Sydenham Hill Wood

File:The Hoo (back view).png

In the sixteenth century, the woods on Sydenham Hill were reserved by Elizabeth I to provide timber for shipbuilding.{{cite book |last=Barratt |first=Nick |author-link=Nick Barratt |year=2012 |title=Greater London - The Story of the Suburbs |location=Vauxhall Bridge Road, London |publisher=Random House |page=512 |isbn=9781847945327}}

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{{Cite book | last=Hall | first=Edwin | title=DULWICH HISTORY AND ROMANCE 2nd Edition | publisher=Bickers and Sons | date=1922 | page=46 | url=https://archive.org/stream/dulwichhistoryro00hall#page/46/mode/2up }} by Francis Cox to connect his Green Man Tavern and Dulwich Wells with the more popular Sydenham Wells.From the Nun's Head to the Screaming Alice by Mathew Frith, The Friends of the Great North Wood, 1995 When the poet Thomas Campbell lived in Sydenham (between 1805 and 1822) he visited his friend Dr Glennie, in Dulwich Grove.[http://198.82.142.160/spenser/CommentRecord.php?action=GET&cmmtid=9585 "Thomas Campbell" in A Book of Memories: Great Men and Women of the Age, from Personal Acquaintance (1871) pages 345-58]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} by Samuel Carter Hall 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.From a search for "The Hoo, Sydenham Hill" on [https://books.google.com/books?ei=8-DeR6y8O4f-igH53PzuCg&q=%22The+Hoo,+Sydenham+Hill%22&as_brr=0 Google Books]

File:A view of the trackbed from the footbridge.jpg

The folly was in the former grounds of Fairwood at 53 Sydenham Hill; the house was first occupied by Alderman David Henry Stone.[http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/william-harnett-blanch/ye-parish-of-camerwell--a-brief-account-of-the-parish-of-camberwell--its-histo-nal/page-58-ye-parish-of-camerwell--a-brief-account-of-the-parish-of-camberwell--its-histo-nal.shtml Ye parish of Camerwell : a brief account of the parish of Camberwell : its history and antiquities] by William Harnett Blanch, page 407 Stone commissioned James Pulham & Son to build the folly.[http://sydenhamforesthillhistory.blogspot.com/2011/05/history-of-beechgrove-sydenham-hil.html History of Beechgrove, Sydenham Hill] and [http://sydenhamforesthillhistory.blogspot.com/2011/05/pulhamite-in-sydenham.html Pulhamite in Sydenham] by Steve Grindlay[http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.18750 Durability Guaranteed - Pulhamite Rockwork] by Camilla Beresford and David Mason, English Heritage 2008 Incised lines simulating stonework on the folly's arch resemble those on the bridge in Buckingham Palace Gardens. The Pulham catalogue indicates that the firm of James Pulham and Son worked extensively in the Sydenham/Dulwich area in the 1870s. In the grounds in front of Kingswood House, there are remains of features in Pulhamite.Great Credit upon the Ingenuity and Taste of Mr. Pulham by Sally Festing, Garden History, Vol. 16, No. 1. (Spring, 1988), pp. 90-102

File:Pissarro lordship.jpg, painted by Camille Pissarro in 1871.]]

