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[[File:London Buses route 343 Peckham.jpg]]
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{{infobox UK place|
|country = England
|region= London
|official_name= Peckham
|london_borough= Southwark
|static_image = [[File:Peckham landscape.jpg|250px]]
|static_image_caption =Peckham
|population= 19,500
|population_ref= (Peckham Community Council area, 2005)
|post_town= LONDON
|postcode_area= SE
|postcode_district= SE15
|dial_code= 020
|os_grid_reference= TQ345765
|latitude= 51.4714
|longitude= -0.0625
|constituency_westminster= [[Camberwell and Peckham (UK Parliament constituency)|Camberwell and Peckham]]
}}
'''Peckham''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|ɛ|k|əm}} is a district in [[South East (London sub region)|Southeast]] [[London]], [[England]], located in the [[London Borough of Southwark]]. It is situated {{convert|3.5|mi|km|1}} south-east of [[Charing Cross]]. The area is identified in the [[London Plan]] as one of 35 major centres in [[Greater London]].<ref name=london_plan_f08>{{cite web|url=http://www.london.gov.uk/thelondonplan/docs/londonplan08.pdf | author=[[Mayor of London]] | publisher=[[Greater London Authority]] | title=London Plan (Consolidated with Alterations since 2004) | month=February | year= 2008 }}</ref> The [[United Kingdom Census 2001|2001 Census]] recorded a population of 11,381 in the Peckham ward of Southwark<ref name=Census>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=6100662&c=peckham&d=14&e=13&g=345427&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1239657989781&enc=1&dsFamilyId=47 | publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]]| title=Area: Peckham (Ward) | month=April | year=2001}}</ref> and the [[Office for National Statistics]] estimated 19,500 residents in the Peckham Community Council area in 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.southwark.gov.uk/download/750/peckham | publisher=Southwark Analytical Hub | title=Peckham Community Council's Population: Now and the Future | month=October| year= 2008 }}</ref>
==History==
'Peckham' is a [[Saxon people|Saxon]] place name meaning the village of the [[River Peck]], a small stream that ran through the district until it was enclosed in 1823. Archaeological evidence indicates earlier [[Roman Britain|Roman]] occupation in the area, although the name of this settlement is lost.
Peckham appears in [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 as ''Pecheham''. It was held by the [[Bishop of Lisieux]] from the [[Odo of Bayeux|Bishop of Bayeux]]. Its Domesday assets were: 2 [[hide (unit)|hide]]s. It had land for 1 [[plough]], {{convert|2|acre|m2}} of [[meadow]]. It rendered £1 10s 0d (£1.50).<ref>[http://www.gwp.enta.net/surrnames.htm Surrey Domesday Book]</ref>
The manor was owned by King [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] who gave it to his son [[Robert, Earl of Gloucester]]. When Robert married the heiress to [[Camberwell]] the two manors were united under royal ownership. [[John of England|King John]] probably hunted at Peckham and local anecdotes suggest that the right to an annual [[fair]] was granted to celebrate a particularly good day's sport. The fair grew to be a rowdy major event lasting three weeks until its abolition in 1827.
Peckham became popular as a wealthy residential area by the 16th century and there are several claims that [[Christopher Wren]] had local links. By the 18th century the area was a more commercial centre and attracted industrialists who wanted to avoid paying the expensive rents in central London. Peckham also boasted extensive [[market gardening|market gardens]] and [[orchard]]s growing produce for the nearby markets of London. Local produce included melons, figs and grapes. The formal gardens of the Peckham [[Manor House]], rebuilt in 1672 by [[Sir Thomas Bond]] were particularly noticeable and can be seen on the [[John Rocque's Map of London, 1746|Rocque map of 1746]]. The manor house was sacked in 1688, as its then owner Sir Henry Bond was a Roman Catholic and staunch supporter of [[James II of England|James II]]. The house was finally demolished in 1797 for the formation of Peckham Hill Street, as the Shard family developed the area. Today Shard's Terrace, the block that contains Manze's Pie and Mash shop, and the western side of Peckham Hill Street represent this [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] planned expansion.
