Blackheath, London

Etymology

Records and meanings

The name is from Old English spoken words 'blæc' and 'hǣth'. The name is recorded in 1166 as Blachehedfeld which means "dark,^[4] or black heath field" – field denotes an enclosure or clearing. Lewis's topological dictionary opines, considering the adjective developed equally into derived term bleak, that Blackheath "takes its name either from the colour of the soil, or from the bleakness of its situation" before adding, reflecting Victorian appreciation, mention of "numerous villas with which it now abounds...it is pleasantly situated on elevated ground, commanding diversified and extensive views of the surrounding country, which is richly cultivated, and abounds with fine scenery".^[5] It was an upland, open space that was the meeting place of the hundred of Blackheath.^[4]

Formal name for estates around the heath

By 1848 Blackheath was noted as a place with two dependent chapels under Lewisham vestry and another, St Michael and All Angels, erected 1828-1830 designed by George Smith. The latter made use of £4000 plus land from land developer John Cator,^[6] plus a further £11,000 from elsewhere.^[5] The name of Blackheath gained independent official boundaries by the founding of an Anglican parish in 1854 (construction of the parish church, All Saints, began in 1857), then others (in 1859, 1883 and 1886) which reflected considerable housing built on nearby land.^{[7][8][9][10]} In local government, Blackheath never saw independence;^[11][12] at first split between the Lewisham, Lee, Charlton and Greenwich vestries or civil parish councils and Kidbrooke liberty,^[13] which assembled into Greenwich, Plumstead (in final years called Lee) and Lewisham Districts then re-assembled with others into Greenwich and Lewisham metropolitan boroughs in 1900.^[11]

Etymological myth

An urban myth is Blackheath could derive from the 1665 Plague or the Black Death of the mid-14th century. A local burial pit is nonetheless likely during the Black Death, given the established village and safe harbour (hithe) status of Greenwich. At those times the high death rate meant that a guaranteed churchyard burial became impractical.

Archaeology

A key Celtic trackway (becoming a Roman road and later Watling Street) scaled the rise that is shared with Greenwich Park and a peak 1 mile (1.6 km) east-by-southeast, Shooters Hill. In the west this traversed the mouth of Deptford Creek (the River Ravensbourne) (a corruption or throwback to earlier pronunciation of deep ford).^[14][15] Other finds can be linked to passing trade connected with royal palaces. In 1710, several Roman urns were dug up, two of which were of fine red clay, one of a spherical, and the other of a cylindrical, form; and in 1803, several more were discovered in the gardens of the Earl of Dartmouth and given to the British Museum.^[5]

Royal setting

Certain monarchs passed through and their senior courtiers kept residences here and in Greenwich. Before the Tudor-built Greenwich Palace and Stuart-built Queen's House, one of the most frequently used was Eltham Palace about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) to the southeast of the ridge, under the late Plantagenets, before cessation as a royal residence in the 16th century.

On the north side of the heath, Ranger's House, a medium-sized red brick Georgian mansion in the Palladian style, backs directly onto Greenwich Park. Associated with the Ranger of Greenwich Park, a royal appointment, the house was the Ranger's official residence for most of the 19th century (neighbouring Montagu House, demolished in 1815, was a royal residence of Caroline of Brunswick). Since 2002, Ranger's House has housed the Wernher Collection of art.

The Pagoda is a notably exquisite home, built in 1760 by Sir William Chambers in the style of a traditional Chinese pagoda. It was later leased to the Prince Regent, principally used as a summer home by Caroline of Brunswick.

Meeting point

Blackheath was a rallying point for Wat Tyler's Peasants' Revolt of 1381,^[16] and for Jack Cade's Kentish rebellion in 1450 (both recalled by road names on the west side of the heath). After camping at Blackheath, Cornish rebels were defeated at the foot of the west slope in the Battle of Deptford Bridge (sometimes called the Battle of Blackheath) on 17 June 1497.

In 1400, Henry IV of England met here with Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos who toured western royalty to seek support to oppose Bayezid I (Bajazet), the Ottoman Sultan. In 1415, the lord mayor and aldermen of London, in their robes of state, attended by 400 of the principal citizens, clothed in scarlet, came hither in procession to meet Henry V of England on his triumphant return from the Battle of Agincourt.^[5]

Blackheath was, along with Hounslow Heath, a common assembly point for army forces, such as in 1673 when the Blackheath Army was assembled under Marshal Schomberg to serve in the Third Anglo-Dutch War. In 1709–10, army tents were set up on Blackheath to house a large part of the 15,000 or so German refugees from the Palatinate and other regions who fled to England, most of whom subsequently settled in America or Ireland.^[17]