The Crystal Palace and South London Junction RailwayLondon Chatham And Dover Railway(Metropolitan Extensions) [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=061-hlpo_2-13&cid=1-1-1-2-144#1-1-1-2-144 Act] of 17 July 1862{{cite book | isbn=0-904662-13-6 | last=Goode | first=Charles | year=1984 | title=To the Crystal Palace | publisher=Forge Books}} went through Sydenham Hill Wood, the Dulwich College estate and two tunnels, terminating at the west of the Crystal Palace. It opened on 1 August 1865.[http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/ Disused Stations in the UK] Lordship Lane page{{cite web|url=http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/u/upper_sydenham/index.shtml |title=Subterranea Britannica Site: Upper Sydenham Station |publisher=Subbrit.org.uk |access-date=2010-04-30}} In 1871, Camille Pissarro painted the view down the tracks to Lordship Lane from the wood and brick bridge on Cox's Walk.{{cite web|url=http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/461/a_to_z_of_parks/670/sydenham_hill_wood |title=Sydenham Hill Wood - Southwark Council |publisher=Southwark.gov.uk |date=2010-01-20 |access-date=2010-04-30}} The image, of a train billowing steam, grasps the optimism of the Industrial Revolution. In 1908 the footbridge was renewed in teak and iron to the same design as the original. The fortunes of the railway waned with those of the Crystal Palace, declining after the Crystal Palace burned down in 1936. It closed during the war, and the post-war re-opening was unsuccessful; the last service ran in 1954. The track was lifted in 1956 and the terminus demolished in 1961.From a reminiscence by Kenny B about Sydenham Hill on [https://web.archive.org/web/20110718084704/http://forum.sydenham.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=825&sid=4f8247e7b1f05fefe5a0593455ebe805 Sydenham Town Forum]

File:Detail from Upper Sydenham 1894 OS map.png map, showing buildings and garden paths on the southeast edge of the wood]]

In 1982, Southwark Council leased the Wood to London Wildlife Trust to manage as a nature reserve. In 1984 Southwark Council's Mid/South Southwark Local Plan included proposals for blocks of up to 146 flats on the top part of the Wood.City Wildspace by Bob Smyth (Hilary Shipman 1987) London Wildlife Trust's Southwark Wildlife Group ran a "Save the Woods" campaign backed by West Lewisham MP John Maples and other local MPs.South London Press, 30 November 1983 Dulwich MP Gerald Bowden asked the Secretary of State for the Environment to intervene.The Times, 4 December 1983, article by David Nicholson-Lord A full-page Evening Standard article set the scene for a New Year public inquiry into the Plan.Evening Standard, December 20, 1984, article by Tom Pocock The January inquiry heard evidence from a dozen ecologists on the Wood's wildlife diversity, other witnesses describing the Wood's educational and amenity value, visited the site and listened to views from several hundred members of the public at an evening meeting at Kingswood House.Country Life, 24 January 1985Time Out, 31 January 1985The Times, 2 February 1985 Southwark MP Simon Hughes spoke in favour of saving the wood in the House of Commons.Hansard, 8 February 1985. "In the borough of Southwark, part of which is in my constituency, Sydenham Hill Wood, one of the remaining very old woodlands in the south of England, is under threat. There is a very strong lobby against its destruction by the London Wildlife Trust. But it is primarily the local people who are fighting by means of a public inquiry to protect that wood." Further, Dulwich College Estates applied for planning permission to build 36 flats on the site of Beechgrove House (former home of Lionel Logue).South London Press, 19 May 1985

In July 1985, the Local Plan inspector reported that most of the Wood should be protected from development.South London Press, 7 July 1985; The Guardian, July 1985 The written report was published in the same week that Southwark Council's planning committee rejected the Beechgrove application.South London Press, August 1985 In advance of a public inquiry into the Beechgrove plans held in November 1986, Gerald Bowden MP said: "I’ve never had quite such a wide range of ordinary people writing to me on one subject. There is very broad opposition to the flats."South London Press, 11 November 1986 The inspector's decision against the plan was hailed as "Wood reprieve a policy precedent."The Times, 23 February 1987, article by David Nicholson-Lord "The need to preserve areas of existing natural woodland within the urban areas is of as much importance in preserving our heritage and improving the quality of the environment as that of preserving the countryside," the inspector said.City Wildspace by Bob Smyth (Hilary Shipman, 1987)

In 1988 there were still many rhododendrons, a lone monkey puzzle, the cedar of Lebanon, fragments of Pulhamite ornaments and the folly.

