Deptford Bridge, Deptford High Street looking North.

As it was then. St Pauls in the background

As it is today.

An Unknown Door In Albury Street

Another Drawing of Albury Street looking west by Geoffrey Fletcher 1975

First Door on the right No 29 Nan's House! At the end you can just make out the Electric Palace Theatre. When we were kids we use to get out of the dormer windows in the upper right side of the picture. Always in trouble we were. What this picture doesn't show is the lamp post which was outside the front door.

View of Evelyn Street 1890's

Building Layout Change from Union St to Albury Street

A

B

These two plan drawings show the different building/street layout from Union St. in the late 1890's to Albury St thereafter. In plan A the location of the Albany Institute can be seen at the East end next door the the Kings Head Public House situated on the corner of Church St. At the West end you can also see the Public House which was the King of Prussia pub once owned and run by John Gast. (See below) In plan B center bottom, you can see a building with a cross on it. Anyone who knows what this building was I would like to hear from you. I can remember the gap in this area as shown in plan A. Opposite the Albany Institute was a Hall. Can any one shed any light on this building?

John Gast (1772-1837) was a shipwright by trade who worked in the Deptford shipyards in south-east London (though he was also associated with neighbouring Rotherhithe, where he lived for a time at 14 Lucas Street), and an early trade unionist.Having unsuccessfully tried to found a labour organisation during the 1790s, he helped organise the 'Hearts of Oak Benefit Society' during a shipwrights' strike in 1802 and was advocating workers' rights in radical pamphlets such as Calumny Defeated, or A Complete Vindication of the Conduct of the Working Shipwrights, during the late Disputes with their Employers (1802). Having been involved with regional efforts to build trade unions (notably the Metropolitan Trades Committee), in 1822 Gast formed a 'Committee of the Useful Classes', sometimes described as an early national trades council, and in 1824 he was the first secretary of the 'Thames Shipwrights Provident Union'. Gast also promoted an inter-union organisation: 'The Philanthropic Hercules'. In 1825, the Combination Acts were repealed. Employers were furious and lobbied for the Acts’ restoration, prompting the emergence of workers' movements to resist such steps; Gast founded the first Trades Newspaper as part of this resistance. In 1836, Gast was a member of the London Working Men's Association, some of whose members drafted the core six points of the People's Charter (the principles at the heart of the Chartist movement).

He was also a dissenting preacher and ran the King of Prussia public house at 6 Union Street (now Albury Street), Deptford.

Ink Drawing By Geoffrey Fletcher of Albury Street 1950.

Geoffrey Scowcroft Fletcher was born in Bolton, Lancashire. He studied at Bolton School of Art before moving to London to study at the Slade under Randolph Schwabe and from this time London was to become one of Fletcher’s enduring interests and passions. In the 1950s his drawings began to appear in The Manchester Guardian and he contributed to the Sphere, recording old and changing London. In 1958 he was taken on by The Daily Telegraph and during the next 30 years hundreds of his drawings accompanied its diary column. In 1962 he published the first of 18 London oriented books:

Fletcher then produced a book called "The London Nobody Knows", which was accompanied by a documentary film and narrated by the famous actor James Mason. Fletcher was a great campaigner for the preservation of historic London. He exhibited at the Royal Academy, Royal Society of British Artists and New English Art Club. The Guildhall Art Gallery, who hold many of his works, held an exhibition of Geoffrey Fletcher’s City Sights in 2005. Geoffrey Fletcher died in 2004.

Deptford High Street, North End Circa 1865.

This old photo shows the area where Evelyn Street on the left (out of view) crossed the end of Deptford High St to meet Wellington St (Flagons Row) on the right. Center, slightly right shows the entrance into Old King St which went into Watergate St at the far end. To the left we can see New King St. All this area was demolished to make way for Evelyn St to join up with Creek Road. I suppose around the right hand corner into Wellington St one would now find the Old Post Office which is still there, and across from that corner to the right of Old King St now standsDeptford Central Hall. The Harp of Erin must be in there somewhere as well?

Source: My thanks to the Lewisham Local Studies and Archives

Historic Medal found after blaze in Albury Street, Deptford

Photo of the Queen Victoria Medal

This Deptford newspaper cutting tells of an historic medal that was found after a blaze at 40 Albury Street in the mid 60's. There is an error which states it was the reputed place where Lady Hamilton and Lord Neson stayed. This is incorrect, the actual place reputed was 34 Albury Street.

