Walworth

WALWORTH, a hamlet, in the parish and union of St. Mary, Newington, E. division of the hundred of Brixton and of the county of Surrey, 2 miles (S.) from London. This place comprises a continued line of modern houses on the road to Camberwell, and also extends on the west to Kennington, and on the east to the Kent-road, several streets in each direction having been built within a few years. The Royal Surrey Zoological Gardens, opened in August, 1831, occupy an area of about 17 acres attached to the manor-house, which have been inclosed and tastefully laid out in parterres of flowers, lawns, and shrubberies, intersected by gravelwalks leading to the various objects of attraction within the grounds. A literary institution has been established. A church, dedicated to St. Peter, was erected in 1825, at an expense of £19,126, of which one moiety was granted by the Parliamentary Commissioners, and the other advanced on loan for eight years without interest, to be repaid by a rate on the inhabitants. It is a spacious and handsome edifice of brick ornamented with stone, having at the western entrance a receding portico of four Ionic columns supporting a cornice and balustrade, with a slender square tower. The tower is adorned at the quoins with pillars of the Corinthian order, and surmounted by a circular campanile turret, surrounded with Corinthian pillars and crowned by a conical dome. The living, which will eventually become a district incumbency, is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Rector of Newington. In Beresford-street is an episcopal chapel, originally built in 1818, and now containing 1600 sittings. There are also places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyans; and several schools.