The village was the last stopping point for many cattle [[Droving|drover]]s taking their livestock for sale in London. The drovers stayed in the local inns (such as ''The Red Cow'') while the cattle were safely secured overnight in holding pens. Most of the villagers were agricultural or horticultural workers but with the early growth of the suburbs an increasing number worked in the brick industry that exploited the local [[London Clay]].
In 1767 [[William Blake]] visited [[Peckham Rye]] and had a vision of an [[angel]] in a tree. In 1993, at the request of the [http://www.dulwichfestival.co.uk/ Dulwich Festival], artist Stan Peskett painted a mural of Blake's vision next to the Goose Green playground in [[East Dulwich]].
===19th century===
[[File:Peckham Rye stn entrance.JPG|thumb|250px|right|[[Peckham Rye railway station]] entrance off Rye Lane]]
At the beginning of the 19th century Peckham was a ''"small, quiet, retired village surrounded by fields"''. Since 1744 [[stagecoach]]es had travelled with an armed guard between Peckham and London to give protection from [[highwaymen]]. The rough roads constrained traffic so a branch of the [[Grand Surrey Canal]] was proposed as a route from the [[River Thames|Thames]] to [[Portsmouth]]. The canal was built from [[Surrey Commercial Docks]] to Peckham before the builders ran out of funds in 1826. The abbreviated canal was used to ship soft wood for construction and even though the canal was drained and backfilled in 1970 Whitten's timber merchants still stands on the site of the canal head.
In 1851 [[Thomas Tilling]] started an innovative [[Bus|omnibus]] service from Peckham to London. Tilling's buses were the first to use pre-arranged bus stops, which helped them to run to a reliable timetable. His services expanded to cover much of London until his horses were requisitioned for the [[British Army|Army]] in World War I.
Before Peckham Rye railway station was opened in 1865 the area had developed around two centres: north and south. In the north, housing spread out to the south of the [[Old Kent Road]] including Peckham New Town built on land owned by the Hill family (from whom the name Peckham Hill Street derives). In the south, large houses were built to the west of the common land called Peckham Rye and the lane that led to it.
[[File:Peckham eel and pie.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Manze's Eel and Pie House, Peckham.]]
With the arrival of the railway and the introduction of horse-drawn trams about ten years later, Peckham became accessible to artisans and clerical staff working in the City and the docks. Housing for this socio-economic group filled almost all the remaining fields except the Rye. In 1868 the [[vestry]] of Camberwell St Giles bought the Rye to keep it as [[common land]]. Responding to concerns about the dangerous overcrowding of the common on holidays the vestry bought the adjacent Homestall Farm (the last farm in the area) in 1894 and opened this as Peckham Rye Park.
With the influx of younger residents with money to spend Rye Lane became a major shopping street. Jones & Higgins opened a small shop in 1867 (on the corner of Rye Lane and Peckham High Street) that would become the best known department store in South London for many years. It closed in the 1980s. In 1870 [[George Gibson Bussey]] moved to Peckham and set up a firm described as "Firearms, Ammunition & Shooting” at the Museum Works, Rye Lane, Peckham. The Museum of Firearms was built in 1867. The Ordnance Survey Map of 1868 shows the Museum building with a rifle range at the rear extending along the side of the railway
embankment for 150 yards.
The late 19th century also saw the arrival of George Batty, a manufacturer of condiments, whose main business stood at [[Finsbury Pavement]]. The company's Peckham premises occupied 19 railway arches. It was acquired by the [[H. J. Heinz Company]] in 1905 as their first UK manufacturing base.
The southern end of Peckham was the location for the railway line that once served [[The Crystal Palace]] in [[Sydenham]]. Though the line was eventually dismantled due to the collapse of the embankment into the gardens of Marmora Road it is still possible to see large sections of it. The flats on Wood Vale and the full length of Brenchley Gardens trace its route.
