London Borough of Lewisham

The London Borough of Lewisham (/ˈluː.ɪʃəm/ ) is a London borough in south-east London, England and forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham. The local authority is Lewisham London Borough Council and it is based in Catford.

The Prime Meridian passes through Lewisham. Blackheath, Goldsmiths, University of London and Millwall F.C. are located within the borough.

History

The borough was formed in 1965, by the London Government Act 1963, as an amalgamation of the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham and the Metropolitan Borough of Deptford, which had been created in 1900 as divisions of the County of London.

Minor boundary changes have occurred since its creation. The most significant amendments were made in 1996, when the former area of the Royal Docks in Deptford was transferred from the London Borough of Greenwich.

Geography

Locations in and around the London Borough of Lewisham

See also: List of districts in Lewisham

The borough is surrounded by the Royal Borough of Greenwich to the east, the London Borough of Bromley to the south and the London Borough of Southwark to the west. The River Thames forms a short section of northern boundary with the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Deptford Creek, Pool River, River Quaggy and River Ravensbourne pass through the borough. Major landmarks include All Saints Church in Blackheath, the Citibank Tower in Lewisham, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Church (Sydenham's German Church, technically located in Forest Hill), the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill and Millwall F.C. are based in the borough, their stadium The Den being located in South Bermondsey.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, Lewisham has a population of 275,885, is 53% white and 47% BME, and 43% of households are owner-occupiers.

Civic affairs

Motto

The motto of the borough is "Salus Populi Suprema Lex", which means (roughly translated) "The welfare of the people [is] the highest law."

Administration

The current Chief Executive is Barry Quirk. The borough is administered by the four directorates of the council: Children and Young People, Community Services, Customer Services, and Resources & Regeneration.

Twinning

The borough is twinned with the following towns:

• Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany
• Antony, Hauts-de-Seine, France
• Matagalpa, Nicaragua

The borough has also signed a "friendship link" with Ekurhuleni, near Johannesburg, South Africa.

Freedom of the Borough

The honour of Freedom of the Borough has been awarded to:

• Alan Milner Smith, OBE, Town Clerk (9 December 1971)
• Frederick William Winslade, Esq., JP, appointed OBE for services to local government in Lewisham and Camberwell New Year Honours 1967 and CBE for services to local government in Lewisham Birthday Honours 1978(28 November 1975)
• Daisy Amelia Elizabeth Hurren (10 October 1985)
• Alfred Anderson Hawkins (30 March 1990)
• The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu (4 May 1990)
• Terry Waite, CBE (16 November 1992)
• The Reverend Sybil Theodora Phoenix, MBE, MS [Medal of Service, Co-operative Republic of Guyana] (8 March 1996)
• Dame Cicely Saunders, OM, DBE (10 March 2000)
• James Leslie Hicks ('Les') Eytle (8 June 2007)
• Dame Erica Pienaar (2013)
• Baroness (Doreen) Lawrence of Clarendon OBE, (2014)

Politics

Wards

A map of the wards within the London Borough of Lewisham

The London Borough of Lewisham is divided into 18 wards, first used in the 2002 elections, they are:

• Bellingham
• Blackheath
• Brockley
• Catford
• Crofton Park
• Downham
• Evelyn
• Forest Hill
• Grove Park
• Ladywell
• Lee Green
• Lewisham Central
• New Cross
• Perry Vale
• Rushey Green
• Sydenham
• Telegraph Hill
• Whitefoot

Previous wards

The previous 26 wards of the London Borough of Lewisham divided into 6 areas, used from 1978 to 1998

Previously the borough was divided into 26 wards and 6 areas, used for elections from 1978 to 1998. Some of these former wards had the same names as the present wards, but their borders were different. When the wards were revised for 2002, some became larger, absorbing parts of other previous wards, the number of wards changed from 26 to 18. The previous wards and areas used from 1978 to 1998 were:

Lewisham central Blythe Hill Crofton Park Ladywell Pepys Lewisham North East Blackheath Hither Green Manor Lee St. Andrew St. Margaret Lewisham North West Drake Evelyn Grinling Gibbons Marlowe

Lewisham South Bellingham Catford Perry Hill Rushey Green Whitefoot Lewisham South East Churchdown Downham Grove Park St. Mildred Lewisham South West Forest Hill Horniman Sydenham East Sydenham West

London Borough Council

Main articles: Lewisham London Borough Council and Lewisham local elections

Lewisham's council, unlike most English councils, is led by a directly-elected mayor. The first mayoral election was in 2002 and was won by the Labour Party candidate, Steve Bullock, who was re-elected in 2006, 2010 and 2014. Following the 2014 council elections, there are 53 Labour Party councillors and one Green Party councillor.

