha ...

, 185, 197, 201
363
484, 450, P4 and P13.

Notable residents

Famous people born in the area include: artist Madge Tennent in 1889; the author

Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have been tra ...

in 1897; the first compiler of the

London A-Z 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 ...

Phyllis Pearsall Phyllis Isobella Pearsall Order of the British Empire, MBE (25 September 1906 – 28 August 1996) was a British painter and writer who founded the Geographers' A-Z Map Company, for which she is regarded as one of the most successful business ...

in East Dulwich in 1906, she went on to live in Dulwich Village; code breaker

Mavis Batey Mavis Lilian Batey, MBE (née Lever; 5 May 1921 – 12 November 2013), was a British code-breaker during World War II. She was one of the leading female codebreakers at Bletchley Park. She later became a historian of gardening, who campaign ...

, then Mavis Lever, was born in Dulwich on May 5, 1921; the war-time singer Anne Shelton who lived on Court Lane until shortly before her death in 1994; also on Court Lane, Dr Reginald John Gladstone

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

embryologist, lived here until his house was destroyed in the blitz in 1941; footballer Trevor Sinclair in 1973; the actor

Tim Roth Timothy Simon Roth (; born 14 May 1961) is an English actor. He was among a group of prominent British actors known as the " Brit Pack". After garnering attention in television productions '' Made in Britain'' (1982) and '' Meantime'' (1983), ...

in 1961; the television personality

Lisa Vanderpump Lisa Jane Vanderpump (born 15 September 1960) is an English television personality and actress. She initially gained fame as a main cast member on ''The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills'' from 2010 until 2019. Vanderpump parlayed her ''Housewiv ...

in 1960; actress

Sally Hawkins Sally Cecilia Hawkins (born 27 April 1976) is an English actress of stage and screen. She began her career on stage and then moved into film, for which she has received several accolades including a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominatio ...

in 1976 and actor Angus Castle-Doughty in 1995. In 1980,

Bon Scott Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott (9 July 1946 – 19 February 1980) was an Australian singer who was the second lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980. In the July 2004 issue of ''Classic Rock (m ...

, the lead singer of

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

, after a night's heavy drinking, was found lifeless in a car outside 67 Overhill Road, East Dulwich. He was rushed to hospital but was dead on arrival at King's College Hospital. The Village has also long been popular with people in show business;

Ronnie Corbett Ronald Balfour Corbett (4 December 1930 – 31 March 2016) was a Scottish actor, broadcaster, comedian and writer. He had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the BBC television comedy sketch show ''The Two Ronnies''. He achieved promine ...

lived there for years.

Carl Barât Carl Ashley Raphael Barât (; born 6 June 1978) is a British musician best known for being the co-frontman with Pete Doherty of the indie rock band the Libertines. He was the frontman and guitarist of Dirty Pretty Things, and in 2010 debuted a ...

, Libertines lead singer, lives on Lordship Lane.

Ronnie Reed Ronald Thomas Reed (8 October 1916 – 22 January 1995) was a BBC radio engineer who became an MI5 officer in 1940, and ran double agents during World War II. Background Reed was born in St Pancras, London. His father had been Second Head ...

, who ran

double agents In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organ ...

during the

, and was an

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

officer from 1940 to 1976, lived in Court Lane Gardens from 1960 to 1995. Huw Edwards, the former ''

BBC News at Ten ''BBC News at Ten'' (formerly known as the ''BBC Ten O'Clock News'' or the ''Ten O'Clock News'') is the BBC's flagship evening news programme on British television channels BBC One and the BBC News Channel, broadcast nightly at 10:00pm and pr ...

'' newsreader, resides in Dulwich. Actor

Iain Glen Iain Alan Sutherland Glen (born 24 June 1961) is a Scottish actor. He has appeared as Dr. Alexander Isaacs/Tyrant in three films of the Resident Evil (film series), ''Resident Evil'' film series (2004–2016) and as Ser Jorah Mormont, Jorah Morm ...

also lives in the village. Dulwich has also been home to several Members of Parliament and senior

Civil Servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

bought a house in a "gated community" in Dulwich after her time as

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

. Edward George, Baron George, governor of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

and himself an

Old Alleynian Dulwich College is a 2-18 Private schools in the United Kingdom, private, Day school, day and boarding school for Single-sex education, boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, it began as the Colleg ...

, lived in Gilkes Crescent just off the Village until his retirement. Ian McColl, Baron McColl of Dulwich who served as

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...

's Parliamentary Private Secretary in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

, also lives there. Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, a former Chief of the Defence Staff, lived in Woodwarde Road and Sir John Scarlett, head of

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

, lived just off the South Circular Road.

Harriet Harman Harriet Ruth Harman, Baroness Harman, (born 30 July 1950), is a British politician and solicitor who served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and Chair of the Labour Party (UK), Chair of the Labour Pa ...

MP lives in Winterbrook Road, Albert Booth MP,

Secretary of State for Employment The secretary of state for employment was a position in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. In , it was merged with secretary of state for education to make the secretary of state for education and employment. In , the employment functions were h ...

under

James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the L ...

, lived on the corner of Woodwarde Road and Desenfans Road and Sir Robin Butler, secretary to the Cabinet, lived in Half Moon Lane. In the closing chapter of

' romance ''

The Pickwick Papers ''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was the Debut novel, first novel serialised from March 1836 to November 1837 by English author Charles Dickens. Because of his success with ''Sketches by Bo ...

'', Samuel Pickwick retires to a house in Dulwich, "one of the most pleasant spots near London."

Gallery

File:Grove Tavern, Dulwich.jpg, The Grove Tavern,

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

, located on the busy South Circular road File:Camberwell Met. B Ward Map 1916.svg, A map showing the Dulwich wards of Camberwell Metropolitan Borough as they appeared in 1916 File:Dulwich village houses old.jpg, An old house in Dulwich village File:College-Road-Dulwich-London-SE21-Tollgate.JPG, The tollgate on College Road, Dulwich, London SE21 File:Table-of-tolls-College-Road-London-SE21-Tollgate.jpg, A table of tolls in pre-decimal currency for the College Road, Dulwich, London SE21 tollgate File:Dulwich village houses modern.jpg, Modern housing in Dulwich village

References

External links

Dulwich Park Friends photosDulwich community website including historyDulwich Picture GalleryHistory of Peckham & DulwichDulwich Village C of E Infants' School (DVIS)Dulwich Decorative & Fine Arts Society

North Dulwich Tennis Club
{{Authority control Districts of the London Borough of Southwark Areas of London District centres of London