The trackbed was partly built on, but elsewhere it has reverted to nature. Part of the route adjacent to the Horniman Museum and Gardens is now a "Railway Nature Trail", maintained for the museum by the Trust for Urban Ecology. In Sydenham Hill Wood, its path can be followed from the footbridge on Cox's Walk to the entrance of the Crescent Wood tunnel. The tunnel emerges again to the north of Wells Park Road. On the western edge there is a small stream in the woods called the Ambrook, formerly a tributary of the River Effra.{{cite web|url=http://dulwichsociety.com/2015-spring/1147-the-differing-worlds-of-the-dulwich-and-sydenham-hill-woods|title=The differing worlds of the Dulwich and Sydenham Hill Woods|date=24 March 2015|publisher=The Dulwich Society|first=Daniel|last=Greenwood|access-date=19 April 2015}} From here it flows across the golf course, then alongside Cox's Walk, under Dulwich Common and into the lake in Dulwich Park. In wet weather it rises above the drains and flows along the road around Dulwich Park by Frank Dixon Way.[http://www.awrc.info/content/effra.htm Walking the River Effra] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071105214252/http://www.awrc.info/content/effra.htm |date=5 November 2007 }}

Now a unique mix of old woodland, Victorian garden survivors, and recent woodland, it is one of the closest ancient woods to central London and is home to over 200 species of trees and flowering plants. A multitude of fungi, rare insects, birds and elusive woodland mammals including the Wood mouse{{cite book | publisher=London Wildlife Trust | title=Lapsewood Walk Interpretation Board |date=February 2008 }} and hedgehog are also present.

Mostly sessile oak-hornbeam woodland, the site includes a wide variety of other tree and shrub species, including numerous exotics planted when the wood included parts of large gardens. The flora includes numerous indicators of long-established woodland; ramsons (Allium ursinum), wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa), wood sorrel and hairy wood-rush (Luzula pilosa). Two British woodpeckers breed, along with nuthatch, treecreeper, tawny owl, kestrel and sparrowhawk, whilst hobby bred in 2015.{{Cite web|url = http://www.wildlondon.org.uk/reserves/sydenham-hill-wood-and-coxs-walk|title = London Wildlife Trust Wild London magazine}} Invertebrates are well recorded and include the purple hairstreak, white-letter hairstreak and speckled wood{{cite book | publisher=London Wildlife Trust | title=Cox's Walk Interpretation Board |date=February 2008 }} butterflies, several nationally scarce bees and wasps, and stag beetles. Fungi are also well recorded and mosses include Mnium punctatum at its only known London locality.{{cite web | url = http://www.gigl.org.uk/iGiGL/siteDetails.aspx?sID=M075&sType=sinc | title = Sydenham Hill Wood and Dulwich Wood | work = Greenspace Information for Greater London (GiGL) | publisher = London Wildlife Trust | access-date = 19 July 2012 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://archive.today/20121223234104/http://www.gigl.org.uk/iGiGL/siteDetails.aspx?sID=M075&sType=sinc | archive-date = 23 December 2012 | df = dmy-all }}

There is one small pond in Sydenham Hill Wood which has been enhanced over the years and is surveyed by volunteers. Common frog and smooth newt are resident, as well as southern hawker dragonfly, common blue and red-tailed damselflies.

Of the bat species using the wood, there are records of common and soprano pipistrelle, noctule, Leisler and brown long-eared bats{{cite book | publisher=London Wildlife Trust | title=Crescent Wood Road Interpretation Board |date=February 2008 }} (the only site in Southwark where these have been recorded).[http://www.wildlondon.org.uk/newsarchive.php?MemberID=&allmessages=y&TextVersion=n London Wildlife Trust News Archive] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004135334/http://www.wildlondon.org.uk/newsarchive.php?MemberID=&allmessages=y&TextVersion=n |date=4 October 2006 }} Monday, 10 September 2007, Woodland Bat Roost Project at Sydenham Hill Wood

There is a map and numbered trail from the entrance on Crescent Wood off Sydenham Hill and there is another entrance by the footbridge on Cox's Walk. By public transport the Crescent Wood entrance can be reached by bus 356 from Forest Hill station alighting at the 'Crescent Wood Road' stop. Buses on route 363[http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/maps/buses/tfl-bus-map/text/routeinfo.aspx?q=363&r=363&rn=1&lon=NaN&lat=NaN Transport for London] from Crystal Palace also pass near the entrance at an adjacent 'Crescent Wood Road' stop. The wood can also be reached from Sydenham Hill railway station. From the station through the white gate on the opposite side of the road into Low Cross Wood Lane and on the left just ahead is a gate to Dulwich Wood. In Dulwich Wood follow the path straight ahead until turning to the right just before the pond. This will bring you out close to Crescent Wood tunnel in Sydenham Hill Wood. If the gate into Dulwich Wood is locked follow the steeply upward sloping lane onto Crescent Wood Road, turning left at the top and following the road will bring you to the Crescent Wood Road entrance.

