Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London
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Location: Sydenham, London, England, United Kingdom
Surnames/tags: One_Place_Studies London Serowka
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Charleville Circus, Sydenham, Kent One Place Study
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| OS Plan 1951 1:1250 |
Overview of the project
Within this in-depth study, Charleville Circus emerges as a focal point within a larger narrative, encapsulating a captivating era where Victorian innovators fashioned a remarkable attraction. Drawing massive crowds to Upper Sydenham, this area became a hub for leisure, enlightenment, and entertainment, while offering a select few an idyllic residential haven. Situated a mere 7 miles from the largest capital city in the world*, yet connected by 'new-fangled' railways, it provided a swift escape from the industrial bustle and smog of the expanding metropolis.
Around the houses!
Charleville Circus stands out for its unconventional layout on suburban maps of South East London. Nestled between two main thoroughfares, it was never intended to serve the typical roundabout function, thus allowing vehicles to circumnavigate in either direction. Instead, it exudes a serene residential charm, adhering to its name with a circular arrangement. Victorian residences, predominantly three or four stories high and adorned in fashionable revival styles, are scattered in a seemingly random fashion around the perimeter and within the centre of this circular layout. When observed from above, its uniqueness is further accentuated by intriguing triangular and quadrilateral garden shapes.
For me, Charleville Circus holds profound personal significance as my childhood home. Despite the passage of years and living at a distance, I maintain a deep affection and a distinct connection to this extraordinary place.
Ambitious aims of the study
The goals of this study are ambitious. As an ongoing project, I aim to compile all available census data, historical events, human interest stories, images, and documents pertaining to the properties and former residents of this street. By linking individuals on WikiTree and cross-referencing them with this study, I hope future researchers can contextualise the lives and activities of past inhabitants.
Any assistance with census data or content would be greatly appreciated. If you possess even the smallest snippets of information, documents, or images related to this area, please don't hesitate to share them on this page or reach out to me, (Steve) the Profile Manager, via message. I assure you of a prompt and enthusiastic response.
*London was the world's largest city from about 1831 to 1925, with a population density of 802 per acre (325 per hectare).
Links:
Name Mystery
It has been established that the place known as Charleville Circus was constructed a short time before 1879.
In the early days it was also referred to as 'Charleville Crescent'. This may have been during house construction when only part of the circle was complete.
But why 'Charleville'? Any connection with Charleville [Charles Town] in France? Ireland or Australia? Another clue to a northern French connection is the name of the name 'Caen Tower' given the the rather grand building on the corner of Charleville Circus and Westwood Hill.
Further investigation is required in the future.
Geography
- Continent: Europe
- Sovereign State: United Kingdom
- Country: England
- County: Kent until 1889 and the creation of the County of London
- GPS Coordinates: 51.42576549100075, -0.0666529321773769
- Elevation: 304' (92.66m) above sea level. Nearest Bench Mark at 55/57 Westwood Hill
- Post Code: SE26 6NR
History Timeline
1854
After the Great Exhibition of 1851 the giant iron and glass structure called the Crystal Palace was relocated from Hyde Park. Transported by many hundreds of horses and wagons, the grand Palace of the People was rebuilt at Sydenham.
Crystal Palace Foundation: [1]
The opening of the Crystal Palace in its new location in 1854 drew tens of thousands of visitors to international exhibitions, concerts, conferences, and sporting events. This surge in popularity transformed Sydenham into a highly desirable area, leading to a significant demand for opulent new residences. Consequently, numerous impressive Victorian villas were constructed around the newly established Crystal Palace park. Upper Sydenham, as it became known, swiftly developed into—and continues to be—an affluent neighborhood of South London. Charleville Circus, nestled within this burgeoning development, was located just a third of a mile away from the iconic attraction.
Crystal Palace, Sydenham - Rijksmuseum, Netherlands - Public Domain. https://www.europeana.eu/item/90402/RP_F_F16365
1862
Brickfield and Rock Cottage
Prior to the development of Charleville Circus, the triangular parcel of land situated between West Hill (later renamed Westwood Hill) and Crystal Palace Park Road was known as Brickfield. As its name implies, this area served as a storage space for the output of the brick kilns located nearby, north of West Hill, as clearly indicated on the 1879 map.