   

Deptford's Robinsons Flour Mill viewed from Church Street circa 1960's

This 60's photo shows the Oxford Arms viewed from Church Street heading South to Deptford Broadway. The old Robinson Flour Mill can be seen in the background.The old Tide mills were replaced by Robinson’s steam powered flour mill in the 1820s which was finally demolished after a fire in the 1970s.

Source: My thanks to the Lewisham Local Studies and Archives

The North End of Church Street

This old Deptford photo taken by Thankful Sturdey shows the west end of Creek Road at the junction of Church Street and to the left you can just see the starting of Union Street (now Albury Street). This is the junction where Evelyn Street joined Creek Road after redevelopement of the area. At the far end of the photo is the Feathers Pub located at the junction of Wellington Street, Deptford Green and Hughes Fields. On the left half way up Church Street was Queens Street. On the left of the photo you can see a wall mounted gas light. I believe this is where the Kings Head Pub once stood. The 3rd house to the right of the corner was where the Three Compasses Pub stood.

Source: My thanks to the Lewisham Local Studies and Archives

A Brockley Ghost Story

 

Ghost Story from Lower Deptford, at the Three Mariners

I was passed this old ghost story which was reported in 1673 about a haunting at the Three Mariners, located in Lower Depthford by the Kings Yard. Does anyone know where the Three Mariners was? 

A True Relation of a Ghost at Deptford.

It is a most strange and terrible, yet true relation of the apparition of a ghost of a woman that appeared in the place and time and manner as is herein most exactly described according to the report of the inhabitants and other persons belonging to the house wherein this strange and dreadful spirit hath been seen after this manner.

At the Three Mariners in Lower Depthford near the Kings Yard, at the house of Nicholas Broadway, on Tuesday the 3^rd of April 1673, there appeared the ghost of a woman, of handsome comely stature. The first time it came to the three lodgers who were quartered in the house, persons belonging to the good ship called
 

 HMS MONCK

the “Monck” the name of the first Peter Griffith, who asked the others when they were in bed together, if they saw anything? The Coxswain, Robert Predam, said “No”. The Cooks Mate, Stolliard, said I did see the strange ghost of a woman: Says Predam I wish I could see her too, and so he did to his great sorrow; for the next night he was taken in such a condition, that he frightened the whole family, falling into such a distraction, that five or six men were not able to hold him down: Upon that they did watch with him, causing Anne Lenaway a servant in the house to sit up with him, which she did accordingly and about the midtime of night , this John Stolliard got upon the bed, and lean’d upon him that was distracted, to hold him down, when suddenly appeared this ghost, and touched Stolliards face with her finger, which seemed to be very cold, and he was flung off the bed heels over head the length of two yards to the amazement of the spectators; upon which a Chyrurgeon (Surgeon) was sent for, one Mr Creamer, and he let him blood but he remains very ill distempered and looks very ghastly.

The fourth of April the woman of the house, Katherine Broaday, being in the lower room that was haunted, ironing of cloths at the long table, she passed from a chimney which was behind the woman and walked a gentle pace through the room, some 4 yards from her and then turned about and leaned herself against a post in the room, and looked very grimly upon her, which did so much affright her that she threw down her smoothing iron, and called to her husband for help; but he being as much affrighted with the apparition as she was, could no way contribute to he assistance.

Another time being the sixth April, she appeared twice to Katherine Broaday, once in a black hood, then in a white sheet; One of these times she appeared to Katherine a Mastiff dog of theirs in the house, came and crept at her feet, and lay there wining and crying as it were for shelter; upon which she called her husband, who came in with his hair standing upright, being so much amazed at the former apparition.

Another time this Anne Lenaway was washing of a room, she coming by as it were in a mist, caused the lights of two candles that were burning, to be almost extinguished, and burn blue, so that she could not find her way out of that room, till the candles burnt clear again of themselves.

She hath not as yet been seen but in two rooms, which are seated one over another; It is not known by any person she represents not the cause of it, neither hath she as yet made any further progress than that what I have here informed you withal; but as soon as I receive a further information, being encouraged in this with your kind acceptance, shall endeavour to oblige you further, by presenting to your view a full account of her future actions.

Therefore let this fearful president, as it hath been an unfeigned spectacle, so let it be your real example, and hereby so moderate your deeds and actions in this life, that hereafter, in the world to come, we may enjoy peace and rest to eternity, which God grant and I heartily wish to you all.

Finnis.

A Haunting in Watergate Street.

Original report from The Woolich & Charlton Mercury - 3rd March 1994.
This report appeared in the Fortean Times. Thanks to Darren from the Paranormal Database website for sending it to me.