{{Reflist|28em}}

• The Great North Wood - A brief history of ancient woodlands from Selhurst to Deptford by LSC Neville, London Wildlife Trust, 1987 Booklet (Now out of print)
• The Great North Wood the woodlands of the Norwood and Sydenham ridge by Mathew Frith, London Wildlife Trust & Friends of the Great North Wood, 1996 leaflet. Available from London Wildlife Trust (Sydenham Hill Project) £1 plus postage
• City Wildspace by Bob Smyth, Hilary Shipman, 1987.
• Crystal Palace (High Level) and Catford Loop by V Mitchell & K Smith, Middleton Press, 1991
• The Railway through Sydenham Hill Wood, From the Nun's Head to the Screaming Alice by Mathew Frith, The Friends of the Great North Wood and London Wildlife Trust leaflet 1995. Available from London Wildlife Trust (Sydenham Hill Project) £1 plus postage
• London's Local Railways by A A Jackson, David & Charles, 1978
• "The Crystal Palace (High Level) Branch" by W Smith, British Railway Journal 28, 1989
• The Crystal Palace High Level Railway, John Gale Black Dwarf Lightmoor Publications Ltd, 2011
• [http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.18750 Durability Guaranteed - Pulhamite Rockwork] pdf file on the English Heritage website.
• New Scotland Yard, The Complete Series 3, Network DVD, episode "Daisy Chain", filmed in January 1973 briefly features Beechgrove.
• The Wood that London Built A Human History of the Great North Wood by C.J. Schüler, Sandstone Press Ltd, 7 Oct. 2021, {{ISBN|9781913207496}}

• About [http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/l/lordship_lane/index.shtml Lordship Lane station]
• Pictures on [https://www.flickr.com/search/?q=%22dulwich+wood%22&s=int Flickr]
• [http://www.dulwichsociety.com/ The Dulwich Society]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080307210654/http://forum.sydenham.org.uk/ Sydenham Town Forum]
• {{cite web|url=http://www.gigl.org.uk/igigl/siteDetails.aspx?sID=M075&sType=sinc|title=Sydenham Hill Wood and Dulwich Wood|publisher=Greenspace Information for Greater London|year=2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121223234104/http://www.gigl.org.uk/iGiGL/siteDetails.aspx?sID=M075&sType=sinc|archive-date=23 December 2012|df=dmy-all}}
• [http://www.london-footprints.co.uk/wkdulwichadd.htm london-footprints.co.uk]
• [http://www.pulham.org.uk/ The Pulham Legacy] About the Victorian firm James Pulham and Son, which may have built the folly and other garden features.
• [http://www.wildlondon.org.uk/ The London Wildlife Trust]
• The London Wildlife Trust's [https://web.archive.org/web/20110929155709/http://www.wildlondon.org.uk/Naturereserves/tabid/91/Naturereserves/SydenhamHillWoodCoxsWalk/tabid/139/Default.aspx Sydenham Hill Wood] page.
• The London Wildlife Trust's [https://web.archive.org/web/20080407002250/http://www.wildlondon.org.uk/Events/tabid/215/Default.aspx What's On] page.
• [https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevegrindlay/sets/72157600159385559/with/6861992062/ Sydenham Hill Woods, 1862] photo set by Steve Grindlay on flickr

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Category:Ancient woods of London

Category:Forests and woodlands of London

Category:Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Southwark

Category:Nature reserves in the London Borough of Southwark

Category:Folly buildings in England

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