Lewisham : Images of London

During the years between 1890 and 1930 Lewisham was a byword for solid comfort and respectibility. However, this was a time of rapid change, when the wealthy merchants who had dominated Victorian Lewisham were moving further from their workplaces in London, and the streets were being colonized by thousands of lower middle class settlers. The commercial clerk was the characteristic denizen of early twentieth-century Lewisham.

These new inhabitants were great lovers of postcards, and most of the pictures presented here, more than two hundred in total, are taken from the huge number of them published during that classic period. Very few have appeared in book form before.

There are photographs of Blackheath (both the Lewisham and Greenwich parts), Lee, central Lewisham, Hither Green, Ladywell, Crofton Park, Catford, Bellingham, Southend Village and Grove Park. Most of the sections can form the basis for an interesting historical and architectural walk. But hurry! One of the old Lewisham buildings illustrated here has probably been demolished while you have been reading this!