Watergate Street

King Street now Watergate Street was an ancient Deptford thoroughfare giving main access to the river. In the 17th and 18th centuries many of those inhabitants connected with its maritime industries, lived here in good houses such as this one No.17.(watercolour illustration by J.R. Llwyd Roberts.) It is similar to the surviving houses built in Albury Street by Thomas Lucas who also carried out building works in the adjacent Royal Dockyard from 1707. It was originally a part of a nearly continuous terrace of dwelling houses from the High Street (Deptford High St) to the Thames. In the mid 1920's the street had become a slum, and many of the houses had decaded and been demolished. Regeneration and new housing have now replaced those of the old street.

Watergate Steps leading down to the Thames.

Butchers Row at the river end of Watergate Street as it was named in the 1900's. It has now been renamed as Borthwick Street. The dark black gates at the bottom lefthand side is the location and entrance of the Shipwrights Palace. http://shipwrightspalace.blogspot.com/

The Tunnel.

As a child growing up in and around London we used to visit my Grans house in Albury Street Deptford every weekend without fail I might add. We would spend the days playing on the cobbled street outside and also go exploring inside No 29. We would look for our Great Grans 'stash' which was said to be hidden somewhere on the property. We would go around tapping the wooden paneling and looking in the upright piano our Great Gran used to play but alas came up empty handed much to the amusement of the grown ups. One part we avoided was the, 'back cellar'. It had , shall we say, a certain 'feel' about it. My Mother avoided the area like the plague! , even in day light! The most unnerving thing was while everybody was upstairs in the front room/parlor watching Frankie Vaughan on the telly drinking R Whites cream soda one would have to go after holding it some time, trot down stairs to the outside dunny to have a pee. Well you could not switch a gas lamp on so the journey had to be done in pitch blackness after comming from the bright lights of the parlor. Passing the cellar area one almost never made it to the Lav!!. We use to hear talk about a tunnel in that area that my Father and his brother found and once explored, but if we were in earshot of the grown ups talking about this tunnel the conversation abruptly ended. It wasn't until much later in life that my Aunt told us about the escapade of theirs. On entering the said tunnel ,which was situated on the east wall I believe, it headed in the direction of Deptford Creek. So far into the tunnel they came across an old flintlock musket and various items of long ago. Heading further in along the ground started to get wet and eventually they hit a water line and could not go any further. I have always wondered what happened to the musket! The tunnel must still be there to this very day.

PS. Great Gran's Stash, was eventually found by my uncle taking a dump in the outside Lav. Whilst finishing up in pitch blackness he found, much to his dismay , no newspaper! On scanning the area for something to, err.. clean up with, he noticed tucked into the rafters a bundle of something . Casting personal hygiene to the wind he retrieved it and found it to be a bundle of old white fiver's!! Gran's Stash!! This probably went the same way as the musket, Hic!

A possible link to 34 Albury St & Lord Nelson?

It has been handed down to successive occupants that Lord Nelson stayed at No. 34 Albury Street. Whilst researching this claim I discovered the following information regarding the connection of Lord Nelson and this property:
In 1913 the Deptford Fund Hospital for Sick Children was founded by Her Royal Highness, Princess Alice, the Countess of Athlone, (The Duchess of Albany's daughter). Two houses were purchased 34-36 Albury Street, (photo No. 36 Albury Atreet) just behind the Albany Institute. The hospital was to provide treatment for babies of Deptford and Greenwich area who were not eligible for treatment at other hospitals. In 1930 the whole building was flooded during a bad storm and the babies were hastily rescued from the building and taken into the institute. When they returned to the hospital, the top storey of the houses had to remain empty due to a lack of money to repair the storm damaged roof. Because of this in 1932 the Albany institute was forced to sell the houses together with, and I quote, "Nelson Relics". It appears that Nelson may have stayed at the house at times during the last 5 years of his life. To raise as much money as they could the Albany Institute sold the relics namely, the rear door of the property which was reported as being the Hatch Door from HMS Victory and a chain from the front door which it was said came from Nelson's own locker on the same ship. The Deptford Fund contemplated building a new hospital not far from the two houses near the institute but the authorities viewed the area as undesirable and said they would be far more readier to give financial help if the new hospital was built on a higher and healthier site within the borough. In 1933 the Deptford Fund Babies Hospital moved from Albury Street to 25 Breakspears Road Brockley.


THE HOSPITAL WORLD.
Princess Alice Countess of Athlone has presented a site to the Deptford Fund for the purpose of extending the Hospital for Sick Babies. The gift is to serve the dual purpose .of commemorating Princess Alice's silver wedding and the foundation of the fund by her mother, the late Duchess of Albany.


