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Crystal
Palace & Gipsy Hill
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.
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