Wickham Gardens

Brockley was developed speculatively between the 1830s and early 1900s, with the majority of houses built in the 1870s and '80s. Prior to this the area had been largely farmland, although in the C12th there was for some 100 years a monastery established in Brockley. A watercourse used to flow through the area to the Ravensbourne at Deptford, famous for its Royal Dockyard, and in the early C19th the Croydon Canal was constructed from the Grand Surrey Canal at Deptford, running through New Cross, Brockley and Forest Hill to Croydon, a major feat of engineering albeit somewhat short-lived. In the 1840s the London to Brighton Railway Company purchased the land and the canal became the route of the railway. The construction of the North Kent Railway in 1849 with a station at St John's was the main spur to development of Brockley's pastures and market gardens south of what is now Lewisham Way. The Deptford tithe map shows Brockley landlords as William Wickham Drake and Anne Tyrwhitt Drake, who leased their land to speculative builders and whose names remain in local streets. The houses show the variety of architectural styles popular in the mid to late Victorian period, with Italianate stucco and Gothic terracotta detailing. Many are set in wide, tree-lined roads with large front and back gardens and some had mews to the rear, adding to the area’s character.

Wickham Gardens is a cul-de-sac off Wickham Road, the houses surrounding a garden that was protected under the London Squares and Enclosures (Preservation) Act 1906, which prohibited building on the enclosure. In 1928 the garden was described as: 'Enclosed by a low wall with light iron railings on top. A well-kept and very attractive ornamental garden with lawn, shrubs and a few trees. Overlooked by small but well-tenanted dwelling houses.' At that time it was in the private ownership of a Mr A H Tarleton.

Much of the area, including houses in Wickham Gardens, was damaged by bombing in WWII and rebuilt after the war although Victorian houses remain on the north side. The central garden remains largely unchanged as an area of grass with shrubs and a number of trees, surrounded by the roadway with low brick walling bordering part of the garden.