Within this area, there was only one property known as 'Rock Cottage'. Unfortunately, little information is available about this house beyond the reference provided:
BURT'S SYDENHAM & FOREST HILL Guide and Directory 1862. [Page 56]
Street Directory for WEST HILL [former name of Westwood Hill] West, William, Railway Agent and Surveyor, Rock Cottage
[Mr West of the same address is also listed under the heading 'Directory of Clergy and Gentry' on page 53]
‘Rock Cottage’ shown is in approximate location of 15/17 Charleville Circus. See Stanford Maps 1864-79 reference:
1863
Penge Tunnel An engineering marvel loathed by her majesty Queen Victoria
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| The Penge Tunnel portal at Sydenham Hill station |
The inauguration of the Penge Mainline Railway Tunnel, stretching from Sydenham Hill to Penge East and passing directly beneath Charleville Circus, marked a significant event. The tunnel's path is distinctly indicated on the OS Plan, passing below properties numbered 10, 19, and 21.
Measuring a mile and a quarter in length at the time of its construction, the tunnel was hailed as another marvel of Victorian engineering. Despite Queen Victoria's extensive travels across the nation's expanding railway network, she famously expressed her distaste for tunnels, particularly singling out the one at Penge.
An intriguing side note:
Between 1994 and 2007, Eurostar trains traveling between London and Paris passed through Penge Tunnel. This period coincided with the opening of the Channel Tunnel and the completion of HS1, the High-Speed rail route linking the Channel Tunnel to a new London International Terminus. During these 13 years, there was a speed disadvantage in the UK as state-of-the-art high-speed trains had to navigate the curves of the original Victorian railway network. Technical observers might have also noted, from photographs of the Penge Tunnel, that South London railways operate on third rail electrical power rather than overhead lines, necessitating the original Eurostar trains to be equipped for switching to this power source.
c.1879
New Charleville Circus road layout shown on Stanford’s Library Map Of London And Its Suburbs with access via West Hill only.
1879 7th June
Notice in – Sydenham, Forest Hill & Penge Gazette:
UPPER SYDENHAM AND WEST CROYDON Capital Building Sites
Mr. T. R. MEAKIN will Let by Auction at the Mart, near the Bank of England, on Tuesday July 1st, at Twelve o'clock. UPPER SYDENHAM – Several choice Building sites in Charleville Circus, between West Hill and Crystal Palace Park Road, close to the Crystal Palace and six minutes' walk from the High Level and Sydenham Railway Stations. Roads and sewers are formed. The sites are admirably adapted for the erection of detached villa residences, and the centre part of the circus offers a fine position for a church or public institution.
1881
The suburban homes of London by W.S. Clarke 1881 Describes the area around Sydenham Wells and Upper Sydenham at the very earliest stages of development. Google Books: [2] [original book folios 472-482 or PDF folios 481-505]
Charleville Circus listed in British Postal Guide No.102. 1st October, 1881. Google Books: [3] [page 165]
1883 26th May
Notice in – Norwood News & Crystal Palace Chronicle:
Offer of Building Land - Centre of Circus
SYDENHAM, near to the Crystal Palace and three railway stations. – Valuable Freehold Building Land in Charleville Circus, between Crystal Palace Park Road and West Hill, forming the central portion of the circus, and offering a good site for a church, chapel, club or institute, or for private houses. The roads are sewered, and gas and water laid on. For sale, with possession, by.
1888
Plans showing street numbering: Charleville Circus. BW 1888 We can concluded the houses in Charleville Circus were built by this date. National Archives: [4]
1889
Creation of new County of London so Sydenham's official postal address changes from Kent to London.
1891 Census details included in the 'Former Residents' section
1901 Census details included in the 'Former Residents' section
1911 Census details included in the 'Former Residents' section
1914-18
World War I
1918 24th May
Notice in – Sydenham, Forest Hill & Penge Gazette
Sale of Freehold houses By Order of Executors.
SYDENHAM NOYS and HOWES will SELL by AUCTION at the GREYHOUND HOTEL, SYDENHAM, on WEDNESDAY, 19th June, at 7 o'clock p.m., in separate lots, the Eleven FREEHOLD HOUSES – Nos. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, and 25 CHARLEVILLE CIRCUS.
Mostly Let at £40 per Annum each, and Plot of Land laid out as tennis lawn.
Solicitors, R. F. Jackson and Bawles, 167, Fenchurch Street, E.C. Auctioneers' Office: 4, Sydenham-road, S.E.
1921 11th February
Notice in – The Streatham News and Borough
Sale of 15 Charleville Circus on Leasehold
Full details on the 15 Charleville Circus page in the 'Former Residents' section.
1921 Census details included in the 'Former Residents' section
1936 30th November
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| Crystal Palace Fire |
The Crystal Palace Fire
On the evening of 30 November 1936, a fire was discovered within the Crystal Palace, which took hold and burned quickly, completely destroying the central transept.
