Blackheath, London

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Blackheath is a place in London, England, divided between the London Borough of Lewisham and the London Borough of Greenwich (the borough boundary runs across the middle of the heath, with the Village in Lewisham and the Blackheath Standard area and Westcombe Park in Greenwich), whose name derives from the dark colour of the soil, and not, as was popularly believed for many years, from the burial of victims of the Black Death on the heath in the 14th century.

Settled by Romans as a stopping point on Watling Street, Blackheath was also a rallying point for Wat Tyler's Peasants' Revolt of 1381, and for Jack Cade's Kentish rebellion in 1450. After pitching camp on Blackheath, Cornish rebels were defeated in the Battle of Deptford Bridge (sometimes called the Battle of Blackheath), just to the west, on 17 June 1497. With Watling Street crossing the heath carrying stagecoaches en route to north Kent and the Channel ports, it was also a notorious haunt of highwaymen during the 17th century.

Blackheath is perhaps most famous as the home of the Blackheath Football Club, founded in 1858, which was the first Rugby club in the world without restricted membership. With neighbouring Greenwich Park, it is also well known as the start point of the London Marathon, has strong associations with the campaign for women's suffrage - the suffragette movement - and the heath frequently hosts kite-flying competitions.

The sizeable prestigious private estate of Blackheath Park (also known as the Cator Estate), created by John Cator, sits at the top of the high street. Built in the late 1700s and early 1800s, it contains many fine examples of substantial Georgian and Victorian houses (as well as some 1930s and 1960s additions) and a church, St Michael and All Angels (designed by local architect George Smith and completed in 1830), dubbed the Needle of Kent in honour of its tall, thin spire.

Famous residents

(in alphabetical order)

Caroline of Brunswick, married to the Prince Regent, was banished in 1799 to a private residence ('The Pagoda' - attributed to architect Sir William Chambers) in Blackheath.
James Callaghan, British Prime Minister 1976-1979, lived at Blackheath in the 1950s and 1960s, and his daughter Margaret went to Blackheath High School.
Montague John Druitt, for many years a popular suspect in the Jack the Ripper murders, lived in Blackheath during the 1880s.
Astronomer Royal Sir Frank Watson Dyson lived at 6 Vanbrugh Hill, SE3 between 1894 and 1906 (blue plaque).
James Glaisher (1809-1903), who pioneered modern weather forecasting techniques, lived in Dartmouth Row.
composer Charles Gounod lived at 15 Morden Road, SE3 in 1870 (blue plaque).
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), American author, lived at 4 Pond Road in 1856 (blue plaque).
Jools Holland, TV personality and musician lives in Westcombe Park.
Donald McGill (1875-1962), postcard cartoonist lived at 5 Bennett Park, SE3 (blue plaque).
Sir James Clark Ross, who in 1831 located the magnetic North Pole, and whom after the Ross Island and Ross sea are named, lived on Eliot Place.
Terry Waite, humanitarian and hostage in Lebanon (1987-1991), lived in Blackheath.
Sir Alfred Yarrow, shipbuilder, lived at Woodlands, Mycenae Road, Westcombe Park from 1896 (this was a house built for merchant John Julius Angerstein whose art collection formed the basis of the National Gallery, London in 1824).

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