General
Crystal Palace and Gipsy Hill are bordered by Dulwich, Sydenham and Penge with fabulous views of London and Kent at every turn. Once the Great North Wood, this area has its fair share of open land to this day. Crystal Palace Park, at 200 acres, is the largest surviving example! Full of activities for young and old it has a lot to offer. Two transmitters dominate the skyline and can be seen from everywhere you look. The first went up in 1955, followed by the second the following year. This still remains the capital’s highest structure at 890 feet. Famous inhabitants over the years include Emile Zola, Pisarro, John Logie Baird, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Ken Russell with Charlie Drake and Kenny Dalgliesh still living locally today. The area has an ever-growing selection of bars and restaurants, mainly in ‘The Triangle' which includes Westow Hill and Westow Street, and is becoming famous for the wide range of cuisine on offer. Gipsy Hill has a good selection of restaurants too at Paxton Green. The train stations at Crystal Palace and Gipsy Hill operate services direct to Victoria and London Bridge, and bus routes direct to Oxford Circus or out to Kent. The East London line tube extension is due to come to the area in the future, so improving the transport links even more. Predominantly Victorian, the area offers a wide range of properties from Georgian right through to modern developments. With the prices still very affordable, SE19 is attracting a young, professional crowd, as well as families, keen to take advantage of all that this very popular postcode has to offer.

Property
Sometimes overlooked but well-placed with good transport links to Victoria, London Bridge and Clapham Junction, Crystal Palace and Gipsy Hill have a varied range of properties and are popular with families and young professionals alike. Roads such as Dulwich Wood Avenue and Gipsy Hill itself comprise amazing detached Victorian villas, large 6/7 bedroom semi-detached Victorian and smaller modern houses. In and around the Farquhar Road area are many modern private developments built in the late 1960s/early 1970s. These are part of the Dulwich Estate (which stretches right up to Crystal Palace) and so benefit from being well-maintained and regulated, are generally set in attractive communal gardens and include Bell Meadow, Tylney Avenue, Giles Coppice and Oakfield Gardens. The houses are mainly three- to four- bedroom townhouses popular with young families and those downsizing from Dulwich. There are also seven or eight private blocks of flats (Lowood Court, Glenhurst Court, Knoll Court) which are increasingly popular with young professionals embracing this period of architecture and looking for large flats with good sized rooms. Many of these blocks have far reaching views of the London skyline and are again set in mature communal grounds. In roads such as Camden Hill Road and Woodland Road can be found traditional London properties, flat fronted three- to four-storey townhouses with steps up to the front doors. Bursting with character, these roads are well placed for Gipsy Hill Station and other local amenities. Alexandra Drive, just behind the Gipsy Hill Station, is made up of large Victorian properties mainly split into flats. Just above is Becondale Road, a pretty square surrounded by Victorian semi detached houses peacefully tucked away off Gipsy Hill. Further up into Crystal Palace are roads such as Harold, Bedwardine and Rockmount, which are filled with attractive period properties. Harold Road is particularly impressive with large detached mansions overlooking parkland.

Schools
As with all parts of London, catchment areas cross boundaries and, included in this list, therefore, are schools where the catchment areas include Gipsy Hill and Crystal Palace. In addition as children from the area use the nearby Dulwich Schools, these have also been included.

State Primaries: Paxton Primary School, St Joseph's RC Junior School, Rockmount Primary School, Downsview Primary and Nursery School, All Saints CofE Junior School. State Secondaries: Harris City Technology College, St Joseph's College, Virgo Fidelis Convent Senior School, Westwood Language College for Girls.

Fee-paying schools in the proximity include: Virgo Fidelis Prep. School (nursery to 11 years), Rosemead Preparatory (nursery – formerly Noah’s Arc 3 to 11 years), Streatham Hill and Clapham Girls School (nursery to 18 years), Dulwich College (separate but affiliated kindergarden - DUCKS - and junior schools) (nursery to 18 years), Dulwich College Prep School (nursery to 13 years), Alleyns (4 to 18 years), James Allen Prep School (mixed nursery to 7 years, girls only 8 to 11 years), James Allen Girls School (11 to 18 years) and Sydenham High School (4 to 18 years).

