Walworth

{{other uses}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}}

{{Use British English|date=September 2015}}

{{infobox UK place

| country = England

| static_image_name = Parade of shops, south end of Walworth Road, Walworth, south London - geograph.org.uk - 5883575.jpg

| region = London

| official_name = Walworth

| coordinates = {{coord|51.4898|-0.0905|display=inline,title}}

| london_borough = Southwark

| constituency_westminster = Bermondsey and Old Southwark

| post_town = LONDON

| postcode_area = SE

| postcode_district = SE1 (Old Kent Road), SE17

| dial_code = 020

| os_grid_reference = TQ325785

| pushpin_map = United Kingdom London Southwark

}}

Walworth ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ɔː|l|w|ər|θ}} {{respell|WAWL|wərth}}) is a district of South London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is {{convert|1.9|mi|km|1}} south-east of Charing Cross.

Major streets in Walworth include the Old Kent Road, New Kent Road and Walworth Road.

History

The name Walworth is probably derived from Old English Wealh "Briton" and the suffix -worth "homestead" or "enclosure" and, thus, "British farm".{{cite web|url=http://epns.nottingham.ac.uk/browse/id/53287104b47fc40c2300070d|title=WAlworth|publisher=Survey of English Place-Names|access-date=15 April 2021}}

Walworth appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Waleorde. It was held by Bainiard from Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury. Its domesday assets were: 3½ hides; one church, four ploughs, {{convert|8|acre|m2}} of meadow. It rendered £3.[http://www.gwp.enta.net/surrnames.htm Surrey Domesday Book] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030192829/http://www.gwp.enta.net/surrnames.htm |date=30 October 2007 }}

File:Horsley_Street_Walworth.jpg in the background.]]

John Smith House is on Walworth Road, and was renamed in memory of John Smith, who was leader of the Labour Party from 1992 up to his sudden death in 1994. A former headquarters of the Labour Party, it was often seen in news reports at election times and in the background as people came and went from meetings of the Labour Party National Executive Committee. It was used by the London Borough of Southwark as the home for its education department and reopened in July 2012 as a hostel.[http://www.safestay.co.uk/pr-media/press-releases/test/ Safestay to open in Elephant & Castle, London, SE17] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120909043420/http://www.safestay.co.uk/pr-media/press-releases/test/ |date=9 September 2012 }} Safestay, 5 March 2012

St Peter's Church, Walworth, built circa 1825, is an excellent example of the neo-classical style of church built by Sir John Soane. It is an indication of the wealth of the middle-class merchants who then lived in the vicinity that they could afford an architect of such prominence.{{NHLE|num=1385662 |desc= Church of St Peter, Walworth|access-date=15 April 2021}}

Manor Place Baths is a former wash house in Manor Place off Walworth Road. It is a grade II listed building. The building was renovated by Kagyu Samye Dzong, Tibetan Buddhist Centre who obtained a five-year lease in 2005. They opened it as their London centre, called Manor Place Samye Dzong on 17 March 2007. Adjacent is the council's old recycling depot which is now closed and has been replaced by a new facility{{Cite web |url=http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/533/waste_management_facility |title=Waste management facility - Southwark Council |access-date=15 June 2012 |archive-date=25 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120625202550/http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/533/waste_management_facility |url-status=dead }} at 43 Devon Street, off Old Kent Road.[http://london.samye.org/london/kagyu/centre/centre_move.shtml Kagyu Samye Dzong London at Manor Place] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070805033152/http://london.samye.org/london/kagyu/centre/centre_move.shtml |date=5 August 2007 }} Kagyu Samye Dzong London

Walworth is also home to the Pullens buildings - a mixture of Victorian live/work spaces and yards. Many of the flats are one bedroom, and some of the flats still connect to the Workshops of any of the three yards (Illife Yard, Peacock Yard and one other).[http://www.southwark.gov.uk/download/1073/pullens_estate/ Southwark Council Document detailing the Conservation status of the Pullens Estate] {{webarchive|url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120903175341/http%3A//www.southwark.gov.uk/download/1073/pullens_estate |date=3 September 2012 }}

Walworth also used to have a zoo, in Royal Surrey Gardens, which was visited by Queen Victoria.{{Cite web|url=https://walworthgarden.org.uk/the-history-of-walworth-garden|title=The History of Walworth Garden|last=Whelan|first=John|date=2017|website=Walworth Garden|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-12-08}}

