Dulwich History

The name Dulwich may come from two Old English words: dill, a white flower, and wihs, meaning a damp meadow.

The first documentary evidence for Dulwich dates from 967, when King Edgar granted the hamlet of Dulwich to Earl Aelfheah. The land later passed to King Harold and then to William I.

In 1127 Henry I gave the land to the Priory of the Holy Saviour in Bermondsey. They remained as landlords until Henry VIII seized control of Dulwich when he dissolved the monasteries in 1538. Henry VIII sold the land to the goldsmith Thomas Calton for £609. In 1605 his grandson sold up to Edward Alleyn, a famous actor, for £4,900.

Early development of Dulwich

Alleyn had a major influence on the development of Dulwich. In 1619 he built a school with provision for 12 poor children, naming it 'Alleyn's College of God's Gift'. The school moved to new premises and became Dulwich College in 1870. Alleyn also built alms houses for 12 elderly people. His estate also helped found James Allen’s Girls' School, founded in 1741 by the Warden of Dulwich College, and Alleyn’s School, a boys school founded in 1842. The estate, now known as The Dulwich Estate, is a registered charity and the biggest land owner in South London.

Dulwich Woods were used regularly as hunting grounds by King Charles I in the 1600s. The woods were the scene of notorious murders in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The coming of the railways in the nineteenth century caused sudden and rapid growth in Dulwich and across South London.

As with much of London, Dulwich was severely hit by bombing raids in World War II. During the war, the Dutch government in exile used Dulwich as base to train its agents.

For more information contact

Katherine Pitt
Tel: 020 7525 6433
Fax: 020 7708 2484
katherine.pitt@southwark.gov.uk
Southwark Council
73 Camberwell Church Street
London
SE5 8TR