DEPTFORD               

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Tanners Hill

Oldest buildings 

• The buildings at 21-31 Tanners Hill are key survivors of 18th-century Deptford, with origins dating back to smaller 17th-century cottages. The street reflects the area's maritime heritage, featuring timber-framed buildings that have been carefully restored.
• Maritime Connection: The timbers used to construct the houses are thought to have come from the historic Royal Dockyard founded by Henry VIII, and early occupants were often shipwrights, carpenters, and tradespeople.
• Industrial & Commercial Life: The street was a bustling, densely populated area even in the early 19th century. It has historically supported various trades, including Witcomb Cycles, a renowned handmade bicycle shop operating for decades until 2009.
• Modern Preservation & Restoration: The area is now a conservation area. Recent restoration projects, such as those by Dow Jones Architects, have transformed former workshops into residential homes and galleries, blending modern living with historic preservation. 

Over the main road: Deptford Broadway - New Cross Road

Deptford Broadway

CARRINGTON HOUSE

Deptford High St., South to North

The anchor 

A real old ship’s anchor, brought to Deptford from Chatham Dockyard in 1988, a monument and landmark to remind people that Deptford was a centre for ship building since Henry VIII.

Behind Nos. 5-9. Site of RAGGED school, now Asda

Before the first purpose-built Deptford Ragged School in 1886 the Deptford Ragged School was run in rented buildings and rooms. In 1849, five years after the start of the Deptford Ragged School, they rented a room in Duncan Yard in which to run the school. The school in Duncan Yard had 100 children attending and had many voluntary and paid teachers. Duncan Yard does not exist today, but it was most likely behind Asda on Deptford High Street. It would also have been behind the Admiral Duncan pub on New Cross Road, which was probably how Duncan Yard got its name. 

Ragged children were so called because they were dressed in rags with ‘bare feet in all weathers. Children were described as half-starved, half-dressed and half-wild’. (From a Deptford Ragged School Archive report). Some children were so neglected and uncared for that they didn’t have names, they were known by nicknames. Many children did not have enough food to eat and suffered from starvation. In 1869 a teachers report said that they needed to feed the children before they could teach them. They fed the children bread and soup.

Former TRICKETT & CO

The full title was Tea, Coffee & Colonial Merchant. Richard Trickett was born in Yorkshire in 1815. He set up his shop in Deptford in the 1850s and passed the business onto his sons (he had 7 children) when he died in 1886. In the 1882 trade directory Trickett's is listed as a cheesemonger, wholesale and retail grocers.

Nos. 22-32 Deptford High Street. Georgian

Nos. 70-72 Deptford High Street. Victorian

Num. 91 Deptford High Street

Giffin St.

Site of  RAGGED SCHOOL, opposite Library and Wavelengths

Carriage ramp

Deptford Market Yard (weekends)

WW2: AIR RAID SHELTER sign

WW2 air raid shelter signs, or "ghost signs," are still visible in Deptford, particularly near Deptford Market Yard, Comet Street, and Tanners Hill, marking former public shelters from the Blitz. These remnants, often featuring arrows pointing to underground or brick shelters, were restored in 2018.   

104-108 and 116-118 Deptford High Street. MARY LACY’s HOUSES

The houses above the shops at the other side of the High Street (opposite the exit to Deptford market Yard). These were said to be built by Mary Lacy.

Mary Lacy was born in 1740 and grew up in a poor family in Kent. When she was 19, she ran away and joined the Royal Navy, disguised as a man, William Chandler. She spent 5 years at sea, learning carpentry skills. Mary became an apprenticed shipwright (shipbuilder) and lived on board a ship in Chatham Dockyard for seven years.

Deptford Railway station, London’s oldest railway station still in use

https://www.londonremembers.com/subjects/london-and-greenwich-railway?memorial_id=10846 

Our Lady of the Assumption RC Church 

ST.PAUL’s HOUSE

HAMILTON Rd. A bogus plaque

Site of FRIENDS’ MEETING HOUSE

Quakers have their origins in the religious and political turmoil of the 17th-century English Civil War. 
In the mid-17th century, the English Dissenter, George Fox, turned his back on the established church. Fox claimed that because each individual can have a direct relationship with God, there is no need for priests or traditional churches.

https://heritagecalling.com/2020/11/02/a-brief-introduction-to-quakers/ 

Churchyard

MYDIDDEE Memorial

A native of Tahiti. Sailed to England with Captain William Bligh in HMS Providence. Died in Deptford, 4th September 1793.

ST.PAUL’s Church

https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/16898842.j-goddard-pie-mash-deptford-close-128-years/ 

Former WHITE SWAN PH

Albury St.

Creek Road