[[Marmara Region|Marmora]], [[Sarıyer|Therapia]], [[Mudanya|Mundania]] and [[Üsküdar|Scutari]] Roads, built in the 1880s, all derive their curious names from locations now in modern day Turkey, possibly{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}} from associations with the stationing of British forces there during the [[Crimean War]]. Close by is the Aquarias Golf Club<ref>[http://www.aquariusgolfclub.co.uk/pages.php/index.htmlAquarius Golf Club website]</ref> which is located over the cavernous Honor Oak Reservoir constructed between 1901 and 1909. When it was completed it was the largest brick built underground reservoir in the world<ref name="Honor Oak Reservoir 1">{{cite web | title = Honor Oak Reservoir | publisher = London Borough of Lewisham | url =http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/ForestHillAndHonorOakSecretsLeaflet.pdf | accessdate =1 September 2011 }}</ref> and is still one of the largest in Europe.<ref name="Honor Oak Reservoir 2">{{cite web | title = Honor Oak Reservoir | publisher = Mott MacDonald | url = http://www.projectmanagement.mottmac.com/projects/?mode=type&id=130093 | accessdate =1 September 2011 }}</ref> The reservoir now forms part of the Southern extension of the [[Thames Water Ring Main]].
[[Camberwell Cemeteries|Camberwell Old Cemetery]], on Forest Hill Road, is a later example of the ring of [[Victorian era|Victorian]] cemeteries that were built to alleviate the overcrowding of [[churchyard]]s that was experienced with the rapid expansion of London in the 19th century. The Stone House at its main entrance was used in the filming of [[Joe Orton]]'s [[Entertaining Mr. Sloane]] (released 1970). It was gutted by fire in the mid-1970s and rebuilt some years later. Camberwell Old Cemetery did not have the grandeur of nearby [[Nunhead Cemetery]], which was one of the original London [[Necropolis|necropolis']], and once nearing capacity it was replaced by [[Camberwell Cemeteries|Camberwell New Cemetery]] on Brenchley Gardens.
Brenchley Gardens Park follows the route of the old line to [[the Crystal Palace]] culminating at the High Level station. The park runs behind Marmora Road and the remains of the embankment then continues along Wood Vale where flats were built on it. The line was closed in 1954 following a decline in its use after the destruction of the Crystal Palace in 1936 and due to slippage in the structure of the embankment.<ref name="Route of Crystal Palace Railway Line">{{cite web | title = Crystal Palace (High Level) – Nunhead | publisher = London's Abandoned Stations | url = http://www.abandonedstations.org.uk/Crystal_Palace_line_2.html | accessdate =17 July 2008 }}</ref>
===20th century===
{{Refimprove section|date=May 2011}}
[[File:Edward Turner Blue Plaque.jpg|right|thumb|right|250px|London Borough of Southwark [[Blue Plaque]] awarded to famous motorbike designer [[Edward Turner]] unveiled in 2009 at his former residence, 8 Philip Walk, Peckham. Turner had run a motorbike shop, Chepstow Motors on Peckham High Street.]]
In the 1930s [[George Scott Williamson]] and [[Innes Pearse]] opened the Pioneer Health Centre in Queens Road. They planned to conduct a large experiment into the effect of environment on health.
'[[The Peckham Experiment]]' recruited 950 families at one [[shilling]] (5p) a week. The members joined something like a modern sports club with facilities for physical exercise, games, workshops and socialising with no mandatory programme. The centre moved into a purpose built modernist building by the architect [[Owen Williams (engineer)|Sir Owen Williams]] in 1935.
