Nunhead
Encyclopedia
Nunhead is a place in the London Borough of Southwark
London Borough of Southwark
The London Borough of Southwark is a London borough in south east London, England. It is directly south of the River Thames and the City of London, and forms part of Inner London.-History:...

 in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England. It is an inner-city suburb located 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Charing Cross
Charing Cross
Charing Cross denotes the junction of Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in central London, England. It is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The site of the cross is now occupied by an equestrian...

. It is the location of the 52 acre (0.21043672 km²) Nunhead Cemetery
Nunhead Cemetery
Nunhead Cemetery is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries in London, England. It is perhaps the least famous and celebrated of them.. The cemetery is located in the Nunhead area of southern London and was originally known as All Saints' Cemetery. Nunhead Cemetery was consecrated in 1840 and...

. Nunhead has traditionally been a working-class area and, with the adjacent neighbourhoods, is currently going through a lengthy process of gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...

. Nunhead is the location of several underground reservoir
Reservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...

s, built by the Southwark and Vauxhall Waterworks Company
Southwark and Vauxhall Waterworks Company
The Southwark and Vauxhall Waterworks Company was a utility company supplying water to parts of south London in England. The company was formed by the merger of the Southwark and Vauxhall Water Companies in 1845 and became part of the publicly-owned Metropolitan Water Board in 1903.-Southwark Water...

.

Etymology

The name is first recorded in 1680 and is believed to be taken from a local inn named The Nun's Head. It is rumoured that this name refers the beheading of a nun during the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...

. However, there is no evidence to support this claim.

History

Nunhead formed part of the large ancient parish of Camberwell
Camberwell
Camberwell is a district of south London, England, and forms part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is a built-up inner city district located southeast of Charing Cross. To the west it has a boundary with the London Borough of Lambeth.-Toponymy:...

 in the Brixton
Brixton (hundred)
Brixton Hundred or the Hundred of Brixton was an ancient hundred in the north east of the county of Surrey, England. Its area has been entirely absorbed by the growth of London; with its name currently referring to the Brixton district...

 hundred of Surrey. It has not formed an independent unit of civil administration, however as population grew a separate St Antholin, Nunhead ecclesiastical parish was created in 1878, with a church built in 1877. The church was later rebuilt in 1957 as St Antony's Church. It was then Listed Grade II in 1972 but became surplus to requirements of the church and was declared redundant in 2001 and sold to its present owners. It then became the Lighthouse Cathedral.
The area then came within the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Board of Works
Metropolitan Board of Works
The Metropolitan Board of Works was the principal instrument of London-wide government from 1855 until the establishment of the London County Council in 1889. Its principal responsibility was to provide infrastructure to cope with London's rapid growth, which it successfully accomplished. The MBW...

 in 1855 and was transferred to the County of London
County of London
The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government Act 1888. The Act created an administrative County of...

 in 1889. Having formed part of the Camberwell parish, it became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell
Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell
Camberwell was a civil parish and metropolitan borough in the County of London. The borough was created in 1900 by the London Government Act 1899, covering the area of the ancient parish of Camberwell...

 in 1900. In 1887 Nunhead is recorded as having a population of 10,727. There was a Nunhead Football Club
Nunhead F.C.
Nunhead Football Club were an English football club from Nunhead, Greater London. The club was prominent in South non-league prior to World War II, but folded because of it.-History:...

 from 1888 to 1949. Nunhead has some fine examples of late Victorian / early Edwardian properties; these can be seen on both Carden Road and Tresco Road.

Regeneration

Nunhead forms part of Southwark London Borough Council's Peckham Programme regeneration scheme. As part of this plan, the area forms part of the East Peckham and Nunhead renewal area. A component of this regeneration is the proposal that the Cross River Tram
Cross River Tram
Cross River Tram was a Transport for London proposal for a tram system in London, England, UK. It was planned to run on a north-south route from Camden Town in the north, through and , to Peckham and Brixton in the south....

 could serve the area, however in November 2008 Mayor of London
Mayor of London
The Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London. Conservative Boris Johnson has held the position since 4 May 2008...

 Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...

 announced that due to funding constraints this project would no longer be taken forward.

