Deptford New Town: A 19th century working class estate

Development After 1840

The area farther east along the spine of Albyn Road was developed later, in general from 1850 - 1870, and was of bigger houses. There were two particularly large developments, an imposing terrace of four storey stucco terraces on Lewisham Way, built in the garden of Stone House, and the four storey houses in Cliff Terrace opposite St John’s station. Given their dates (both are of the late 1860s), their size and their proximity to stations these are the only two developments that were obviously influenced by the railway and aimed at London commuters. In contrast there were many streets of flat-fronted, or unusually bow-fronted, terraces such as Strickland Street, Seymour Street (now Admiral Street) and sections of Albyn Road.

The far east end of the estate: Albyn Road beyond St John’s Vale and much of Ashmead Road were built in the later years of the 19th century. At around the same time some of the houses on the earlier streets, such as Lucas Street were demolished and replaced with uniform, larger and better built terraces.

Although the area has a cohesion today this is largely due to its uniform scale and materials. Only subtle differences in detail give a clue as to the long period of development. The estate was not developed to any master plan that determined its layout, but there was a policy of responsible estate and in particular attention was given to important infrastructure such as sewers and roads.