Sydenham Hill

Coordinates: 51°25′58″N 0°04′08″W / 51.4329°N 0.0690°W / 51.4329; -0.0690

Sydenham Hill is a hill and an affluent locality in south east London. It is also the name of a road which runs along the northern eastern part of the ridge, forming the boundary between the London Borough of Southwark, London Borough of Bromley and the London Borough of Lewisham. The highest part of the hill is also one of the highest points in London at 367 feet (112 m). The road connects the A205 road in the north-east at Forest Hill with the A212 road to the south-west at Crystal Palace. Sydenham Hill railway station, Sydenham Hill Wood nature reserve and Dulwich and Sydenham Hill Golf course are located to the west and within Southwark. As well as Southwark and Lewisham, the London boroughs of Lambeth, Croydon and Bromley all have part of the hill within their jurisdiction.

Geography

Sydenham Hill is approximately 5.6 miles to the south east of Charing Cross. It is also at the centre of many of south London's major shopping districts being 3.6 miles south of Lewisham, 4.6 miles north west of Bromley and 4 miles north of Croydon.

Sydenham

Coordinates: 51°25′31″N 0°03′16″W / 51.4254°N 0.0544°W / 51.4254; -0.0544

Sydenham (/ˈsɪdnəm/) is a suburban district of south London in the London Boroughs of Lewisham, Bromley and Southwark. Sydenham was located in Kent until 1889 when the County of London was formed, additionally, in 1965 Sydenham became part of the current London Boroughs. The area was one of the first in southern England to have a railway station, opening 1839 by the London and Croydon Railway. Sydenham is the location where the Crystal Palace from the Great Exhibition was relocated in 1854.Today Sydenham is a diverse suburb with a population of 28,378 in 2011

History

Originally known as Shippenham, Sydenham began as a small settlement, a few cottages among the woods, whose inhabitants grazed their animals and collected wood. In the 1640s, springs of water in what is now Wells Park were discovered to have medicinal properties, attracting crowds of people to the area. Sydenham grew rapidly in the 19th century after the introduction of the Croydon Canal in 1809 which linked the Grand Surrey Canal to Croydon and a reservoir was constructed in Sydenham. However, the canal was never successful and closed in 1836 resulting in it being the first canal to be abandoned by an Act of Parliament. The London & Croydon Railway purchased the canal for £40,250 and quickly converted the alignment for a railway from London Bridge to West Croydon, opening in 1839. After the railway opened potential gas companies began to consider the Sydenham area with the Crystal Palace and District Gas Company having works at Bell Green, which continued production until 1969; a retail park now occupies most of the site.

Hill

A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, although in areas with scarp/dip topography a hill may refer to a particular section of flat terrain without a massive summit (e.g. Box Hill, Surrey).

Terminology

The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be less tall and less steep than a mountain. In the United Kingdom, geographers historically regarded mountains as hills greater than 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level, which formed the basis of the plot of the 1995 film The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain. In contrast, hillwalkers have tended to regard mountains as peaks 2,000 feet (610 m) above sea level: the Oxford English Dictionary also suggests a limit of 2,000 feet (610 m) and Whittow states "Some authorities regard eminences above 600 m (2,000 ft) as mountains, those below being referred to as hills." The Great Soviet Encyclopedia defines hill as an upland with a relative height up to 200 m (660 ft).

Sydenham Hill Wood

Sydenham Hill Wood is a nine-hectare wood on the northern slopes of the Norwood Ridge in the London Borough of Southwark. It is designated as a Local Nature Reserve and Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation. With the adjacent Dulwich Wood, Sydenham Hill Wood is the largest extant tract of the ancientGreat North Wood. The two woods were separated after the relocation of The Crystal Palace in 1854 and the creation of the high level line in 1865.

The land is owned by the Dulwich Estate, leased to Southwark Council, who lease Sydenham Hill Wood and Cox's Walk to London Wildlife Trust. Sydenham Hill Wood and Fern Bank are a Local Nature Reserve.

In 1997 Sydenham Hill Wood was given the UK-MAB Urban Wildlife Award for Excellence. There are conservation workdays and wildlife events.

History

The oak-lined formal avenue, known as Cox's Walk, leading from the junction of Dulwich Common and Lordship Lane was cut soon after 1732 by Francis Cox to connect his Green Man Tavern and Dulwich Wells with the more popular Sydenham Wells. When the poet Thomas Campbell lived in Sydenham (between 1805 and 1822) he visited his friend Dr Glennie, in Dulwich Grove. After the relocation of the Crystal Palace in 1854, the Dulwich Estate made plots along Sydenham Hill available on long leases, and a series of large houses was built. Between the junction with Crescent Wood Road and Cox's Walk there were seven houses. One of the largest was The Hoo, standing almost opposite the present 36 Sydenham Hill.

Forest Hill

Forest Hill or Forrest Hill may refer to:

Places

In Australia

In the United Kingdom

In the United States