With Watling Street carrying stagecoaches across the heath, en route to north Kent and the Channel ports, it was also a notorious haunt of highwaymen during the 17th and 18th centuries. As reported in Edward Walford's Old and New London (1878), "In past times it was planted with gibbets, on which the bleaching bones of men who had dared to ask for some extension of liberty, or who doubted the infallibility of kings, were left year after year to dangle in the wind."^[18] In 1909 Blackheath had a local branch of the London Society for Women's Suffrage.^[19]

Mineral extraction

The Vanbrugh Pits, known locally as the Dips,^[20] are on the north-east of the heath. A former gravel workings site,^[21] it has long been reclaimed by nature and form a feature in its near-flat expanse; particularly attractive in spring when its gorse blossoms brightly.^[22]

Vanbrugh Park

The remains of the pits and adjoining neighbourhood Vanbrugh Park, a north-east projection of Blackheath with its own church, so also termed St John's Blackheath,^[23] are named after Sir John Vanbrugh, architect of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard, who had a house with very large grounds adjoining the heath and its continuation Greenwich Park. The house which was originally built around 1720 remains, remodelled slightly, Vanbrugh Castle. In his estate he had 'Mince Pie House' built for his family, which survived until 1911.^[24]

Its church, St John the Evangelist's, was designed in 1853 by Arthur Ashpitel.^[25] The Blackheath High School buildings on Vanbrugh Park include the Church Army Chapel.

Blackheath Park

Blackheath Park occupies almost all of former 0.4-square-mile (1.0 km²) Wricklemarsh House.^[26] Developed into upper middle class homes by John Cator, it forms the south-east of Blackheath: from Lee Road, Roque Lane, Fulthorp Road and the Plantation to all houses and gardens of right-angled Manor Way. Built up in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, it contains large and refined Georgian and Victorian houses – particularly Michael Searles' crescent of semi-detached/terrace houses linked by colonnades, The Paragon (c. 1793-1807).^[27] Its alternate name, the Cator Estate, extends to lands earlier those of Sir John Morden, whose Morden College (1695) is a landmark in the north, with views of the heath. The estate has 1950s and '60s Span houses and flats with gardens with discreet parking.

Its Anglican church (St Michael & All Angels) is dubbed the Needle of Kent in honour of its tall, thin spire (it is also nicknamed the Devil's Pick or the Devil's Toothpick). Nearby, within the Blackheath Park conservation area, is Our Lady of Christians Church, a Catholic church built from 1890 to 1891 and designed by Alfred Edward Purdie in the Gothic Revival style.^[28] It has a complete set of stained glass windows by Hardman & Co. and it is a Grade II listed building.^[29]

Other churches

The Church of the Ascension (see local II* listed buildings) was founded by Susannah Graham late in the 17th century.^[30] Its rebuilding was arranged about 1750 by her descendant, the 1st Earl of Dartmouth.^[30] Further rebuilding took place in the 1830s leaving at least parts of the east end from the earlier rebuild. At this time galleries for worshippers overlooked three sides.^[30]

Ownership and management of the heath

In 1871 the management of the heath passed by statute to the Metropolitan Board of Works. Unlike the commons of Hackney, Tooting Bec and Clapham, its transfer was agreed at no expense, because the Earl of Dartmouth agreed to allow the encroachment to his manorial rights. It is held in trust for public benefit under the Metropolitan Commons Act of 1886. It passed to the London County Council in 1889, then to the Greater London Council, then in 1986 to the two boroughs of Greenwich and Lewisham, as to their respective extents. No trace can be found of use as common land but only as minimal fertility land exploited by its manorial owners (manorial waste) and mainly for small-scale mineral extraction. Main freeholds (excluding many roads) vest in the Earl of Dartmouth and, as to that part that was the Royal Manor of Greenwich, the Crown Estate. The heath's chief natural resource is gravel, and the freeholders retain rights over its extraction.

Rail

Blackheath station serves the area with National Rail services to London Victoria, London Charing Cross, London Cannon Street, Slade Green via Bexleyheath, Dartford via Bexleyheath or via Woolwich Arsenal and Gravesend.

Westcombe Park station also serves northern parts of Blackheath, with National Rail services to Luton via London Blackfriars, London Cannon Street, Barnehurst via Woolwich Arsenal, Crayford via Woolwich Arsenal and Rainham via Woolwich Arsenal.

Buses

Blackheath is served by London Buses routes 53, 54, 89, 108, 202, 286, 335, 380, 386, 422, N53 and N89. These connect it with areas including Bexleyheath, Bow, Catford, Charlton, Crystal Palace, Deptford, Elephant & Castle, Eltham, Greenwich, Kidbrooke, Lee, Lewisham, New Cross, Plumstead, North Greenwich, Sidcup, Slade Green, Stratford, Sydenham, Welling and Woolwich.