This website is dedicated to the past History of Deptford. If you have any stranger than fiction stories about Deptford I would welcome your input. This may include stories of the people, the places still here or long gone, the characters, the war years, ghost stories and haunted places, ancient buildings and bygone memories, long forgotten.
You can contact me with your stories at axelgs1@yahoo.co.uk
I was researching this building recently . This pub use to be called the Oxford Arms back in the 1840,s and probably long before. The Theatre which stood to the right of the pub (See water colour below) has long been demolished but certain parts can still be matched up with my recent photo. The street which goes around to the left of the pub was known as Slaughter House Lane (SHL) which led into Creek Street now named Creekside. The Theatre stood on the end of Sun Coal Warf. When the aera along to the left and right of SHL and the warf were redeveloped I was told builders contracted to carry out the work found all sorts of treasures including cannons and other ship parts. Observe the windmill in the background. I think this was to do with the area known as Tide Mill.? c1841
A picture painted from Church Street showing the old Tide Mill. You can see on the left the stone building that was attached to the theater. c1840
The Irish National League was established by Charles Stewart Parnell (pictured) in 1882 and became a major movement for Irish home rule, with branches not only across Ireland but in England - including in South London. In Deptford, support for Irish Home Rule pre-dated the formation of the League. On 2 October 1876 a public meeting in Deptford was attached by anti-Home Rulers, recalled in the T.D. Sullivan : 'They invaded a hall where a Home Rule meeting was being-held; they "stormed" the platform, and made a determined endeavour to capture the Home Rule banner which was there displayed. But the flag was bravely defended, and after some fierce fighting, the attacking party were ejected from the building'. In the 1880s, the Irish National League rallied at Sayes Court in Deptford and the Post Office Directory lists a United Irish National League and Club at 35 Albury Street, Deptford in 1911. The Irish National League (INL) was a nationalist political party in Ireland. It was founded in October 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell as the successor to the Irish National Land League after this was suppressed. Whereas the Land League had agitated for land reform, the National League also campaigned for self-government or Irish Home Rule, further enfranchisement and economic reforms. The League was the main base of support for the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP), and under Parnell's leadership, it grew quickly to over 1,000 branches throughout the island. In 1884, the League secured the support of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland. Its secretary was Timothy Harrington who organised the Plan of Campaign in 1886. In December 1890 both the INL and the IPP split on the issues of Parnell's long standing family relationship with Katharine O'Shea , the earlier separated wife of a fellow MP, Capt. O'Shea, and their subsequent divorce proceedings. The majority of the League, which opposed Parnell, broke away to form the "Anti-Parnellite" Irish National Federation (INF) under John Dillon. John Redmond assumed the leadership of the minority "Parnellite" group who remained faithful to Parnell. Despite the split, in the 1892 general election the combined factions still retained the Irish nationalist vote and their 81 seats. Early in 1900 the Irish National League (INL) finally merged with the United Irish League and the National Federation (INF) to form a reunited Irish Parliamentary Party under Redmond's leadership returning 77 seats in the September 1900 general election, together with 5 Independent Nationalists, or Healyites.
The north side of Albury Street, Deptford, by Evacustes A. Phipson, 1922
The artist Evacustes A. Phipson was born at King's Norton near Birmingham on 9th February 1854. He was christened Edward Arthur Phipson but changed his first name to Evacustes (a Greek word meaning 'ready listener').He lost a fortune on a scheme in Australia and returned to England in about 1889 when he made his living by selling his paintings. He lived in various parts of Britain and painted in many places. Shrewsbury Museums Service has 13 pictures that he painted in Shrewsbury and several of these are illustrated on the Darwin Country website. He died in 1931 at Rye in Sussex.
I was quite amazed this mural has not been mentioned in other blogs on Deptford. Its tucked away at the back of the shops on the edge of the public parking bay halfway up Deptford High Street. It is a stunning piece depicting the "Royal George at the launch of another ship of the line "The Cambridge" not shown in this part of the mural. It was painted by John Cleveley the Elder who was famous for his maritime scenes. Can anyone tell me why and who commisioned it to be placed here?
Webpage photo from Lewisham Council
http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/LeisureAndCulture/ArtsService/PublicArt/DeptfordNewCross/FrankhamStMural/
Theres something very spooky going on here when this picture was taken and appeared on the Lewisham Councils website. The mural is in reverse! I took the recent photo above three weeks ago and its the right way around as per the original painting. Somebody must have spotted the fo-par and turned it around the right way!!!
Thanks to the Deptford Dame and The Shipwrights Palace for drawing my attention to it......no pun intended.
Deptford Central Hall was built on slum clearance land in 1903. It was deliberately designed so that it didn't look too church like to attract people into the building who might be put off by a traditional church. When it opened it had a membership of 221, which grew to 1646 by 1908. The mission always had a deep concern for the poverty in the neighbourhood which arose from the intermittent employment opportunities at the local docks. The mission sought to meet the needs of families through soup kitchens, breakfasts for children, distributions of used clothing and even a fund to enable children to go to the seaside From the 1920's the Mission had a concern for disabled and elderly people, reflected in what was then called "The Cripples Guild" and the "Cosy Corner" drop in, and what we now call the DPC The church was bombed in 1940 and the entire west side of the building was destroyed, including the original worship space and the tower. Planning the rebuilding took a long time, but the Mission as it is now opened in 1956, with a renewed energy for its work in the community The Mission celebrated its centenary in 2003.
