Forest Hill
Forest Hill is a suburb and electoral ward in the London Borough of Lewisham, situated between Dulwich and Sydenham in southeast London, England. Increasingly popular amongst house-buyers and investors, the area has enjoyed extensive investment since plans to extend the East London Line to Forest Hill were unveiled in 2004.
Like many London suburbs, Forest Hill was only sparsely populated until the mid-19th century. The name Forest Hill came from 'the forest with a big hill', which was coined by a developer in the 1790s, and referred to the remaining area of Forest on Sydenham Hill which was originally part of the Great North Wood.
A canal, the Croydon Canal, was constructed through the area in 1809 but the large number of locks (28) meant it was not a commercial success, and it was bought by the London & Croydon Railway Company who constructed their railway along the same route, opening it in 1839. The retaining wall of the footpath opposite the station outside the pub is about the only physical evidence of the canal which still exists.
When the Crystal Palace was moved from Hyde Park to Sydenham, large homes were built on the western end of Forest Hill.
In 1884, what would become London's oldest swimming pool was constructed on Dartmouth Road.
The tea merchant Frederick Horniman built a museum to house his impressive collection of natural history artifacts. He donated the building and its gardens to the public in 1901 and this became the Horniman Museum.
As its population grew, two large secondary schools were built in the area - Forest Hill Boys and Sydenham Girls on the brink of Forest Hill.
Now in the 21st century, Forest Hill has a large residential population and the area is becoming increasingly desirable as a peaceful, leafy suburb with good transport links into the centre of town, and slightly lower-than-average property prices.
Source: Wikipedia
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West Norwood
West Norwood