Lewisham | EPFL Graph Search

Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?

Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of GraphSearch.

Lewisham (ˈluːɪʃəm ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London, with a large shopping centre and street market. Lewisham had a population of 60,573 in 2011. The earliest written reference to Lewisham – liofshema – is from a charter from 862 which established the boundaries with neighbouring Bromley Lewisham is sometimes said to have been founded, according to Bede, by a pagan Jute, Leof, who settled (by burning his boat) near St Mary's Church (Ladywell) where the ground was drier, in the 6th century, but there seems to be no solid source for this speculation, and there is no such passage in Bede's history. As to the etymology of the name, Daniel Lysons (1796) wrote: "In the most ancient Saxon records this place is called Levesham, that is, the house among the meadows; leswe, læs, læse, or læsew, in the Saxon, signifies a meadow, and ham, a dwelling. A Latin legal record, dated 1440, mentions a place in Kent as Levesham which may refer to Lewisham. It is now written, as well in parochial and other records as in common usage, Lewisham." "Leofshema" was an important settlement at the confluence of the rivers Quaggy (from Farnborough) and Ravensbourne (Caesar's Well, Keston), so the village expanded north into the wetter area as drainage techniques improved. King Alfred was Lord of the Manor of Lewisham, as is celebrated by a plaque in Lewisham Library. The Manor of Lewisham, with its appendages of Greenwich and Combe, was given by Elthruda, King Alfred's niece, to the Saint Peter's Abbey, Ghent in a Charter dated 18th September around 918, of which Lewisham then became a cell, or an alien priory. This grant is said to have been confirmed by King Edgar in 964, and by Edward the Confessor in 1044, with the addition of many privileges.

About this result

This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.

Related concepts (16)

London Plan

The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Greater London area in the United Kingdom that is written by the Mayor of London and published by the Greater London Authority. It is updated from time to time. The regional planning document was first published in final form on 10 February 2004. In addition to minor alterations, it was substantially revised and republished in February 2008 and July 2011. In October 2013, minor alterations were made to the plan to comply with the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes in national policy.

Beckenham

Beckenham (ˈbɛkənəm) is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and Eden Park, east of Penge, south of Lower Sydenham and Bellingham, and west of Bromley and Shortlands. Its population at the 2011 census counted 46,844 inhabitants. Beckenham was, until the coming of the railway in 1857, a small village, with most of its land being rural and private parkland.

Brockley

Brockley is a district and an electoral ward of south London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham south-east of Charing Cross. The name Brockley is derived from "Broca's woodland clearing", a wood where badgers are seen (broc is the Old English for badger) or Brook (Stream) by a wood (Ley). In the late 12th century, a small Premonstratensian house was founded there, before being transferred to Bayham (Sussex) in 1208.