Visit Downham Places

Welcome to Visit Downham Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Downham

  

Downham Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Downham

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Downham history

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Origins of Downham estate

Before 1920, the area had no houses, apart from a shooting range close to Rangefield Road and areas of farmland in the period around 1890 . Local boroughs like Deptford and Bermondsey as well as the London County Council felt it was essential to reduce overcrowding by erecting more residential property . New law of 1923 provided government funding to enable residential developments to be built by local governments .

Historic demography

The area of the estate was in the region of 522 acres (2.1 km), with 461 acres (1.9 km) in the Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham and 61 acres in the Municipal Borough of Bromley . Parts around Grove Park railway station to the east had already begun to experience some building works . The estate stretched for about 1.25 miles (2 km)

Downham estate in the 1920s

Those who were first to live on the Downham estate late in the 1920s had mostly been relocated from certain less pleasant parts of the inner city . These new homes were of a much higher standard than their previous homes .

Downham estate from the 1930s to the 1950s

By the 1930s, lack of clarity had arisen in regard to responsibilities in relation to the dividing class wall following complaints by LCC to authorities at Lewisham Council . The Town Council of Bromley was firm in its decision not to take down the wall . Eventually Bromley Council removed it in 1950 by which time World War 2 had ended .

Downham geography / climate

Downham is bordered by Grove Park, Plaistow, Bromley Hill, Beckenham, Bellingham, Southend and Whitefoot. New facilities include Downham Sports and Leisure Centre as well as Tesco Local. Marks and Spencers now serves as the grocery shop at the BP station.

You can visit Downham places with Walkfo Downham to hear history at Downham’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Downham has 100 places to visit in our interactive Downham map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Downham, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Downham places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Downham & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 100 audio facts unique to Downham places in an interactive Downham map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Downham Places Map
100 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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Downham historic spots	Downham tourist destinations	Downham plaques	Downham geographic features
Walkfo Downham tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Downham

  

Best Downham places to visit

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Downham has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Downham’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Downham’s information audio spots:

Wellcome Research Laboratories Wellcome Research Laboratories was a site in Beckenham, south-east London, that was a main research centre for pharmaceuticals . Until 1965, this laboratory site was situated in Kent .

Downham Fields Downham Fields is a 20-acre park located in Downham, South East London . It was left as parkland during the construction of the interwar Downham Estate . It is sometimes referred to in documents by the name Durham Hill, but this is not in common usage .

Ladywell Fields Ladywell Fields is a public park in the London Borough of Lewisham created from three historic fields . It is located near Ladywell railway station at the northern end of the park, and Catford Bridge at the southern end .

Boone’s Chapel Boone’s Chapel is a single-storey building attributed to Sir Christopher Wren and built in 1683 . The chapel is listed Grade I on the National Heritage List for England .

Visit Downham plaques