For details of school results (SATS, GCSE & A level) together with addresses and map visit schools in Croydon or schools in Southwark or schools in Lambeth

Other
Crystal Palace is famous for a number of things – its football team, based at Selhurst Park, the National Sports Centre and the park which once housed the Crystal Palace building where the first ever TV broadcast was transmitted. John Logie Baird’s camera, studio and transmitter were located here. The Great Exhibition of 1851 was set up in Hyde Park and Joseph Paxton’s “Crystal Palace” was built to house the large scale exhibition of industrial design. When completed the site covered nine acres! In 1854 this building was then moved to the park at what was to become known as Crystal Palace due to this very structure. More than 200,000 people visited it on on 1st May when it was opened by Queen Victoria. It was the event of its time. Everything was destroyed in a fire on 30 November 1936. The vast empty terraces on the western edge of the park are all that is left of the great building including the Terrace Arches and the Sphinx. Various schemes have been suggested for the site, but thus far nothing has been decided and it is very much felt locally that it would have to be within the parameters of the local Conservation Area. The park today is 200 acres and has a lot to offer and has recently undergone extensive rebuilding and landscaping work totalling £4 million.

The eastern end of the park has housed the National Sports Centre since 1964. Not the prettiest of buildings, but very much at the forefront of the capital’s sporting facilities. There is the arena, astroturf pitches, a boxing hall, an indoor track, a dance studio, grass pitches and climbing walls, outdoor courts, training halls, swimming pools and the stadium itself, which seats 16,000 spectators and has hosted many national and international major sporting events over the years. The South London Harriers are also based here. The track they use was formerly occupied by the football stadium which was built in 1895 and which staged early FA cup finals. The stadium underwent a £1.5 million upgrade in 2004. Every sport you can imagine is practised here, from fencing and judo to American football and short tennis, to name but a few. The London Towers also play here. They are London’s only professional basketball team. On a slightly different note, the Crystal Palace Bowl hosts musical events and a firework display through the summer. Set in a beautiful location within the park, the stage is set back from a lily covered pond and looks spectacular when lit. Still very popular with the younger visitors are the famous brick and iron stucco-covered dinosaurs situated round the lake in the southern corner of the park – a remnant from Joseph Paxton in 1851 - looking slightly strange now, due to modern archaeological discoveries. The circular Tea Maze is London’s largest maze and one of the biggest in the country occupying 2000 square yards. It is open all year round and admission is free. The play area includes swings roundabouts and slides with the café nearby providing much needed refreshments after all the activities on offer here! There are always extra activities going on at the park too. This Christmas there was an outdoor ice rink open, accompanied by a funfair. There is a Farmers Market open between 10:00 – 3:00 on most Sundays. There is also a small museum here that preserves the memory of this great park and important history. Housed at the top corner of the park, you can see some 3D views of the interior of the “Palace” which make you realize what an amazing structure it was. They also do guided tours of the park. Other green areas in the vicinity are Upper Norwood Recreation Ground, occupying 19 acres, now offering football pitches, tennis courts and a skate ramp. Westow Park is next door. It boasts some beautiful chestnut trees and has a children’s playground within the realms of its 6 acres. The Crystal Palace Band are still going strong after 100 years. It is one of the few traditional brass bands remaining in London and has performed at numerous venues and contests over the years.

Transport
Bus services are very good for Crystal Palace including routes to Central London (No.3 including via Gipsy Hill plus nightbus service), Plumstead (No.122), Morden ((No.157), Blackheath (No.202), Bromley (No.227), Balham (No.249), Clapham Common Old Town (No.322 including via Gipsy Hill), Orpington (No.358), Elephant and Castle (No.363), Wallington (No.410), Clapham Common Station (No.417 plus nightbus service), Brixton (No.432), West Croydon (No.450). There are also smaller routes that only operate on certain days/times of the week. Detailed information on buses (with map) can be found at www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/spiders. Train services from Crystal Palace and Gipsy Hill go from Beckenham Junction to London Bridge, London Victoria to London Bridge and Smitham to London Bridge all offering good rush hour services. Detailed information on train links to Crystal Palace and to Gipsy Hill can be found at http://www.infotransport.co.uk/trains/index.php.