Solving the street names Apr 5 2002 By Local Historian Brian Mcconnell STANDING there on the street where you live, as they sing in the song from My Fair Lady, people still ask: "Why is it so called? Why not something better, more romantic or what you will?"(posted 8057 days ago)From my schooldays' exercise book here are some of the historic reasons:
* Albert Embankment, between Lambeth and Westminster Bridges, honours Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert (1819-61). * Alleyn Road and Alleyn Park, in Dulwich, is for Edward Alleyn (1566- 1626), Lord of the Manor and an actor in Shakespeare's time, who founded Dulwich College and almshouses. * Bankside, Southwark, is where people watched the Fire of London across the Thames, in the area of the Clink Prison. * Battersea, from Patricksey or Peter's Island, owned by St Peter's Abbey at Westminster, which sent monks to convalesce there. * Baylis Road, Southwark, after Lillian Baylis (1874-1937), niece of the theatrical Emma Pons, whom she partnered to launch the Old Vic theatre, Lambeth. * Bear Gardens, Southwark, from the bear-baiting which replaced the theatres destroyed by the Puritans. Bears were tied to posts and dogs set upon them while customers bet on the outcome. * Black Prince Road, Kennington, from the gift of the Duchy of Cornwall (the manor of Vauxhall and Kennington) by Edward III to his son, the Black Prince (1330-76). * Borough High Street, Southwark, so named from Roman times to identify it as part of a burgh or borough separate from the city of London. * Broomwood Road, Clapham Common, the name of the house there occupied by William Wilberforce of the anti-slavery movement. * Cardinal Cap Alley, Bankside, Southwark, after Cardinal Beaufort, who paraded his ceremonial headpiece given by the Pope (which cardinals by tradition never wear). * Carlisle Lane, former home of the bishops of Carlisle, 14 of whose guests were poisoned by the cook who was boiled to death as punishment. * Cavendish Road, Balham, after scientist Henry Cavendish's laboratories, where he first calculated the weight of the earth to calculate the density of the planet. * Chicheley Street, Waterloo, after Henry Chichele, 15th-century Archbishop of Canterbury, who enlarged Lambeth Palace by adding the Lollard's Tower. See Lollard Street. * Clapham roads so named after Clope or Cloppa, Saxon for homestead, mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1066. * Clink Street, once owned by the bishops of Winchester, with the Clink prison, probably from the old French word, clinque - or catch on the out-side of a door. * Cox's walk, Dulwich, after local painter David Cox. * Effra Road, Brixton, from the river of that name which rose in Norwood, flowed underground via Herne Hill, Oval to the Thames at Vauxhall. * Fentiman Road, Kennington, after the man who brought land to convert it into a plantation, pleasure ground and build himself a mansion. * Gauden Road, Clapham Common North, after Sir Dennis Gauden, 17th- century Bishop of Exeter and Master of the Temple, who lived there. * Grandison Road, Kennington, after Oliver St John, Viscount Grandison, who bought the manor from Charles I. * Ha-Ha Road, Woolwich, after Charles Bridge-man planted the first ha- ha in Britain, French for an invisible fence or hedge. * Lambeth roads from the ancient Lamb's hythe, or places where lambs shipped from abroad were landed on the Thames. * Lollard Street, Kennington, after followers of John Wycliffe who translated the Bible into English, 1382 and 1388, and were imprisoned in the tower named after them at Lambeth Palace. * Montague Close, between Southwark Cathedral and London Bridge, after Viscount Montague, who after the closure of the monasteries continued to worship there, the site of a destroyed Augustinian priory. * Nelson Close, Clapham, because the admiral victor of Trafalgar stayed at an inn here, breaking his regular journeys to be with Lady Hamilton at Cheam. * Rose Alley, Southwark, named after the Rose Theatre, London's first of many built around 1587 at nearby Bankside. * Roupell Street, Southwark, named after William Roupell, a scrap metal merchant and MP for Lambeth North by a suspiciously large electoral majority. He was exonerated but later jailed for unconnected fraud. * Shooters Hill, Greenwich, after the archers who practised their skills there or the coaches which travelled too fast and overshot the top. * Stonhouse Street, Clapham, after the absentee rector, Sir John Stonhouse, who preferred his Oxford estate to performing his clerical duties in SW4. * Thurlow Park Road, Dulwich, centre of the estate of Lord Thurlow (1751-1806), 18th-century Lord Chancellor. * Zoar Street, Southwark, named after the chapel there at which John Bunyan (1628-88) preached. A hidden section News http://icsouthlondon.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/5000hiddensection/page.c fm?objectid=11763334&method=full
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