Politics

File:Southwark vestry hall.jpg]]

File:Southwark Met. B Ward Map 1916.svg

Walworth Town Hall, previously the Vestry Hall of St Mary, Newington, became the headquarters of the Metropolitan Borough of Southwark and was renamed "Southwark Town Hall" in 1900.{{cite web|url=https://walworthtownhall.com/history/|title=History|publisher=Walworth Town Hall|accessdate=12 May 2020}} It reverted to the name "Walworth Town Hall" when it ceased to be the local seat of government after the enlarged London Borough of Southwark was formed in 1965.{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1963/33/contents|title=Local Government Act 1963|publisher=Legislation.gov.uk|accessdate=25 April 2020}}

Regeneration

Large amounts of regeneration and gentrification are occurring in Walworth, including the demolition of the Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre, the newly built Strata tower, the demolition and regeneration of the Heygate and Aylesbury Estates, and redevelopment of St Mary's Churchyard as a new park. The Bakerloo Line Extension is proposed with two new stations along Old Kent Road.[https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/tube/bakerloo-extension/?cid=bakerloo-extension Bakerloo line extension - Have your say] TFL, 15 February 2017

Mentions in culture

The district of Walworth features in Charles DickensGreat Expectations; Mr Wemmick resides here in a small wooden cottage.{{cite web|url=https://dickens.stanford.edu/dickens/archive/great/great_issue9.html|title=Issue 9: Previously, in Great Expectations...|publisher=Discovering Dickens|access-date=15 April 2021}}

Walworth is featured in the 2016 novel by Stella Duffy, London Lies Beneath, set in 1912.[https://web.archive.org/web/20180916102900/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/oct/20/london-lies-beneath-stella-duffy-review Review: Stella Duffy, What Lies Beneath], The Guardian, 20 October 2016 It is also featured in the 2017 film The Foreigner, as the restaurant of the protagonist Ngoc Minh Quan is based in this district.{{cite news|last1=Busch|first1=Anita|last2=Fleming|first2=Mike Jr.|title=Jackie Chan To Star in 'The Foreigner' for STX Entertainment|url=https://deadline.com/2015/06/jackie-chan-to-star-in-the-foreigner-for-stx-entertainment-1201438647/|access-date=16 July 2015|work=Deadline|date=5 June 2015}}

Enda Walsh's 2006 play, The Walworth Farce, is set in a council flat near the Elephant & Castle. A theme of the play is Irish migration and immigration. Walworth had been a centre for Irish immigration since the nineteenth century.{{Cite web |title=British Library |url=https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/st-georges-cathedral-southwark-buckler |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=www.bl.uk}}

Notable residents

  • Charles Babbage, polymath{{cite ODNB|id=962|title=Babbage, Charles|first=Doron|last=Swade}}
  • Robert Browning, poet and playwright{{Cite web |url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JW86-2ZV |title=Person Details for Robert Browning, "England Births and Christenings, 1538–1975" – FamilySearch.org|website=FamilySearch }}
  • Sir Charlie Chaplin, born 1889, actor and director{{Cite news|url=https://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/charlie-chaplin-walworth-road|title=Charlie Chaplin - Walworth Road|work=London Remembers|access-date=2018-09-18|language=en}}
  • Samuel Palmer, painter{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fy4rDwAAQBAJ&q=samuel+palmer+walworth&pg=PA12|title=Samuel Palmer Revisited|last=Shaw-Miller|first=Simon|date=2017-07-05|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-351-55015-4|language=en}}
  • Frank Stubbs, recipient of the Victoria Cross, born 3 December 1888{{Cite web|url=http://www.vconline.org.uk/frank-e-stubbs-vc/4588304158|title=Frank E Stubbs VC - victoriacross|website=www.vconline.org.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-09-18}}
  • Charles Upfold, businessman{{cite web |title=Charles Upfold (1834 - 1919) |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/genealogy/records/charles-upfold-24-2sfdpj |website=ancestry.co.uk |access-date=10 December 2020}}
  • The Walworth Jumpers, a 19th-century religious movement{{cite book |last1=Davies |first1=Charles Maurice |title=Unorthodox London, Or, Phases of Religious Life in the Metropolis |year=1874 |publisher=Tinsley Bros. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ov2fAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA89 |language=en}}

Transport and locale

=Nearest places=

=Nearest underground stations=

=Nearest National Rail station=

References

{{reflist}}