Blackheath is an area in Southeast London, straddling the border of the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Lewisham. Historically within the county of Kent, it is located northeast of Lewisham, south of Greenwich and southeast of Charing Cross, the traditional centre of London.
The area southwest of its station and in its ward is named Lee Park. Its northern neighbourhood of Vanbrugh Park is also known as St John's Blackheath and despite forming a projection has amenities beyond its traditional reach named after the heath. To its west is the core public green area that is the heath and Greenwich Park, in which sit major London tourist attractions including the Greenwich Observatory and the Greenwich Prime Meridian. Blackheath railway station is south of the heath.
History
Etymology
Records and meanings
The name is from Old English spoken words 'blæc' and 'hǣth'. The name is recorded in 1166 as Blachehedfeld which means "dark, or black heath field" – field denotes an enclosure or clearing. Lewis's topological dictionary opines, considering the adjective developed equally into derived term bleak, that Blackheath "takes its name either from the colour of the soil, or from the bleakness of its situation" before adding, reflecting Victorian appreciation, mention of "numerous villas with which it now abounds...it is pleasantly situated on elevated ground, commanding diversified and extensive views of the surrounding country, which is richly cultivated, and abounds with fine scenery". It was an upland, open space that was the meeting place of the hundred of Blackheath.
Formal name for estates around the heath
By 1848 Blackheath was noted as a place with two dependent chapels under Lewisham vestry and another, St Michael and All Angels, erected 1828-1830 designed by George Smith. The latter made use of £4000 plus land from land developer John Cator, plus a further £11,000 from elsewhere. The name of Blackheath gained independent official boundaries by the founding of an Anglican parish in 1854, then others (in 1859, 1883 and 1886) which reflected considerable housing built on nearby land. In local government, Blackheath never saw independence; at first split between the Lewisham, Lee, Charlton and Greenwich vestries or civil parish councils and Kidbrooke liberty, which assembled into Greenwich, Plumstead (in final years called Lee) and Lewisham Districts then re-assembled with others into Greenwich and Lewisham metropolitan boroughs in 1900.
Etymological myth
An urban myth is Blackheath could derive from the 1665 Plague or the Black Death of the mid-14th century. A local burial pit is nonetheless likely during the Black Death, given the established village and safe harbour (hithe) status of Greenwich. At those times the high death rate meant that a guaranteed churchyard burial became impractical.
Archaeology
A key Celtic trackway (becoming a Roman road and later Watling Street) scaled the rise that is shared with Greenwich Park and a peak east-by-southeast, Shooters Hill. In the west this traversed the mouth of Deptford Creek (the River Ravensbourne) (a corruption or throwback to earlier pronunciation of deep ford). Other finds can be linked to passing trade connected with royal palaces. In 1710, several Roman urns were dug up, two of which were of fine red clay, one of a spherical, and the other of a cylindrical, form; and in 1803, several more were discovered in the gardens of the Earl of Dartmouth and given to the British Museum.
Royal setting
Certain monarchs passed through and their senior courtiers kept residences here and in Greenwich. Before the Tudor-built Greenwich Palace and Stuart-built Queen's House, one of the most frequently used was Eltham Palace about to the southeast of the ridge, under the late Plantagenets, before cessation as a royal residence in the 16th century.
On the north side of the heath, Ranger's House, a medium-sized red brick Georgian mansion in the Palladian style, backs directly onto Greenwich Park. Associated with the Ranger of Greenwich Park, a royal appointment, the house was the Ranger's official residence for most of the 19th century (neighbouring Montagu House, demolished in 1815, was a royal residence of Caroline of Brunswick). Since 2002, Ranger's House has housed the Wernher Collection of art.
The Pagoda is a notably exquisite home, built in 1760 by Sir William Chambers in the style of a traditional Chinese pagoda. It was later leased to the Prince Regent, principally used as a summer home by Caroline of Brunswick.