[[File:Young man running on the North Peckham Estate.jpg|thumbnail|North Peckham Estate, 1984 (Photograph by Russell Newell)]]
North Peckham was heavily redeveloped in the 1960s, consisting mainly of high-rise flats to rehouse people from dilapidated old houses. It was popular on its completion for offering a high quality and modern standing of living. However, high unemployment and a lack of economic opportunities led to urban decay and a period of decline in the late 1970s. The North Peckham Estate became one of the most deprived residential areas in Western Europe. Vandalism, graffiti, arson attacks, burglaries, robberies and muggings were commonplace, and the area became an archetypal London [[sink estate]]. As a result, the area was subjected to a £290 million regeneration programme in the late 1990s and early 2000s. After the beginning of the regeneration, the estate gained nationwide notoriety in the media when 10-year-old Nigerian resident [[Damilola Taylor]] was stabbed to death on the estate on 27 November 2000.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1841755.stm |work=BBC News | title=Changing face of Damilola estate | date=25 April 2002 | accessdate=22 May 2010}}</ref> By 2002, 90% of the redevelopment was complete. The new homes were better laid out and offered improved security, though few local people were convinced that better housing would equate to a better area.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} A gang operating in the area is the [[Peckham Boys]].<ref name=King>King, Lorraine. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/feb/11/ukcrime.theobserver "The inside story of gang life in Peckham"]. ''[[The Guardian]]''. 11 February 2007. Accessed 9 August 2011.</ref>
In the early 1990s Peckham was a centre of underground music,{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}} partly due to a large squat in a disused, 2 floor [[DHSS]] building in Collyer Place near Peckham High Street. The building was already known for having featured in the cover shot of a 1980s pictorial biography of 1960s' mods, featuring them on their customised scooters outside the then Camberwell Labour Exchange. In 1989 the squatters adopted the name ''Dole House Crew'' and along with another local group of squatters called the "Green Circus", held regular gigs/parties in the building. Upstairs was a large live gig room and downstairs was a [[rave music]] DJ set up. There were also two bars, a [[vegan]] cafe and a chill out lounge. During the week, any empty rooms were utilised for bands or artists. Some notable bands who regularly played gigs at the Dole House were:{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}} [[The Levellers]], [[Citizen Fish]], and [[Radical Dance Faction]]. Up to 1,000 people could be squeezed into the squat and from February 1990 it was regularly filled to capacity.{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}} Those involved provided music at various free festivals in the 1990s and also assistance to the then budding [[Deptford]] urban free festival (later the Fordham Park urban free festival). They moved on to many other [[South East (London sub region)|South East London]] venues after the Peckham Dolehouse was evicted in late October 1990. A [[squatting|squatted]] [[social centre]] called the [[Spike Surplus Scheme]] ran from 1998 until being evicted by the council in 2009.
Peckham was one of the areas where riots took place during the [[2011 England riots]].<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14450557 "London riots: 'Everyone was very fired up'"]. [[BBC News]]. 9 August 2011. Accessed 9 August 2011.</ref>
==Regeneration==
[[File:Peckham library 1.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The award winning [[Peckham Library]] (October 2005)]]
Since the 1990s the [[European Union]] has invested heavily in the regeneration of the area; partly funding the futuristic, award-winning [[Peckham Library]],<ref>Spring, Martin. [http://www.building.co.uk/will-alsops-peckham-library-revisited/3136504.article "Will Alsop's Peckham library revisited"]. ''[[Building (magazine)|Building]]''. 20 March 2009. Accessed 9 August 2011.</ref> a new town square and swathes of new housing to replace the North Peckham Estate. Throughout the area state funding is being provided to improve the housing stock and renovate the streets. This includes funding for public arts projects like the [[Tom Phillips (artist)|Tom Phillips]] mosaics on the wall of the Peckham Experiment restaurant and the [[South London Gallery]].
The main shopping street is Rye Lane and the large [[Peckham Rye]] Park is nearby.
The oldest surviving building in Peckham is 2 Wood's Road, built in 1690.
==Culture and identity==
Peckham has never been an administrative district, or a single [[ecclesiastical]] parish in its own right, but it developed a strong sense of identity in the 19th century when Rye Lane was one of the most important shopping streets in [[South London]]. The area is identified in the [[London Plan]] as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.<ref name="london_plan_f08"/>
The area known as Peckham covers a large area of South London and takes in many diverse communities. A traditional London working class community now coexists with communities that have their origins in Bangladesh, the [[Caribbean]], China, India, Ireland, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkey, Eastern Europe and Vietnam. As well as these communities there has been a steady [[gentrification]] of some of the areas to the south of Peckham and this has meant an influx of cafés, [[wine bar]]s, niche shops and artists' studios.