Source: My thanks to the Lewisham Local Studies and Archives

Cellars & Tunnels under Deptford.

In the early part of 1978 a survey was carried out at the request of Nolans Clothes Shop, No 127, by the proprietor Mrs Order. The purpose was to examine alleged tunnels under the shop which ran east to deptford Creek, or a Pub, or the place of Nelson's assignations with Lady Hamilton in Albury Street. A trap door at the front of the shop gives access to a series of cellars under the whole building, some of which were blocked and one which had a barreled roof and could be the begining of a tunnel leading directly under the street.It was described as being about 6ft high, with a stone rubble floor. There was a rectangular manhole leading to sewers beneath which were said to flood. The tunnel terminated in a brick wall at approximately the edge of the outside pavement. The bricks were of mixed stock and red bricks, with no obvious signs of great age, and were probably contempoary with the building which seemed from map and visual evidence to be c. 1844-50, contempoary with the adjacent Catholic church. It was noted  there was nothing on site on the 1844 tithe map but earlier maps 1800-33 may show buildings but were to small a scale to be confirmed with any certainty. There was a similar tunnel which had been blocked more recently and was said to lead from the indentical adjacent shop. It was discovered to have been blocked by the owners of the shops across the street. The tunnel at No 127 seemed to be an extention of the cellars, and without pulling the wall down, there was no evidence of it going any further other than the edge of the pavement. If it did originally cross the street it would presumably join the cellars of the opposite shops. Does anyone know of underground tunnels in Deptford?

Photo taken soon after the Chapman Murders 34 Deptford High St.

I came across this old photo Of Chapmans Oil & Colour store located at 34 Deptford High St. This was the location of the murder committed by The Stratton Brothers who lived not far away in Deptford Broadway. The full story of the crime is listed below. This was the first case in history where the murderers were found guilty by fingerprints. The shop front hasn't changed much since.

Old Deptford

Grinling Gibbons

The most famous English woodcarver of all time was born, oddly enough, not in England at all but in Rotterdam, in what is now Holland, in 1648. Grinling Gibbons did not set foot in the British Isles until sometime around 1670 or 1671.In those days a craftsman needed to be recognized and promoted by patrons to make his work widely known.

Gibbons was fortunate in that he was blessed with extraordinary talent in woodworking, and that his talent was recognized and promoted by a succession of patrons until he eventually came to the notice of Charles II.

Charles gave Gibbons commissions, as did William III and George I. Gibbons was also a favourite of the premier architect of the age, Christopher Wren. Wren called upon Gibbon to supply decorative carving for many of his country house commissions. The genius of Gibbons is not simply that he had a remarkable ability to mold and shape wood, but that he evolved a distinct style that was all his own. Working mostly in limewood, Gibbons' trademark was the cascade of fruit, leaves, flowers, foliage, fish, and birds. Such cascades could be applied to paneling, furniture, walls, or even chimneys. Perhaps to prove that he was not limited in his ability to the cascades, Gibbons produced a cravat made of limewood in a perfect imitation of Venetian needlepoint. The "cravat" was so lifelike that a foreign visitor was fooled into thinking it the standard dress of the English country gentleman! Horace Walpole, who is known to have later worn the cravat on at least one occasion, remarked in 1763, "There is no instance of man before Gibbons who gave to wood the loose and airy lightness of flowers". The cravat is now on display in the Chapel at Chatsworth, Derbyshire. Much of Gibbons work survives in isolated country houses, but Hampton Court Palace near London is blessed with an abundance of fine carvings by the Dutch-born master.

William III commissioned Gibbons to redecorate his State Apartments, and was so impressed by the result that in 1693 he gave Gibbons permission to use the title "Master Carver". Such carvings as the ones at Hampton Court are filled with symbolism which would have been apparent to an educated observer of the day, but which would escape most modern observers. Very often each object in the carving would have a particular meaning or reference to a classical Greek or Roman ideal or story. Some of Gibbons best work outside Hampton Court survives at Petworth House in Sussex, in particular a ceiling he designed for the Duke of Devonshire, and at Lyme Park and Dunham Massey in Cheshire, Belton House in Lincolnshire and Sudbury Hall in Derbyshire. Other fine examples of his work can be seen at Windsor, St Paul's, London. Also in London,, the font at All Hallows by the Tower church has a wooden cover carved by Gibbons in 1682. Grinling Gibbons work had an enormous influence of interior design and decor during the Golden Age of the English country house. Later craftsmen such as Thomas Chippendale are known to have been heavily influenced by his work. Grinling Gibbons died in 1720.

Information from Britain Express