Peckham, Surrey
Historical Description
Peckham, a metropolitan suburb, a parliamentary borough, containing five ecclesiastical parishes, in Camberwell parish, Surrey. The suburb lies southward of the Surrey Canal, 3 miles SSE of St Paul's; and has stations on the L.B. & S.C.R. and L.C. & D.R. It was once a mere hamlet, but gradually increased in size and importance, and during the 18th century it became famous for its annual fair, which was held on 21, 22, and 23 Aug., but becoming a nuisance it was abolished in 1827. Peckham is now mainly urban, with numerous good streets, but there are yet a few quaint, old-fashioned houses to be found in it which have histories extending back for about two centuries. It contains the Nunhead Cemetery and the Licensed Victuallers' Asylum. The latter was built in 1827 at a cost of £25,000, stands on a plot of 6 acres, and has accommodation for 126 inmates. Nell Gwynne occupied a house which stood near the canal basin, and the Duke of York, brother of Charles II., had a house in High Street. Peckham Rye, one of the " lungs" of London, has been recently enlarged. The population of the parliamentary division of Peckham is 83,483.
The ecclesiastical parishes are St Mary Magdalene (constituted 1842; population, 11,799), St Andrew (6893), St Chrysostom (6846), St Jude (9620), and St Mark (8307). The livings of St Mary's, St Andrew's, and St Jude's are vicarages; of St Chrysostom's and St Mark's, perpetual curacies-all in the diocese of Rochester. Net value of St Mary's, £500; patron, the Church Patronage Society. Net value of St Andrew's, £265 with residence; patron, the vicar of Camden Church. Gross value of St Chrysostom's, £300; patron, the Bishop of Rochester. Net value of St Jude's, £180 with residence; patron, the Bishop of Rochester. Net value of St Mark's, £260 with residence. There are Roman Catholic and several dissenting chapels.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Surrey | |
Civil parish | Camberwell | |
Hundred | Brixton | |
Poor Law union | Camberwell |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
Ancestry.co.uk, in association with Surrey History Centre, have images of the Parish Registers for Surrey online.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Peckham from the following:
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Surrey is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Peckham are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Surrey papers online:
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Surrey, 1662-1668 is available on the Heraldry page.