| Gipsy Hill | |
|---|---|
 View down the upper straight of the street, Gipsy Hill, looking north towards theCity of London | |
  Gipsy Hill Location withinGreater London | |
| Population | 13,712 (2011 Census. Ward)[1] |
| OS grid reference | TQ332710 |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LONDON |
| Postcode district | SE19, SE27 |
| Dialling code | 020 (8670 OR 8761) |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| UK Parliament | |
| London Assembly | |
| 51°25′28″N0°05′02″W / 51.4245°N 0.0840°W /51.4245; -0.0840 | |
Gipsy Hill insouth London is a hilly and leafy neighbourhood spanning the southern parts of the London Boroughs ofLambeth andSouthwark characterised for its stunning views of the City of London and Dulwich.
It borders the neighbourhood of Crystal Palace, which was crowned as the best place to live in London by the Sunday Times Best Place to Live survey.[2]
Historically, north of its traditional Westow-Central Hill southern limit, it was split between the southern projections of theWest Norwood daughter parish ofLambeth and the St Giles church daughter parish ofCamberwell in Surrey until urban reforms of 1889 created theCounty of London. It takes in, due to a diagonal, slightly weaving border, somewhat less of the London Borough of Southwark, and it has a ridge-top border along the retail/services/leisure street Westow Hill and residential street Central Hill withUpper Norwood in theLondon Borough of Croydon.
Gipsy Hill is the name of the central road that runs south upwards from Gipsy Road, where it becomes Alleyn Park near the southern end of Croxted Road, up to Central Hill and Westow Hill (a brief eastern continuation in the Crystal Palace Triangle). The latter are two crest-top roads marking the limit ofUpper Norwood, part of the London Borough (and, here, former parish) ofCroydon. Due to its station, as common across London, the name has been taken to extend to encompass a wider, in this case, upper hill-side zone in extreme projections of the two relevant boroughs.[citation needed] It takes its name from the presence ofGypsies in what was, until the 19th century, sparsely populated rurality.[3][4] On 11 August 1668,Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary that his wife had visited "the gypsies at Lambeth";[5] Keats also wrote about the Norwood gypsies.[6] The area's name derives from theRoma Gypsies who settled in the area during the 1600-1800s.[7]
At the east and west ends of the hill which descends more gently north, are the forked sources of the formerRiver Effra.[citation needed]
The hill and particularly its southern climactic ridge are part of a much larger formation, theNorwood Ridge.[citation needed]
The area rapidly developed afterGipsy Hill railway station was opened in 1856, with large houses being constructed (most now subdivided) and blocks of council-built housing in the mid-20th century, a little remaining as assisted (Social) housing.[3] An 18-roomnuclear bunker was constructed between 1963 and 1966 as part of a block of flats on theCentral Hill Estate calledPear Tree House on Lunham Road.[8]
For the west,Gipsy Hill ward is represented by three elected members ofLambeth Borough Council (green and Labour); forfair apportionment it extends intoWest Norwood andWest Dulwich. For the east, since 2018, two members represent Dulwich Wood ward onSouthwark Council, which similarly extends into the Sydenham Hill area of what is traditionally South Dulwich.[9]
TheCentral Hill Estate was built in the 1960s-70s designed byRosemary Stjernstedt,Roger Westman and the Lambeth Council planning department during the directorship ofTed Hollamby.[10]
Gipsy HillPolice Station was on the A214, Central Hill, the western continuation of Westow Hill. It was London's highest station, an old Bench Mark SW, opposite, stated 360.6 feet (109.9 m)Above Ordnance Datum.
Three of the pubs are central on the street Gipsy Hill: The Colby Arms, The Bull and Finch and The Great Southern.[11] Higher but before Westow Hill, The Railway Bell is on Cawnpore Street, a side street.[11] The Two Towers and Paxton are on the relatively low, north-west Gipsy Road.
Two independent companies brew beer commercially: the Gipsy Hill Brewing Co. and the London Beer Factory.[12]
Elm Wood, Kingswood and Paxton schools are all members of The Gipsy Hill Federation.[15]
The nearest private school is inWest Dulwich.
The following congregations meet in buildings that are readily identified as places of worship:
These buildings were constructed as places of worship but are now used for other purposes:
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