Deptford History

Medieval Deptford was a small settlement consisting of the houses of fishermen, boat-builders and water pilots along the river. Behind the shore area lay fields and woods.
Deptford began to grow into a busy town after 1513, when Henry VIII founded the Royal Naval Dockyard on a site to the west of Deptford Strand. The Dockyard created plenty of jobs and sailors, shipbuilders, carpenters, ropemakers and many others settled in Deptford. By 1544 the Dock had become the most important in England and in the 18th century a Victualling Yard was established alongside, where ships' stores and provisions were assembled.
Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries Deptford was an important town in its own right, in the same way that Greenwich and Woolwich were. Population expansion in the 1800s led to the development of Deptford New Town. The Royal Dockyard, other shipbuilding yards and maritime industries made Deptford a prosperous place, particularly in time of war. Many fine houses were built, of which some survive in Deptford High Street and Albury Street (Click here to see Places of Interest). As the area became more crowded, different types of housing tended to be grouped into districts. The poorest people lived in the riverside areas bordering the Thames and Deptford Creek, while the wealthy tended to live off the New Cross Road, in Brockley and Hatcham.
London's first railway, from London to Greenwich, was built through Deptford in 1836. The railway was carried on an 878-arch brick viaduct that started from Spa Road, Bermondsey to Deptford. By the end of the century Deptford had become engulfed by London’s suburban development spawned by the growth of the railways.
By 1869 the Dockyard had become outdated and unsuitable to launch ships, and closed permanently that year with the loss of many jobs. It then became a foreign cattle market (until 1913) and now Convoy's Wharf occupies the site. The Victualling Yard remained until 1961 and its site is now occupied by the Pepys Estate, where some 1790 buildings (officers houses and warehouses) remain today.
The history of Deptford in the 20th century is mainly a story of economic decline. Deptford suffered during the depression of the 1930s and during the Second World War when it was bombed. Large swathes were redeveloped in the 1950s and 1960s with modern public housing. The population loss however was mirrored by the decline of the riverside industries. Many of the large firms in Deptford closed down in the late 1960s and early 1970s, resulting in a high level of unemployment in the area. The history of the 21st century will be about economic recovery and urban regeneration.