| Sydenham Hill | |
|---|---|
 Crescent Wood Road | |
  Sydenham Hill Location withinGreater London | |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LONDON |
| Postcode district | SE21, SE26, SE23 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| UK Parliament | |
| London Assembly | |
| Website | http://sydenham.org.uk/ |
| 51°25′58″N0°04′08″W / 51.4329°N 0.0690°W /51.4329; -0.0690 | |
Sydenham Hill forms part ofa longer ridge and is an affluentlocality in southeastLondon. It is also the name of a road which runs along the northeastern part of the ridge, demarcating the London Boroughs ofSouthwark,Bromley, andLewisham. Its highest part is the apex of the Boroughs of Southwark and Lewisham and the 15th-highestpeak in London, at 367 feet (112 m).
The road connects theA205 road in the northeast atForest Hill with theA212 road to the southwest atCrystal Palace.Sydenham Hill railway station,Sydenham Hill Wood nature reserve andDulwich and Sydenham Hill Golf course are on its west slopes thus in the Borough of Southwark. The London boroughs ofLambeth andCroydon have part of the hill within their jurisdiction.
Sydenham Hill is approximately 5.6 miles to the southeast ofCharing Cross. It is also at the centre of many of south London's major shopping districts being 3.6 miles south of Lewisham, 4.6 miles northwest of Bromley and 4 miles north of Croydon.
Sydenham Hill (as well as Upper Sydenham) is on the largeNorwood Ridge formed ofLondon Claygate beds deposits. As a result, Sydenham Hill is one of thehighest points in London at 367 feet (112 m).Sydenham Hill Wood is a nine-hectare[1] nature reserve west of Sydenham Hill Road, along with Dulwich and Sydenham Hill Golf course. The hill was once covered by theGreat North Wood which covered all of Sydenham, Norwood,Woodside,Gipsy Hill etc.
The hill is the summit of the uppermost or eastern ridge of theNorwood Ridge which in turn was for several millennia covered by theGreat North Wood but sits on thin topsoil. In the 19th century Sydenham Hill became a fashionable area, with a large number of large residential properties built along Sydenham Hill, including Grange Court (1861), The Wood (1840), Dilkhoosh (now Fountain House) (1864), Highfield (1855), The Cedars (1894), Sydenham Hill House (1898), Dulwich Wood House (1858),Beltwood House (1851) and Castlebar (1879).[2] The writerJoseph Ashby-Sterry was born into a Sydenham Hill family in 1836 or 1838.[3] In 1854, the area's importance was increased after theCrystal Palace was relocated from Hyde Park and re-erected on the south-western end of the ridge.
In 1863, theChatham Main Line was opened by theLondon, Chatham and Dover Railway, bringing the railway to Sydenham Hill. Construction involved building a 1.2 mile (1,958 metre) tunnel through the hill, starting at College Road, going under Sydenham, and ending below the Brighton Main Line at Penge. 19 years later in 1884, another line was opened, this time to serve the Crystal Palace. The line had a new station at Upper Sydenham on the southern edge of the ridge, with direct trains to London Victoria via Peckham Rye. However, the line was poorly used, and the destruction of the Crystal Palace made the situation worse, despite the rapid growth of the area. The railway line finally closed in 1954 leaving an abandoned tunnel within the Sydenham Hill Woods.
The area west and north of Sydenham Hill road and Dulwich Wood is widely known as Dulwich, mostly corresponding to the postal code area (SE21), with the east side of the woods being known simply as Sydenham, or Upper Sydenham, corresponding to the SE26 postal area. Sydenham Hill road and the ridge line marks the southern and eastern boundary of theDulwich Estate.
The area is almost 100% residential and have many large homes dating from the 1800s. As of April 2015, the estimated average house price on College Road is £854,149,[4] while on Sydenham Hill (road) the average is £437,478,[5][needs update] with both roads having homes in the £1–6 million range. Peckarmans Wood and Great Brownings are examples of mid-century modern estates designed by Austin Vernon and Partners for the Dulwich Estate. College Road is a private road, with a toll towards Hunts Slip Road, dating back to the 1780s. On the other side of the railway is theKingswood Estate, with the Dulwich Wood Primary,Kingsdale Foundation schools and theKingswood House Community Centre.
Other roads on the hill include: Crescent Wood Road; Woodhall Drive; and, Hitherwood Drive.
Transport for London bus routes202,356,363,N63 run along the Sydenham Hill road. Route450 serves Fountain Drive.
Sydenham Hill railway station is on theprivate College Road, with another entrance in the Kingswood Estate. The station is served bySoutheastern services toLondon Victoria,Herne Hill,Beckenham Junction,Bromley South andOrpington, with a frequency of every 15 minutes Monday to Saturday, 30 minutes on Sundays. Sydenham Hill is one of a handful of stations in London not to have a dedicated bus stop, with the closest being on Kingswood Drive, 0.3 miles away.
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