Albury Street

Deptford (deep ford) developed as a crossing over the River Ravensbourne, a tributary of the River Thames in south London. It is referenced by Geoffrey Chaucer in the Prologue to The Reeve's Tale in his series, The Canterbury Tales.{{efn|"Lo Depeford, and it is half-wey pryme.

Lo Grenewych, ther many a shrewe is inne!"{{Cite web|url=http://www.librarius.com/canttran/rvtltrfs.htm|title=From "The Canterbury Tales": The Reeve's Prologue and Tale (modern english and middle english)|website=www.librarius.com|accessdate=31 October 2024}}}}{{Cite web|url=https://ideal-homes.gre.ac.uk/lewisham/assets/histories/deptford.html|title=History of Deptford|publisher=Ideal Homes: A history of south-east London suburbs|access-date=31 October 2024}} In 1513, Henry VIII began the development of Deptford Dockyard which grew to become one of the main victualling yards of the Royal Navy. In 1706, Thomas Lewis, a local bricklayer, undertook the construction of Albury Street, then called Union Street to celebrate the Acts of Union 1707. By 1717 he had built some forty houses on the site, provided superior accommodation for officers and officials engaged at the dockyard. The houses were of two storeys, and built of London red brick with brick dressings.{{sfn|Cherry|Pevsner|2002|pp=407-408}}

The early trade unionist John Gast (1772–1837) worked as a shipwright in the Deptford Dockyard and later ran the King of Belgium (then the King of Prussia) public house at No. 6, Albury Street.{{Cite web|url=https://www.olddeptfordhistory.com/2010/09/building-layout-change-from-union-st-to.html|title=Building Layout Change from Union St to Albury Street|publisher=Old Deptford History|access-date=31 October 2024}} The street survived largely intact until the 1950s when a programme of conservation by the London County Council was commenced. Bridget Cherry and Nikolaus Pevsner, in their London 2: South volume in the Buildings of England series revised and reissued in 2002, describe the result as an example of "appalling bureaucratic bungling".{{sfn|Cherry|Pevsner|2002|pp=407-408}} By the early 1970s, most of the houses on the south side had been demolished and replaced by local authority housing, while many of the elaborate doorcases, which had been removed for safe storage, were lost to theft. As at 2024, only four intact houses remain on the south side, while the northern run is in a better state of preservation.{{sfn|Cherry|Pevsner|2002|pp=407-408}} Dr Anthony Quinney, professor of Architecture at the University of Greenwich describes the remaining run of houses on Albury Street as; "among the few survivors in the whole of London from the first two decades of the eighteenth century and ... as one of the most important treasures architecturally and historically among domestic buildings in London".{{Cite web|url=https://www.olddeptfordhistory.com/2012/01/history-of-albury-street-final-part.html|title=History of Albury Street|publisher=Old Deptford History|access-date=31 October 2024}}

The listed buildings on the street, all at Grade II* except No.s 39 and 41, and 45 which are listed at Grade II, comprise: No.s 13 and 15; No.17; No.s 19 and 21; No.s 23–27; No.s 29 and 31; No. 33; No.s 34–40; No. 35; No. 37; No.s 39 and 41; No. 43 and No. 45.*No.s 13 and 15 Albury Street: {{NHLE|num=1358938|desc=No.s 13 and 15 Albury Street|grade=II*|access-date=30 October 2024|ref=none}} *No. 17 Albury Street: {{NHLE|num=1079072|desc=No. 17 Albury Street|grade=II*|access-date=30 October 2024|ref=none}} *Nos. 19 and 21 Albury Street: {{NHLE|num=1079073|desc=Nos. 19 and 21 Albury Street|grade=II*|access-date=30 October 2024|ref=none}} *Nos. 23-27 Albury Street: {{NHLE|num=1358939|desc=Nos. 23-27 Albury Street|grade=II*|access-date=30 October 2024|ref=none}} *Nos. 29 and 31 Albury Street: {{NHLE|num=1079074|desc=Nos. 29 and 31 Albury Street|grade=II*|access-date=30 October 2024|ref=none}} *No. 33 Albury Street: {{NHLE|num=1358940|desc=No. 33 Albury Street|grade=II*|access-date=30 October 2024|ref=none}} *Nos. 34-40 Albury Street: {{NHLE|num=1080023|desc=Nos. 34-40 Albury Street|grade=II*|access-date=30 October 2024|ref=none}} *No. 35 Albury Street: {{NHLE|num=1079075|desc=No. 35 Albury Street|grade=II*|access-date=30 October 2024|ref=none}} *No. 37 Albury Street: {{NHLE|num=1079076|desc=No. 37 Albury Street|grade=II*|access-date=30 October 2024|ref=none}} *Nos. 39 and 41 Albury Street: {{NHLE|num=1358922|desc=Nos. 39 and 41 Albury Street|grade=II|access-date=30 October 2024|ref=none}} *No. 43 Albury Street: {{NHLE|num=1079077|desc=No. 43 Albury Street|grade=II*|access-date=30 October 2024|ref=none}} *No. 45 Albury Street: {{NHLE|num=1217928|desc=No. 45 Albury Street|grade=II|access-date=30 October 2024|ref=none}}

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{{reflist}}

• {{cite book

|first1=Bridget|last1=Cherry|author1-link=Bridget Cherry|first2=Nikolaus|last2=Pevsner|author2-link=Nikolaus Pevsner

|title=London 2: South

|url=https://search.worldcat.org/title/1460672733

|volume=2

|year=2002

|series=Buildings of England

|location=New Haven, US and London

|publisher=Yale University Press

|isbn=978-0-300-09651-4

}}

Albury Street

Category:Streets in the London Borough of Lewisham

Category:Shipbuilding in London

Category:Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Lewisham

Category:Georgian architecture in London