Camberwell | |
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Camberwell Green |
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Camberwell shown within Greater London | |
OS grid reference | TQ325767 |
• Charing Cross | 2.7 mi (4.3 km) NW |
London borough | |
Ceremonial county | Greater London |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | LONDON |
Postcode district | SE5, SE15, SE21, SE22 |
Dialling code | 020 |
Police | Metropolitan |
Fire | London |
Ambulance | London |
EU Parliament | London |
UK Parliament | |
London Assembly | |
Camberwell (/ˈkæmbərˌwɛl/) is a district of south London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is located 2.7 miles (4.3 km) southeast of Charing Cross. The name Camberwell was first applied to the Parish of St Giles, Camberwell, which included Camberwell, Peckham, Dulwich, Nunhead, and part of Herne Hill. Until 1889 it was part of the County of Surrey. In 1900 the original parish became the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell.
Then in 1965 most of the Borough of Camberwell was merged into the London Borough of Southwark. To the west part of both West Dulwich and Herne Hill come under the London Borough of Lambeth.
Camberwell appears in the Domesday Book as Cambrewelle. The name may derive from the Old English Cumberwell or Comberwell, meaning 'Well of the Britons', referring to remaining Celtic inhabitants of an area dominated by Anglo-Saxons. An alternative theory suggests the name may mean 'Cripple Well', and that the settlement developed as a hamlet where people from the City of London were expelled when they had life-threatening diseases like leprosy, for treatment by the church and the clean, healing waters from the wells. Springs and wells are known to have existed on the southern slope of Denmark Hill, especially around Grove Park.