Westminster Parliament

The borough includes the constituencies of Lewisham Deptford, Lewisham West and Penge and Lewisham East.

These are the MPs who have represented constituencies covered by the borough since its formation in 1964. Note that constituencies change their boundaries over time, even where names remain the same.

MP	Party	Represented	Dates
Heidi Alexander	Labour	Lewisham East	2010 – present
Christopher Chataway	Conservative	Lewisham North	1964–66
James Dickens	Labour	Lewisham West	1966–70
Jim Dowd	Labour	Lewisham West	1992–present
John Selwyn Gummer	Conservative	Lewisham West	1970–74 (Feb)
Carol Johnson	Labour	Lewisham South	1964–74 (Feb)
Patrick McNair-Wilson	Conservative	Lewisham West	1964–66
John Maples	Conservative	Lewisham West	1983–92
Roland Moyle	Labour	Lewisham North Lewisham East	1966–74 (Feb) 1974 (Feb)-79
Colin Moynihan	Conservative	Lewisham East	1983–92
Bridget Prentice	Labour	Lewisham East	1992–2010
Christopher Price	Labour	Lewisham West	1974 (Feb)-79
Vicky Foxcroft	Labour	Lewisham, Deptford	2015–present
John Silkin	Labour	Deptford Lewisham, Deptford	1964–74 (Feb) 1974 (Feb)-87

Education

Main article: List of schools in Lewisham

Transport

Lewisham Station, an important transport hub

Lewisham station, once known as Lewisham Junction, is located at the junction of the lines to Dartford and Hayes, and is also the terminus of the southern branch of the Docklands Light Railway.

The East London Line (on the London Underground network) terminated at New Cross and New Cross Gate until December 2007. An extension to this line opened on 23 May 2010, serving Brockley, Honor Oak Park, Forest Hill, and Sydenham. This forms part of the London Overground network.

The South London Line runs along the extreme North West of the borough, at present there are no stations that are within the borough. There is a proposal for a new station at New Bermondsey providing a link to Clapham Junction.

Railway stations

Beckenham Hill Bellingham Blackheath – on the border between Lewisham & Greenwich Brockley (Also on London Overground) Catford Catford Bridge Crofton Park Deptford Forest Hill (Also on London Overground) Grove Park Hither Green

Honor Oak Park (Also on London Overground) Ladywell Lee Lewisham Lower Sydenham – on the border between the Boroughs of Lewisham and Bromley New Cross (Also on London Overground) New Cross Gate (Also on London Overground) St Johns Sydenham (Also on London Overground)

DLR stations

• Deptford Bridge – on the border between Lewisham and Greenwich.
• Elverson Road – on the border between Lewisham and Greenwich.
• Lewisham

London Underground

There are no Tube stations in the borough, as the East London Line is now part of London Overground. However, Lewisham Council and Network Rail would like the Bakerloo line extended from Elephant & Castle to Lewisham and Hayes.

Cycling

Two Cycle Superhighways will operate through Lewisham in the future. CS5 was originally intended to run to Lewisham but New Cross gyratory and the Lewisham station junction have caused this to be postponed.

• CS4 – Runs along Deptford's Evelyn Street (A200). Will operate between Woolwich and Tower Bridge. Opened in 2015
• CS5 – Runs from New Cross Road at New Cross Gate station to Victoria via Camberwell and Vauxhall. Opened in 20132013

Main roads

• A2 from the border with Old Kent Road in the west to Kidbrooke in the east.
• A20 from New Cross to the border with Eltham in the east.
• A21 from Lewisham to the border with Bromley in the south.
• A202 from New Cross Gate to the border with Peckham in the west.
• A205 (South Circular Road) passes through the centre of the borough from the border with Dulwich in the west to Eltham in the east. Except for a short section in Lee as it approaches Eltham, it is purely a one-lane-each-way road.

Travel to work

In March 2011, the main forms of transport that residents used to travel to work were: train, 18.6% of all residents aged 16–74; driving a car or van, 11.2%; bus, minibus or coach, 11.2%; underground, metro, light rail, tram, 9.7%; on foot, 4.3%; work mainly at or from home, 2.8%; bicycle, 2.6%.

48% of households in the borough are car free, compared to 42% across Greater London.

Sport and leisure

Millwall Football Club was originally formed in 1885, in Millwall on the Isle of Dogs, East London. They retained the name, even though they moved across the river to New Cross, South London in 1910. In 1993 they moved to their current stadium, The Den which is in Bermondsey, but falls under the Borough of Lewisham. The Borough has a Non-League football club Lewisham Borough Football Club, who play at the Ladywell Arena, Catford.

See also

• List of people from Lewisham
• List of public art in Lewisham

External links

• Lewisham London Borough Council