Lewisham

History

The earliest written reference to Lewisham – – is from a charter from 862 which established the boundaries with neighbouring Bromley. Lewisham is sometimes said to have been founded, according to Bede, by a pagan Jute, Leof, who settled (by burning his boat) near St Mary's Church (Ladywell) where the ground was drier, in the 6th century, but there seems to be no solid source for this speculation, and there is no such passage in Bede's history. As to the etymology of the name, Daniel Lysons (1796) wrote: :"In the most ancient Saxon records this place is called Levesham, that is, the house among the meadows; leswe, læs, læse, or læsew, in the Saxon, signifies a meadow, and ham, a dwelling. A Latin legal record, dated 1440, mentions a place in Kent as Levesham which may refer to Lewisham. It is now written, as well in parochial and other records as in common usage, Lewisham." "Leofshema" was an important settlement at the confluence of the rivers Quaggy (from Farnborough) and Ravensbourne (Caesar's Well, Keston), so the village expanded north into the wetter area as drainage techniques improved. King Alfred was Lord of the Manor of Lewisham, as is celebrated by a plaque in Lewisham Library. The Manor of Lewisham, with its appendages of Greenwich and Combe, was given by Elthruda, King Alfred's niece, to the Saint Peter's Abbey, Ghent in a Charter dated 18 September around 918, of which Lewisham then became a cell, or an alien priory. This grant is said to have been confirmed by King Edgar in 964, and by Edward the Confessor in 1044, with the addition of many privileges. In the mid-17th century, the then vicar of Lewisham, Abraham Colfe, built a grammar school, a primary school and six almshouses for the inhabitants. In the 17th century the Manor of…

Geography

Almost all of the SE13 postcode district, which is associated with Lewisham is within the London Borough of Lewisham, except for the Coldbath Estate and part of the Orchard Estate along Lewisham Road, which are covered by the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The town includes areas such as St Johns and Hither Green, as well as Lee and Ladywell to the south and east. The nearest Met Office climate station is based in Greenwich Park:

Most-observed species

• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  67,326
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  65,366
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  63,451
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  59,321
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  57,925
• Rose-ringed Parakeet

  Psittacula krameri (Scopoli, 1769) · Aves
  54,913
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  50,165
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  49,943

Most recent

• M 3.1 — 2020-09-22
  5 km N of Aylesbury, United Kingdom
• M 3.9 — 2020-09-08
  2 km WSW of Pitstone, United Kingdom
• M 3.3 — 2019-02-27
  3 km SE of Dorking, United Kingdom
• M 2.8 — 2018-07-05
  1 km S of Ewhurst, United Kingdom
• M 2.6 — 2018-06-27
  5 km W of Capel, United Kingdom
• M 2.7 — 2018-04-01
  4 km E of Holmwood, United Kingdom