London Borough of Lewisham


Lewisham is a London borough in south-east London, England. It forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham. The local authority is Lewisham London Borough Council, based in Catford. The Prime Meridian passes through Lewisham. Blackheath, Goldsmiths, University of London and Millwall F.C. are located within the borough.
WWW lewisham.gov.uk

History

The modern borough broadly corresponds to the area of the ancient parishes of Lee and Lewisham, plus the later parish of Deptford St Paul, created in 1730 when the ancient parish of Deptford was subdivided. Most of the area was historically in the county of Kent, although Deptford St Paul straddled the boundary with Surrey, with its chapelry of Hatcham being in the latter county. From 1856 the area was governed by the Metropolitan Board of Works, which was established to provide services across the metropolis of London.
In 1889 the Metropolitan Board of Works' area was made the County of London. From 1856 until 1900 the lower tier of local government within the metropolis comprised various parish vestries and district boards. In 1900 the lower tier was reorganised into metropolitan boroughs, two of which were Lewisham and Deptford.
The larger London Borough of Lewisham was created in 1965 under the London Government Act 1963, as an amalgamation of the former area of the metropolitan boroughs of Lewisham and Deptford.
Minor boundary changes have occurred since its creation. The most significant amendments were made in 1996, when the former area of the Royal Docks in Deptford was transferred from the London Borough of Greenwich.

Geography

The borough is surrounded by the Royal Borough of Greenwich to the east, the London Borough of Bromley to the south, and the London Borough of Southwark to the west. The River Thames forms a short section of northern boundary with the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Deptford Creek, Pool River, River Quaggy and River Ravensbourne pass through the borough.
Major landmarks include All Saints Church in Blackheath, the Citibank Tower in Lewisham, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Church and the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill. Millwall F.C. are based in the borough, their stadium The Den being located in South Bermondsey.

Governance

The local authority is Lewisham Council, based at Lewisham Town Hall and the adjoining Laurence House in the Catford area of the borough. Since 2002 the council has been led by the directly elected Mayor of Lewisham. A speaker fulfils the civic and ceremonial roles previously undertaken by the mayor prior to 2002. The current mayor, Brenda Dacres, was the first black woman directly elected mayor in England when elected in March 2024.

Greater London representation

Since 2000, for elections to the London Assembly, the borough forms part of the Greenwich and Lewisham constituency.

Westminster Parliament

The borough includes the constituencies of Lewisham North, Lewisham West and East Dulwich and Lewisham East.
These are the MPs who have represented constituencies covered by the borough since its formation in 1964. Constituencies change their boundaries over time, even where names remain the same.
MPPartyRepresentedDates
Heidi AlexanderLabourLewisham East2010–2018
Christopher ChatawayConservativeLewisham North1964–66
Janet DabyLabourLewisham East2018–present
James DickensLabourLewisham West1966–70
Jim DowdLabourLewisham West1992–2017
Vicky FoxcroftLabourLewisham, Deptford2015–present
John Selwyn GummerConservativeLewisham West1970–74
Carol JohnsonLabourLewisham South1964–74
Patrick McNair-WilsonConservativeLewisham West1964–66
John MaplesConservativeLewisham West1983–92
Roland MoyleLabourLewisham North
Lewisham East		1966–74
1974 -79
Colin MoynihanConservativeLewisham East1983–92
Bridget PrenticeLabourLewisham East1992–2010
Christopher PriceLabourLewisham West1974 -79
Ellie ReevesLabourLewisham West2017–present
John SilkinLabourDeptford
Lewisham, Deptford		1964–74
1974 -87

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, Lewisham has a population of 275,885, is 53% white and 47%, and 43% of households are owner-occupiers.
A 2017 report by and the found that Lewisham has a poverty rate of 26%, close to the London-wide figure of 27%.

Religion

The following table shows the religious identity of residents residing in Lewisham according to 2021 census results

Age and sex

The male population in Lewisham is 157,820, and the female population is 142,733. The average age of people living in Lewisham is 37 years old.
The following table shows the age distributions of residents residing in Lewisham according to 2021 census results.

Education

The London's Poverty Profile, a report by Trust for London and the New Policy Institute, found that 42% of 19-year-olds in Lewisham lack level 3 qualifications. This is the 3rd worst rate out of 32 boroughs.
In 2018, Lewisham had the third highest rate of exclusions of pupils from secondary schools of any area in England.

Transport

Lewisham station, once known as Lewisham Junction, is located at the junction of the lines to Dartford and Hayes, and is also the terminus of the southern branch of the Docklands Light Railway.
The East London Line terminated at New Cross and New Cross Gate until December 2007. An extension to this line opened on 23 May 2010, serving Brockley, Honor Oak Park, Forest Hill, and Sydenham. This forms part of the London Overground network.
The South London Line runs along the extreme North West of the borough, at present there are no stations that are within the borough. There is a proposal for a new station at providing a link to Clapham Junction.

DLR stations

London Underground

There are no Tube stations currently in the borough, as the East London Line has been part of London Overground since 2006. However, an extension of the Bakerloo line beyond Elephant & Castle to Lewisham and Hayes has been proposed.

Cycling

The following designated Cycleways are available in Lewisham:
In addition to these designated routes, the Waterlink Way runs from north to south along the Ravensbourne and Pool rivers.

Main roads

Travel to work

In March 2011, the main forms of transport that residents used to travel to work were: train, 18.6% of all residents aged 16–74; driving a car or van, 11.2%; bus, minibus or coach, 11.2%; underground, metro, light rail, tram, 9.7%; on foot, 4.3%; work mainly at or from home, 2.8%; bicycle, 2.6%.
48% of households in the borough are car free, compared to 42% across Greater London.

Sport and leisure

Millwall Football Club was originally formed in 1885, in Millwall on the Isle of Dogs, East London. They retained the name, even though they moved across the river to New Cross, South London in 1910. In 1993 they moved to their current stadium, The Den which is in Bermondsey, but falls under the Borough of Lewisham. The Borough has a Non-League football club Lewisham Borough Football Club, who play at the Ladywell Arena, Catford.

Civic affairs

Motto

The motto of the borough is "Salus Populi Suprema Lex", which means "The welfare of the people the highest law."

Twinning

The borough is twinned with the following towns:
The borough has also signed a "friendship link" with Ekurhuleni, near Johannesburg, South Africa.

Freedom of the Borough

The honour of Freedom of the Borough has been awarded to: