OLD DEPTFORD HISTORY
This website is dedicated to the past times of Deptford. If you have any stranger-than-fiction stories about Deptford, I would welcome your input. This may include stories of people and places, those still here or long gone, characters, the war years, ghost stories and haunted places, ancient buildings and bygone memories, long forgotten. Please contact me with your stories axelgs1@yahoo.co.uk
Latest posts
A Chance Encounter with a Ghost?
A Mysterious Sighting on the Thames Path Submitted anonymously to olddeptfordhistory.com We recently received the following account from an individual who wished to remain anonymous. It describes a deeply unsettling encounter along the Thames Path , near an area long associated with the maritime industry and the working history of the river. The location—close to O'Sheas Marine Services—sits…
Help for Andrew from Crayford Kent
A Deptford Street, an Orange, and a Question of Place (c.1926–1930) This photograph has recently resurfaced that captures a quiet, human moment from inter-war Deptford: a young boy — Andrew’s father — eating an orange, sometime around 1926–1930. It’s a simple scene, yet it opens up a much bigger question: where exactly was this taken? Andrew, who brought the image to light, has already done the…
The Day the Sky Fell Silent.
The Day the Sky Fell Silent. The V-2 Strike on Woolworths, New Cross – 25 November 1944. 4 In the winter of 1944, Londoners had grown grimly familiar with danger from the air. Sirens, the rising whine of the V-1 “doodlebug,” the rush for shelter. But the weapon that struck Woolworths on New Cross Road brought something new and terrifying: death without warning . At 12:26 pm on Saturday, 25…
Lost Pubs of Deptford
Lost Pubs of Deptford: A Vanished Drinking Landscape Deptford was once thick with pubs. Dock workers, market traders, railwaymen, and families all had their locals — sometimes two or three on the same street. Today, most are gone. Some survive as shells, others as betting shops, flats, or anonymous shopfronts. This is a look back at a few of Deptford’s lost pubs , with historic photos that capture…
Only a Mother would Know.
Moving Final Tributes From The Battle of the Somme Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Remembering the Fallen
Deptford’s Fallen: Remembering Those Who Served in the First World War The Brockley & Ladywell Memorial commemorates 165 men from Deptford lost in the Great War. The Brockley & Ladywell War Memorial: A Lasting Tribute On a quiet stretch of Brockley Grove, the Brockley & Ladywell War Memorial stands as a poignant and enduring reminder of Deptford’s sacrifice during the First World War. Carved into…
HIstory of Mary Ann Buildings - Gardens
Not long after I first published my post about Mary Ann Buildings, I received a lovely message from a reader named Kevin, who kindly shared a personal connection to the place: Hi Andy, Following your post and pictures of Mary Ann's Buildings, I thought I would share a photo I found of my Mum — mid-50s, I think — standing in front of the gate shown in the second picture down on your post. You can…
Lost Burial Ground
The Lost Burial Ground of Hughes Fields, Deptford By olddeptfordhistory.com Deptford has always been a place where London’s past meets the present. Dockyards, merchants, sailors, revolutionaries — their stories lie in the streets and buildings around us. But there’s one story almost invisible today: the burial ground that once lay beneath or beside Hughes Fields . This is the tale of a field, a…
The KIngs Arms Deptford. Another Ghost Story
The Kings Arms, Deptford A Ghost in the Dumb Waiter? Deptford has never been short on strange tales. Its streets are layered with the footsteps of sailors, merchants, rebels, and rogues. But one story has persisted quietly through the years — the ghost said to haunt the Kings Arms , a centuries-old pub tucked along Church Street. The Kings Arms was already listed in 19th-century trade directories,…
Help for Andy: Trying to find the location and information of the Three Mariners in Lower Deptford
Three Mariners is an old sign, of which there are examples among the trades tokens, and which is still to be seen on two or three public-houses in London. There was formerly a tavern known by this sign in Vauxhall. 🌍 Help Find the Lost Location of “The Three Mariners” in Deptford For years, I’ve been trying to track down the original site of a lost riverside tavern — The Three Mariners —…
The Ghost of Brockley Cemetery
The Ghost of Brockley Cemetery: A Deptford Haunting That Shocked Victorian London A chilling night in Victorian Deptford In the spring of 1888, the quiet edges of Brockley Cemetery — then often referred to as the Deptford Cemetery — became the scene of an event that sent ripples through London. Newspapers reported that a young woman of about 18 years old had collapsed and died after what witnesses…
THE DEVIL IN DEPTFORD.
THE DEVIL OF DEPTFORD. BEING A TRUE RELATION OF THE STRANGE DISTURBANCES, LUDICROUS FEATS, AND MALICIOUS PRANKS OF AN EVIL SPIRIT IN THE HOUSE OF MR. G., LIVING IN BACK-LANE AT DEPTFORD NEAR LONDON, IN APRIL AND MAY, 1699. THE TRUTH WHEREOF IS KNOWN, AND CAN BE ATTESTED BY A GREAT NUMBER OF THE INHABITANTS OF THAT TOWN. PUBLISHED TO PREVENT FALSE REPORTS. Though the Sadducees and Atheists of this…
Personal Pilgrimage Marked by Remembrance and Loss Hadlow, Kent — July 2025
Paul Moriarty This July, I returned to Hadlow, Kent, for the first time in three years—a journey rooted in remembrance, as I visited my mother’s grave. It was an emotional pilgrimage, marked not only by reflection but also by reconnection with old friends. Yet the visit also brought sorrow, as I learned of the passing of my friend Paul Moriarty. Paul died on February 2, 2025. To many, he was more…
Remembering Tommy Martin Heavy weight Boxer from Deptfod
Tommy Martin Hello, I found your website and I am in search of information about 1930's boxer from Deptford Tommy Martin and his family. He was my grandfather. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Seems like there were quite a few boxers from Deptford. Sounds like it was a pretty tough area. My mom said that my grandfather, as a kid, was the leader of a gang of mischief. I know my great…
Connections between Deptford and Greenwich for the Marsh Family
Hi, great blog in Deptford. My family moved there in the early 1800’s from Dorset. My great great grandfather died in the Greenwich workhouse. This picture of a family wedding shows my great grandmother Rose Marsh 2nd from left front row. 3rd from the right is my great grandfather who was blacklisted by the great western railways for union activity. He had 14 children and they lived in extreme…
Help for Philip
Thank you for a fascinating website. I have been researching the Wood family who lived in the area for many generations and in doing so have been looking at thousands of pages of parish records for around 1700-1800. One of the roads mentioned appears to be Crops Field Lane . Do you or your viewers have any information where this was located? Philip Jacquet
William Armitage. An Artist born in Deptford at 10 Union Street now Albury Street.
An unlucky and forgotten Utah painter's life is a lesson on caring for local art. The Bigger Picture By Wes Long Email Print Cover photo courtesy of Springville Museum of Art Some people just can't catch a break. And for some unlucky few, misfortune trails them even after they have shuffled off from their mortal coil. Take William Joseph Armitage, for example. An academically trained artist from…
William Joseph Armitage
Greetings! My name is Wes Long and I am a writer with the Salt Lake City Weekly. I happened upon your website and thought you might have some insight or suggestions on what I could do to locate information on a residence in old Deptford. I am researching an article on an artist named William Joseph Armitage (1820-1890), who at the age of 15/16 was admitted to the Royal Academy of Arts as a student…
Help for Tony
Hi, I read this morning, with great interest, your Old Deptford History, very good, so much information. My reason for looking on your site was because I am starting a novel which begins in Deptford High Street in the summer of 1914. Why I am sure you ask am I starting my novel there. My mother and her family, of two sisters and four brothers, were born there, although I'm not sure if they were…
Memories all the way from Australia
G'day from sunny Queensland. I have just discovered your articles about old Deptford in SE London - fascinating. I was actually searching for a 'doss house' there called Carrington House - now an unlikely upmarket apartment building I understand - my interest being piqued by a recent TV programme.. In the early '60s I was Public Health Inspector with Deptford Borough Council - as was - and was…
Whitcher Street.
Hi there, I came across your blog whilst looking for information on Whitcher Street, which appears to have existed between the late 1940s to 1970 or thereabouts. My father, Albert Eric Whitcher (8/7/1927-28/7/2023, native of Epsom, Surrey) had learned in the early 70s that the street was being redeveloped, and purchased the street sign from the council. It was on display in my childhood home in…
A Bedmaker ... Carrington House.
I have just discovered your Old Deptford web site. I see a lot of comments from 2012, but I hope you are still involved and interested. I have been researching a friend's family history, and found hergrandmother living in Douglas Street Deptford in the 1921 census.She was aged 46, wife and mother, but it was unusual that she had a occupation, which was apparently shared by about 100 other people…
Emperor of the United States
Hi All My name is John Lumea. I live in Boston and am the founder of a nonprofit, THE EMPEROR NORTON TRUST, that since 2013 has been working on a variety of fronts — research, education, advocacy — to advance the legacy of a San Francisco eccentric and sometime visionary that declared himself "Emperor of the United States" in 1859 and went on to become a folk hero and patron saint of his adopted…
Deptford Memories by Jeff Manning
My name is Jeff Manning, and I was born and bred in Deptford (1950-1970) and I would like to share my memories of Deptford with other deptfordites. Deptford had 2 excellent pie and mash shops I remember my brother and me eating in Goddards when it was in Evelyn Street but we also enjoyed pie and mash in Manzes (Pie and mash was one shilling and 4d for a Pepsi to wash it down.) Does anyone remember…