A few weeks ago I
said that I would write about Kidbrook and eventually give a detailed history of the area. Kidbrook might appear to
be completely suburban and not somewhere with an industrial history ..... but
....wait and see! I said that I start by working down the three streams which
constituted the origins of the Kidbrooke area and although they are now mostly
out sight – diverted or buried – they made the area what it is today. They all
begun on the western slopes of Shooter’s Hill and ran down to the area we now
know as Kidbrooke and made it very marshy.
So far I’ve done
one episode about the Upper Kid Brook which was the most northern of the streams. I described it from where it started at Hervey Road, near
the sports ground, and ran west. I ran out of space to write more when I got to the edge of
Kidbrooke Park Road. So I’m carrying from that point where I left it a few
weeks ago. I would say that from this
point the line of the stream is in what is now Lewisham Borough –but its always
close to the boundary with Greenwich.
The Greenwich/Lewisham boundary through Blackheath is weird to say the
least anyway. Much of the route of the stream is given in booklets and articles
by the late Michael Egan. Kidbrooke Park
Road is today the major road through the area and in the past provided access
to farms and, in the early middle ages,
the church. The fields through which the Upper Kid Brook flowed were known as
Heathfield and Swing Gate Field. According
to the sewer records the stream ran south west from Annesley Road, crossed
Westbrook Road, and then ran between 35 and 37 Kidbrooke Park Road, where a slight
dip might be noticed.
This covers a considerable
distance of the stream running unseen through gardens at the back of houses. I
would recommend the aerial views now available online on which a tree line may
indicate where the stream went. It ran through this area of large comfortable
houses many of which were occupied by owners and managers of industries - not just in Greenwich, one large house was
for a Mr. Frean of the Bermondsey biscuit works. Much of the area of Kidbrooke Grove was
developed by Lewis Glenton – whose works, including the Glenton Railway, I have so far failed to write up. All of this area and many of its occupants were
described by the late and much missed Neil Rhind in various of his books on
Blackheath.
In addition to the
main stream a small tributary ran from Shooters Hill Road to around 20 Kidbrook
Grove and then flowed south on a line
which might have followed the tree lines between gardens. It crossed the
western end of Kidbrooke Grove and joined the main stream in the garden of
35.
Having reached 35
and 37 Kidbrook Grove the main Upper Kid Brook stream turned south to the backs
of 38 and 40 Kidbrook Gardens, then turns west again to run along between the
ends of Kidbrook Gardens back gardens and the northern boundary of Morden
College.
Kidbrook Gardens
then is following the route of the Upper Kid Brook I’ll come back to this point
later. We are approaching the grounds of Morden College
and the stream ran along its northern boundary. There is a footpath system
which around some of the College grounds and which can be accessed from Kidbrooke
Grove which goes round the buildings and lets you admire gardens immaculately
maintained since around 1700. It leads to a path which runs parallel to
Kidbrooke Gardens. I would recommend the
Running Past blog which includes photographs of the line of the stream here.
https://runner500.wordpress.com/2014/05/28/in-search-of-upper-kid-brook/
Perhaps I had better
explain about Morden College – I have to remember that not everybody would know
about it. It’s been there since the late 17th century and is
basically an old people people’s home.
Sir John Morden had experience as an overseas trader and was aware of
the insoluble problems which could lead to financial ruin and so this almshouse was set up to house
merchants who, in old age, had lost money through no fault of their own but through
shipwrecks and other disasters. He had acquired the Greenwich Manor of Old Court
and estates which the College managed to provide an income for the charity. Over the centuries the charity has acted as a
developer in promoting industry and providing housing and under the
requirements of Sir John’s will the charity is currently managed by the City of
London.
The main block of
the College was started in 1695 and is said to have been designed by Sir
Christopher Wren himself but probably wasn’t. It was built on the site called
Great Stonefield which may imply gravel extraction here.
In recent years new
buildings have provided a home and care for increasing numbers of old people –
but the charity generally only takes those who have had influential careers. The
footpath will provide views of the original 17th century block as
well as numerous modern flats and care facilities.
The Upper Kid Brook
seems to have provided the northern boundary of the College site and was also
the Kidbrooke and Charlton Boundary line’. The 19th century map
marks a couple of boundary stones and I have no idea if they are still there.
One was there in 1979 when Michael Egan wrote about it in Greenwich Antiquarian
Transactions. He said it was on the footpath at the point that it was crossed
by the Upper Kid Brook and was marked ‘K/C’.
I think that if the stones are within the College Ground they are likely
to have been looked after.
So, back to
Kidbrooke Gardens. If you continue along the road you come to Montague Graham
Court, 16- 22 Kidbrook Gardens, a Morden
College block of flats for old people. I
have no idea who Montague Graham was and it is, strangely enough, not an
unusual name and there are several possible candidates. The block stands in a big
square area as you can see looking at the aerial view on Google Maps. Michael
Egan found evidence that in the early 19th century this was a
commercial gravel pit and that the Upper Kid Brook flowed diagonally across it.
He pointed to the ‘sharp fall in he land here .... consistent with excavation’.
The railway going from Blackheath Station to
Charlton passes underground at this point . This is the North Kent Line built
from 1845 and opened in 1849. The London to Greenwich railway had opened
Greenwich station in 1838 but it had proved impossible, because of local
objections, to extend the line through Greenwich Park. A bill was therefore
promoted in 1846 for the North Kent Railway build a line from London Bridge to Lewisham
and Blackheath and on to Charlton from
where it could be extended into Kent. There were various objections from the
owners of large estates between Blackheath and Charlton over which the line was
planned to pass and it was eventually decided to take the whole thing through
in a tunnel which eventually emerges near Westcombe Park. This line was
planned to be hidden in the natural valley of the Upper Kid Brook. Recently the
tunnel has been closed for major maintenance work and it should be noted that
one of the problems they encountered was caused by constant penetration of
water from the surrounding area.
The railway crosses
Kidbrooke Gardens at an angle and continues to the junction of Liskeard Road
which it crosses diagonally.
Kidbrooke Gardens continues
westward to come out onto Blackheath and become South Row. The Upper Kid Brooke
seems to have run slightly south of it and to have continued down to the area by
the lodge to Morden College where there is a stone for the Greenwich Parish
boundary. Readers of my articles here may remember that a few months ago I did
a series on a Parish Boundary Walk in 1853 and for a couple of hundred yards the
Greenwich boundary followed the stream. It continues to areas which are in
Lewisham Borough. As I said above the boundary is very strange and it will be
easier just to continue along the line of the stream regardless of whether it
is in Greenwich or not.
This whole area at
the rear of the Paragon, through which the Upper Kid Brook and the boundary
line went is difficult to follow because it is now the site of Fulthorpe Road
and the council estate – which changed the layout of the area and ignored the various
plots of the 1850s. I need to do that whole area in one article and not split
it.