==Ethnicity==
[[File:London Buses route 343 Peckham.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Rye Lane, Peckham's main shopping area shown where it runs perpendicular to [[Peckham Rye]] railway station]]
Peckham is one of the most ethnically diverse areas of the UK. These are the statistics for the ethnic groups in the Peckham ward according to the 2001 Census.<ref name=Census/> This ward is about one fifth of the place called Peckham, and not representative of the ethnic and cultural distribution in the other 4 wards.
* Black African – 35.67%
* White British – 25.73%
* Black Caribbean – 15.45%
* Other White – 4.58%
* Other Black – 3.58%
* Chinese – 3.51%
* Other Asian – 2.14%
* White Irish – 1.93%
* Mixed White-Black Caribbean – 1.86%
* Bangladeshi – 1.25%
* Other Mixed – 1.17%
* Mixed White-Black African – 1.08%
* Indian – 0.69%
* Other South Asian – 0.68%
* Mixed White-South Asian – 0.35%
* Pakistani – 0.33%
==Peckham in fiction==
''[[The Ballad of Peckham Rye]]'', a 1960 novel by [[Muriel Spark]], is set in Peckham.
Peckham was the setting of the television sitcom ''[[Only Fools and Horses]]'', although the series was filmed elsewhere in its run as a regular series from 1981 to 1991 as well as Christmas specials until 2003. The spin-off, [[Rock & Chips]], was also set in Peckham in the 1960s.
The television situation comedy ''[[Desmond's]]'' was made by [[Channel 4]] and was filmed and set in Peckham.
A 30 minute musical called [http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film--the-harder-they-come-we-the-ragamuffin-is-peckhamborn-peckhambred-sheila-johnston-attended-its-premiere-in-peckham-1533706.html "We The Ragamuffin"] was filmed in Peckham (mainly on the North Peckham Estate). The film used local musicians with an improvised script and was broadcast on Channel 4 in February 1992. The film was written and produced by Russell Newell and directed by Julian Henriques.
In 2001, the ITV drama series ''[[Bad Girls (TV series)|Bad Girls]]'' introduced three characters from Peckham who called themselves The Peckham Bootgang.
Peckham is the home of the main character of [[Dot.Robot Series|Dot. Robot]] by [[Jason Bradbury]].
Peckham was home of the fictional character [[Rose Tyler]], a former leading character in the British TV show ''[[Doctor Who]]''.
The ''[[E4 (TV channel)|E4]]'' show ''[[Youngers]]'' is filmed and set in Peckham.
"[[Ike Hamilton]]"'s character in "[[The Boat That Rocked]]", Harold, claims to be from Peckham, and stays on the boat facing persecution rather than returning home.
==Transport and locale==
===Nearest places===
* [[Bermondsey]]
* [[New Cross]]
* [[Camberwell]]
* [[East Dulwich]]
* [[Nunhead]]
* [[Brockley]]
* [[Walworth]]
===Nearest railway stations===
* [[Peckham Rye railway station]]
* [[Queens Road Peckham railway station]]
==References and notes==
{{reflist|2}}
==Further reading==
* John D Beasley, ''The Story of Peckham'', (London: London Borough of Southwark, 1976)
* John D Beasley, ''Who Was Who In Peckham'' (London: Chener Books, c1985)
* [[H. J. Dyos]], ''Victorian Suburb: A Study in the Growth of Camberwell'' (Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1961)
* Joseph Priestley, ''Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals and Railways of Great Britain'', (Wakefield: Richard Nichols, 1831)
==External links==
{{commons category|Peckham}}
*[http://www.open2.net/modernity/3_6.htm Article about the Peckham Experiment = Pioneer Health Center]
{{London Borough of Southwark}}
{{Boroughs and districts of London}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2012}}
[[Category:Districts of Southwark]]
[[Category:Areas of London]]
[[Category:UK locations with ethnic minority-majority populations]]
[[Category:Districts of London listed in the Domesday Book]]
[[Category:Major centres of London]]{{Usedwps}}