The morning after the fire, the Guardian [newspaper] published the following report under the title ‘London flocks to the Palace pyre’:
There was no mistaking the earnestness of London’s farewell to the Crystal Palace tonight. The news was given out in one of the earlier news bulletins on the wireless, but long before that the flickering orange glow into the sky, which could be seen from Islington, Willesden, and even farther north and as far south as Hayward’s Heath, had begun to draw the crowds in hundreds of thousands, by bus and car and train.
Men and women and children tripped and stumbled over the miles of wriggling hose-pipes, slopped about in the muddy streets, and pressed forward closer to the roaring blaze transcending even the most spectacular of Mr. Brock’s famous benefits [brand of fireworks advertised as supplied to Crystal Palace].
Final demolition of this famous edifice removes a Victorian monument of structural engineering, the central transept was one of the largest enclosed areas in England.
Watch dramatic film footage of enormous Victorian glass palace engulfed in flames. British Pathé Newsreel: [5]
While its destruction is mourned as a loss of architectural heritage, its demise may have spared hundreds of lives just four years later at the onset of the London Blitz in 1940. Perched prominently atop Sydenham, its vast size and unique silhouette could have acted as a sign post 'London this way', for incoming German bomber crews, potentially leading to even more catastrophic consequences for the capital's inhabitants.
1939 3rd September
United Kingdom declares war on Germany. Followed in quick succession by a number of British Commonwealth countries and France. This marks the beginning of World War 2.
1945 8th May
Victory in Europe (VE) Day marks Germany's unconditional surrender to the Allied Forces.
1954 3rd March
Letters page from Enid Blyton's Magazine, March 3rd, 1954
A letter from Nanette Williams, 17 Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London, S.E.26
"Dear Enid Blyton, Last week my Daddy made a bird house for me and put it in the garden, and every morning we put bacon scraps, bread and a small bath of water out. Daddy put straw in the house and there are three robins living in there now. Yours sincerely, Nanette Williams"
Enid's reply: "What an interesting piece of news, Nanette!"
Source: World of Blyton
1960-1974
During the roll out of postcodes across the UK Charleville Circus was designated as SE26 6NR
1989
Nobel Prize for Literature winner, Kazuo Ishiguro, wrote most of his well-known novel 'The Remains of the Day' whilst living with Mr & Mrs Marshall at 9 Charleville Circus, in 1989. The best-selling book won the Booker Prize and was made into a successful film, starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson.
Source: Sydenham Society News (Autumn 2018)
Former Residents by Individual Property
Who lived where and when...
- more property's to follow soon
People truly enrich the fabric of a place! From the Victorians and Edwardians to the post-war Baby Boomers, our goal is to meticulously document who resided where and when, delving into as much detail as possible.
Each property will have its own dedicated page added here over time. By primarily utilising census data, we aim to establish connections between individuals or families and the broader WikiTree community, while also facilitating links back to this OPS. Furthermore, we'll explore additional resources such as street directories, occupational journals, and newspaper reports to infuse the records with intriguing facts, painting a vibrant picture of times gone by.
Our ultimate objective is to create a valuable archive that appeals to past and present residents, family genealogists uncovering connections, or anyone intrigued by this specific location.
Content will not be expanded to include recent* or current residents in order to maintain privacy and security. *An exception may be made for personal memories or voluntary family data ...did you party here with Mick Jagger in the sixties?
Join us in completing the circle...
This is an ambitious endeavour, and I welcome anyone enthusiastic about its potential to contribute to the project.
The first property page is dedicated to my own childhood home at 15 Charleville Circus. I hope it serves as a blueprint, showcasing the style and depth envisioned for all subsequent property pages.
Sources
Maps & Ariel Views
- Charleville Circus NSL-UK - 1894-6 Street Plan
- Charleville Circus (west section) NSL-UK - 1951 Street Plan
- Charleville Circus (east section) NSL-UK - 1951 Street Plan
- Charleville Circus Aerial View 1964 Aerofilms large scale oblique photo plane shot in 1964 of Crystal Palace Park looking towards Upper Sydenham from the south-west with television transmission tower and Charleville Circus in the centre. ZOOM - click on image.
Memories
- Charleville Circus Childhood Memories Sydenham Town Forum
Images
- Charleville Circus Photo Cluster Geograph UK
- Charleville Circus Creative Commons Images Wikimedia Commons
Census Records
Census List for reference
- 1891 Census Sunday 5 April 1891 official date
- 1901 Census Sunday 31 March 1901 official date
- 1911 Census Sunday 2 April 1911 official date
- 1921 Census Sunday 19 June 1921 official date
- 1931 Census Public records will not be available until 2031
- 1939 National Registration Act Friday 29 September 1939 official date
Emergency Act of Parliament required wartime identity cards to be issued to all UK citizens.
Transport
Memories: 1
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https://sydenham.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22473