Deptford docks join Venice on 'must save' list

Deptford Dockyard has been put on a list of threatened heritage sites alongside world-renowned places including Venice and the Inca ruins in Peru.The site is one of 67 landmarks deemed at risk by the World Monuments Fund, whose report this year highlights the “rich heritage” of the 16th-century dockyard and nearby Sayes Court Garden, and calls for a redevelopment of the area to be carried out “sensitively”. Developer Hutchison Whampoa plans to build 3,500 high-value homes under its £1 billion Convoys Wharf scheme. But Deptford heritage campaigners, although pleased that the WMF has  recognised the site, are fighting to make developers include more historic  features.

Julian Kingston, 61, director of  the Build the Lenox campaign to get the go-ahead to construct a replica 17th-century warship as part of the development, said it was “amazing news”. He told the Standard: “This is real recognition that we should not be living in the shadow of Greenwich — Deptford is more historic if anything. Four hundred warships have been  built in the dockyard; it is steeped in history.”

Mr Kingston, who lives on a boat in Deptford Creek, added: “It is shameful how Deptford has been treated historically and culturally. We are not against the development but are worried that it doesn’t include anything which marks the rich history of the place.”

He added: “We are not Luddites. We totally accept you can’t have a 40-acre site sitting unused in London — it is absurd, but equally we feel 3,500 luxury units planted on a site of such historical importance and adjacent to one of the most challenged areas of London is completely wrong.”

The developers, whose scheme also includes parks and restaurants, say they have offered a site for the Lenox  shipbuilding project but Mr Kingston insists it is not suitable.

A Hutchison Whampoa spokesman said: “HW and their team have fully evaluated the site’s rich history and the 2013 masterplan has allowed the history and heritage of the site to inform the layouts of spaces and buildings.”

(source: Evening Standards)

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.

Deptford's Famous People

There are many famous personalities that have links with Deptford:

Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) the 17th century diarist often visited the Dockyard when he was Clerk to the Navy Board.

His friend and fellow-diarist John Evelyn (1620-1706) lived here in Deptford, in the manor house called Sayes Court.

Grinling Gibbons (1648-1720) was a famous wood-carver first discovered by John Evelyn when he was working near Sayes Court. He worked on the royal palaces and St. Paul's Cathedral.

Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) the Elizabethan poet and playwright was murdered in a Deptford tavern in 1593. He was buried at St Nicholas, along with other well-known seafarers and shipbuilders.

In 1698 Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia, spent several months studying shipbuilding in Deptford, where he stayed at Sayes Court which belonged to the Evelyn family.
John Penn II (1805-1878), marine engineer, had factories in Deptford and Greenwich making ships' engines.

The novelist Joyce Cary (1888-1957) lived in Deptford.

Many of the great voyages of Discovery began at Deptford. Drake, Frobisher, Raleigh and much later, in his ship the Endeavour, Captain James Cook sailed from here to Australia and New Zealand in 1768.