Nearest Places

  • East Dulwich
    East Dulwich
    East Dulwich is a district of South London, England in the London Borough of Southwark. It forms the eastern one third of Dulwich, with the Dulwich Wood area, Dulwich Village and West Dulwich to its South and West making up the remaining two thirds...

  • Brockley
    Brockley
    Brockley is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross.It is covered by the London postcode districts SE4 and SE14.-History:...

  • Peckham
    Peckham
    Peckham is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Southwark. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...

  • New Cross Gate

Transport

Gibbon Road is the location of Nunhead railway station
Nunhead railway station
Nunhead railway station is a railway station in the Nunhead area of the London Borough of Southwark. The station and all trains serving it are operated by Southeastern...

. The station is located on the line from Blackfriars
Blackfriars station
Blackfriars station, also known as London Blackfriars, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex in the City of London, England. Its platforms will eventually span the River Thames a short distance downstream from Blackfriars Bridge. The current entrance is located on the...

 to Sevenoaks and Victoria to Dartford. Train services are provided by Southeastern
Southeastern (train operating company)
London & South Eastern Railway Limited, trading as Southeastern is a train operating company in south-east England. On 1 April 2006 it became the franchisee for the new Integrated Kent Franchise , replacing the publicly owned South Eastern Trains on the former South East Franchise...

. The area is also served by a variety of London Buses
London Buses
London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London that manages bus services within Greater London, UK. Buses are required to carry similar red colour schemes and conform to the same fare scheme...

 services. As part of the urban sprawl of London, Nunhead is contiguous with the neighbourhoods of Brockley
Brockley
Brockley is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross.It is covered by the London postcode districts SE4 and SE14.-History:...

 to the east, Honor Oak
Honor Oak
Honor Oak is an inner suburban area principally of the London Borough of Lewisham, with part in The London Borough of Southwark. The name originates from Oak of Honor Hill, or One Tree Hill. The legend is that on 1 May 1602, Elizabeth I picnicked with Sir Richard Bulkeley of Beaumaris in the...

 to the south, East Dulwich
East Dulwich
East Dulwich is a district of South London, England in the London Borough of Southwark. It forms the eastern one third of Dulwich, with the Dulwich Wood area, Dulwich Village and West Dulwich to its South and West making up the remaining two thirds...

 to the south west, Peckham
Peckham
Peckham is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Southwark. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...

 to the north west and New Cross
New Cross
New Cross is a district and ward of the London Borough of Lewisham, England. It is situated 4 miles south-east of Charing Cross. The ward covered by London post town and the SE 14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, Telegraph Hill, Nunhead, Peckham, Brockley, Deptford and Greenwich...

 to the north east.

Politics

Nunhead forms part of the Camberwell and Peckham Westminster constituency, with a ward in that constituency named Nunhead. The current MP is Harriet Harman
Harriet Harman
Harriet Ruth Harman QC is a British Labour Party politician, who is the Member of Parliament for Camberwell and Peckham, and was MP for the predecessorPeckham constituency from 1982 to 1997...

 and the ward councillors are Fiona Colley, Althea Smith and Sunil Chopra. Some local policy elements are devised through consultation between Southwark Council and the Nunhead and Peckham Rye Community Council. Fiona Colley also operates an online question and answer surgery with residents at local forum South East Central http://www.southeastcentral.co.uk/threads/nunhead-peckham-rye-councillors-can-we-help.481/ Nunhead forms part of the Lambeth and Southwark
Lambeth and Southwark (London Assembly constituency)
Lambeth and Southwark is a constituency represented in the London Assembly.It consists of the London Borough of Lambeth and London Borough of Southwark.Since the first assembly elections in 2000 it has been represented by Valerie Shawcross....

 London Assembly constituency represented by Valerie Shawcross
Valerie Shawcross
Valerie Shawcross CBE is a Labour Party politician and member of the London Assembly for Lambeth and Southwark. Shawcross was the Labour Co-operative candidate for Bermondsey and Old Southwark at the 2010 general election....

 and the London
London (European Parliament constituency)
London is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 8 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :The constituency corresponds to Greater London, in the south east of the United Kingdom....

European Parliament constituency.
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