26 Facts About Deptford

Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham.

Metropolitan Borough of Deptford existed from 1900 until 1965, when the area became part of the newly created London Borough of Lewisham.

Deptford took its name from a ford across the Ravensbourne along the route of the Celtic trackway which was later paved by the Romans and developed into the medieval Watling Street.

Deptford was part of the pilgrimage route from London to Canterbury used by the pilgrims in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, and is mentioned in the prologue to "The Reeve's Tale".

Second settlement, Deptford Strand, developed as a modest fishing village on the Thames until Henry VIII used that site for a royal dock repairing, building and supplying ships, after which it grew in size and importance, shipbuilding remaining in operation until March 1869.

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Docks had been gradually declining from the 18th century; the larger ships being built found The Thames difficult to navigate, and Deptford was under competition from the new docks at Plymouth, Portsmouth and Chatham.

Deptford experienced economic decline in the 20th century with the closing of the docks, and the damage caused by the bombing during the Blitz in the Second World War – a V-2 rocket destroyed a Woolworths store in New Cross Gate, killing 160 people.

Maminot held the head of his barony at Deptford and according to John Lyon writing in 1814, he built himself a castle, or castellated mansion at Deptford.

Deptford was mostly located in the Blackheath Hundred of the county of Kent, with the Hatcham part in the Brixton Hundred of Surrey.

The whole of Deptford came within the Metropolitan Police District in 1830 and was included in the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1855.

Originally under the governance of the ancient parishes of St Paul and St Nicholas, in 1900, a Metropolitan Borough of Deptford was formed out of the southern parish of St Paul, with St Nicholas and the area around the Royal Dockyard coming under the governance of the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich.

Under the London Government Act 1963, the Metropolitan Borough of Deptford was absorbed in 1965 into the newly created London Borough of Lewisham, with the part the Deptford St Nicholas area becoming part of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, with both these new boroughs now forming part of the new Greater London body.

Deptford is split between two electoral wards - Evelyn in the north and part of New Cross to the south.

The area referred to as North Deptford is the only part of the London Borough of Lewisham to front the Thames and is sandwiched between Rotherhithe and Greenwich.

Deptford's population has been mainly associated with the docks since the establishment of the Royal Docks by Henry VIII, though there has been some market gardening and potteries.

Deptford has a growing Vietnamese community reflected in the number of restaurants in the area.

Deptford contains a number of student populations, including those of Goldsmiths College, the University of Greenwich, Bellerbys College and Laban Dance Centre.

However, areas of Deptford are being gradually re-developed and gentrified - and the local council has plans to regenerate the riverside and the town centre.

Deptford Cinema is a volunteer run, not-for-profit, community cinema, art gallery, and occasional music venue, open since late 2014 and located at 39 Deptford Broadway.

Creekside, a regeneration area beside Deptford Creek, is used for educational and artistic purposes, such as the Laban Dance Centre, which was designed by Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, and opened in February 2003; and the Art in Perpetuity Trust gallery and studio space.

The town hall of the former Metropolitan Borough of Deptford, built in 1905 with decorative sculpture by Henry Poole, lies just outside Deptford, on the New Cross Road in New Cross.

Deptford is served by National Rail and Docklands Light Railway services.

Since June 2016, Deptford has been on the cycling route of the London Quietway route Q1 that starts in Greenwich and ends near Waterloo Bridge in central London.

Close to Deptford Creek is a Deptford pumping station, a Victorian pumping station built in 1864, part of the massive London sewerage system designed by civil engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette.

Deptford's Albany Theatre has a history stretching back over 100 years and is a prominent feature of the South-East London arts scene.

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Deptford Dockyard was established in 1513 by Henry VIII as the first Royal Dockyard, building vessels for the Royal Navy, and was at one time known as the King's Yard.