Nunhead, London
| Nunhead | |
|---|---|
 Nunhead
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| Nunhead shown within Greater London | |
| Population | 13,620 (2011 Census. Ward) |
| OS grid reference | TQ355755 |
| • Charing Cross | 4 mi (6.4 km) NW |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LONDON |
| Postcode district | SE15, SE4 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| EU Parliament | London |
| UK Parliament | |
| London Assembly | |
Nunhead is a place in the London Borough of Southwark in London, England. It is an inner-city suburb located 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Charing Cross. It is the location of the 52-acre (0.21 km2) Nunhead Cemetery. Nunhead has traditionally been a working-class area and, with the adjacent neighbourhoods, is currently going through a lengthy process of gentrification. Nunhead is the location of several underground reservoirs, built by the Southwark and Vauxhall Waterworks Company.
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 to the beheading of a nun during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. However, there is no evidence to support this claim.
Nunhead formed part of the large ancient parish of Camberwell in the Brixton hundred of Surrey. It has not formed an independent unit of civil administration. Instead, 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 in 1855 and was transferred to the County of London in 1889. Having formed part of the Camberwell parish, it became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell in 1900. In 1887 Nunhead is recorded as having a population of 10,727. There was a Nunhead Football Club 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. It is even reputed, in Claire Tomlin's biography of Charles Dickens' mistress Nelly Ternan, that Charles Dickens was taken on his death bed from the house he rented for Ternan, at Windsor Lodge in Linden Grove to Gad's Hill to die. The house no longers stands, but was at 31 Linden Grove. Old maps show that the church was next door to where the dental surgery now stands at 42 Linden Grove, so Windsor Lodge was presumably more or less opposite that.
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Wikipedia