John Evelyn lived in Deptford at Sayes Court from 1652. Evelyn inherited the house when hemarried the daughter of Sir Richard Browne in 1652. On his return to England at the Restoration, Evelyn had laid out meticulously planned gardens in the French style of hedges and parterres. In its grounds was a cottage at one time rented by master wood carver Grinling Gibbons. After Evelyn had moved to Surrey in 1694, Russian Tsar Peter the Great studied shipbuilding for three months in 1698.He and some of his fellow Russians stayed at Sayes Court, the manor house of Deptford. Evelyn was angered at the antics of the Tsar, who got drunk with his friends and, using a wheelbarrow with Peter in it succeeded in ramming their way through a fine holly hedge. Sayes Court was demolished in 1728-9 and a workhouse built on its site.Part of the estates around Sayes Court were purchased in 1742 for the building of the Admiralty Victualling Yard, renamed in 1858 after a visit by Queen Victoria as the Royal Victoria Yard.This massive facility included warehouses, a bakery, a cattleyard/abattoir and sugar stores, and closed in 1960. All that remains is the name in a public park called Sayes Court Park, accessed from Sayes Court Street off Evelyn Street, not far from Deptford High Street. The building known as Sayes Court that was destroyed during the Second World War was not the old home of John Evelyn, but the St Nicholas's parish workhouse built on its site in the 1720s. After the New Poor Law made it redundant in the 1830s the building had various uses, including that of an almshouse for Evelyn family servants and estate workers.
Original Map layout of Sayes Court.
When the black and white photograph above was taken from Czar Street c. 1910 it was set in an attractive park, but in the emergency of the First World War it was annexed by the army to enlarge its Supply Reserve Depot at the old cattle market. And in colour.....how it looks now........
Evidently Peter and his work mates were not good tenants.
During their stay they caused a great deal of damage at the house and John Evelyn was not unhappy. His estate reported that Peter's partying, which was full of 'right nasty' people, had wrecked the house and garden. Carpets were left filthy with grease and ink, and many paintings were use as targets for shooting. Locks and windows smashed and of the fifty chairs left at the premises none could be found. Probably used to keep the fire going! A keen gardener, Evelyn was shocked by damage to his holly hedges, lovingly cared for over a twenty year period. Apparently Peter and his friends had played a riotous game which involved pushing each other through the hedges in wheelbarrows! The King's Surveyor, Christopher Wren was ordered to report on the damage, and recommended that Evelyn be paid £350 in compensation, a huge sum in the 17th century.
Extract from the book "Queer People" By Colin Beavan
On Monday, March 27, 1905, at 8:30 am, William Jones went to Chapman's Oil and Colour Shop on High Street in Deptford where he worked. When he arrived at the shop he found it closed and shuttered, which he found very unusual. The manager of the paint shop Thomas Farrow, aged 71, lived with his wife, Ann, aged 65, in the flat above the shop and he was not in the habit of having the shop still closed at such a late hour. Unable to open the door, he tried knocking but since he did not get any response from either Mr. and Mrs. Farrow he peeked through a window and saw that there were chairs knocked over. Alarmed at what he saw, he ran for help and found Louis Kidman, a local resident who worked in a nearby store, and the two men forced their way into the shop. It was not long before they found the body of Mr. Farrow on the ground dead, while Mrs. Farrow was found barely alive but unconscious in the couple's bed in the upstairs flat. Both bore the signs of being repeatedly beaten. A doctor and the police were called and Mrs. Farrow was taken to hospital. After each side had given their summations and the jury given their final instructions, it took them a little more than two hours of deliberation to find the Stratton brothers guilty of murder, and they were sentenced to death by hanging. The sentence was carried out by Henry Pierrepoint (Britain's Chief Executioner) on May 23, 1905.
Murder Scene
Henry Pierrepoint. Curiously enough I worked as a bricklayer in Swindon for a contractor named John Ellis who told me he was the great grandson of the same name, John Ellis, who was Henry's prodigy. John took over the duties when Henry was sacked for causing a fracas with prison guards who were handing over details of a condemed man. He attack John Ellis in a drunken stuper as he thought John was moving in on his position. He asked the home office for his job back but was refused. Its a small world.
Wonder if the present owners know of its grim past?
I was researching this building recently . This pub use to be called the Oxford Arms back in the 1840,s and probably long before. The Theatre which stood to the right of the pub (See water colour below) has long been demolished but certain parts can still be matched up with my recent photo. The street which goes around to the left of the pub was known as Slaughter House Lane (SHL) which led into Creek Street now named Creekside. The Theatre stood on the end of Sun Coal Warf. When the aera along to the left and right of SHL and the warf were redeveloped I was told builders contracted to carry out the work found all sorts of treasures including cannons and other ship parts. Observe the windmill in the background. I think this was to do with the area known as Tide Mill.? c1841
