Living in Camberwell: area guide to homes, schools and transport
This is an arty neighbourhood, too. It is home to Camberwell College of Arts, now part of the University of the Arts London, and the South London Gallery in Peckham Road — one of the capital’s leading contemporary art galleries, which recently extended into a former sausage factory on the opposite side of the road.
The Camberwell Arts Festival, which this year celebrates its 25th anniversary, will run a festival of arty events around the neighbourhood from June 15-23 and is raising funds with the sale of Colour in Camberwell, a colouring book containing 25 scenes of Camberwell life by different artists.
Contrary to popular belief it was Camberwell and not New Cross which nurtured the generation of Young British Artists such as Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas, Gary Hume and Mat Collishaw who studied at Goldsmiths in the Eighties.
This was when Goldsmiths’ Fine Art course was based in the Millard Building in Cormont Road opposite Myatt’s Fields Park in Camberwell, close to Hirst’s first studio in Minet Road.
Estate agent Becky Munday of Munday’s, who has been selling homes in Camberwell for 15 years and established her own agency four years ago, says people are attracted to the district’s many conservation areas, the green spaces, independent shops and cafés and, in spite of the lack of a Tube station, an easy commute into central London.
She says those who don’t know Camberwell are often surprised by what they find there, although she admits that these days many buyers are beginning their search in fashionable Peckham nearby, and only come to Camberwell when they can’t find what they want there.
“This is a complete reversal of the situation 10 or 15 years ago when many buyers thought of Peckham as a no-go area.”
Camberwell is three-and-a-half miles from central London with Walworth and Elephant & Castle to the north; Peckham to the east; Herne Hill and Dulwich to the south and Brixton to the west.
The property scene
There are Georgian houses in Camberwell Grove, Grove Lane and along Camberwell New Road. Grove Park is an area of large Edwardian semi-detached houses and Addington Square off Camberwell Road close to Burgess Park is an early Victorian garden square.
There are large Victorian houses in the enclave around Myatt’s Fields Park and some Thirties detached and semi-detached houses off Denmark Hill south of Ruskin Park.
Camberwell also has a number of interesting period buildings that have been converted from other uses into flats.
St Gabriels Manor in Cormont Road overlooking Myatt’s Fields Park was converted from a Christian seminary, which did service as a hospital in the First World War; Mary Datchelor House in Camberwell Grove was a girls’ grammar school that closed in 1981 rather than become a comprehensive; St Giles’ Hospital and Tower in Havil Street was once the workhouse infirmary and Silverthorne Lofts in Albany Road was once a board school.
Ruskin Park House in Champion Hill is a large estate of Art Deco flats which the late trade union leader Jack Jones called home.
There are also many estates of social housing including Sceaux Gardens Estate, an early post-Second World War estate in the Sceaux Gardens conservation area.
Lakanal House, on the estate, is where six people died in a fire in July 2009 and many commentators have claimed that, had recommendations of the report into the blaze been acted upon, the Grenfell Tower disaster of 2017 might have been avoided.
The most expensive house currently for sale in Camberwell is Oakridge in Grove Lane, a large contemporary 6,000sq ft home with five bedrooms, an indoor swimming pool and cinema, for £4.5 million.
Interior designer Peggy Prendeville is selling her converted chapel in St Gabriels Manor for £3.5 million. There are two Georgian houses in Camberwell Grove for sale, one with six bedrooms for £2 million and one with four bedrooms at £1.75 million.
There is a large extended four-storey, five-bedroom Victorian house for sale for £2.1 million in Talfourd Road, in the ladder of streets between Peckham Road and Lyndhurst Grove.
In one of these roads, estate agent Becky Munday remembers with embarrassment valuing garden designer Dan Pearson’s house and, on seeing the lovely garden, asking him if he was a gardener.
In Ruskin Park House prices range from £405,000 for a two-bedroom flat to £625,000 for a three-bedroom home.
New-build homes
Elmington Green is a Bellway Homes development, part of the regeneration of the Elmington estate, a large area with blocks scattered around Elmington Road by Brunswick Park, north of Camberwell Church Street.
This is phase three of a development which started nearly 20 years ago. One-bedroom flats start at £379,995 and two-bedroom flats at £484,995. Call 020 3092 9967 for more information.
There are three developments on Camberwell Road. Camberwell on the Green (camberwellonthegreen.co.uk) is a Frasers Property scheme of 101 studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom flats, 92 for private sale, opposite Camberwell Green which are ready to move into.
Two-bedroom flats start at £575,000. Call Marsh & Parsons on 020 7358 6088.
Wing of Camberwell (wingofcamberwell.co.uk) is a development from housing association Hyde New Homes of 164 one-, two- and three-bedroom flats which includes the conversion of an industrial building into loft-style apartments.
The flats are ready to move into and one-bedroom flats start at £400,000; two-bedroom flats at £575,000 and three-bedroom flats at £600,000. Contact Colliers on 020 7487 1710.
The Gallery is a development from housing association Peabody of one-, two- and three-bedroom flats of which 42 are for private sale and 13 for shared ownership.
One-bedroom flats start at £422,000; two-bedroom flats at £563,000, with three-bedroom flats at £665,000. Four-bedroom houses are also available at £787,500. Help to Buy is available on the one- and two-bedroom flats.
Contact Peabody for the flats on 020 7021 4842 and Hastings International for the houses on 020 7378 9000.
First-time buyers and shared ownership
The Elmington by Peabody is on the Elmington estate and comprises one-, two- and three-bedroom flats and a three-bedroom house. One-bedroom shared-ownership flats start at £114,750 for a 30 per cent share of a home with a market value of £382,500.
Two-bedroom flats start at £143,250 for a 30 per cent share of a home with a market value of £477,580. Call 020 7021 4842.
Peabody is launching the shared-ownership homes at The Gallery this month. Call 020 7021 4842.
Renting
With two major hospitals — King’s College Hospital and South London & Maudsley — and the Camberwell College of Arts, Camberwell is popular with students and young professionals starting out on their careers, although there is a shortage of houses for sharing, with one- and two-bedroom flats prevailing.
Agent Becky Munday says many people who hung on to their homes as rental investments when they moved are now selling up, which might account for some of the shortage.
Staying power
A house in Camberwell Grove is a home for life. However, estate agent Becky Munday says most of her buyers are young professionals and couples and over the last year she only recalls selling to one family.
The majority of her buyers either work in high-paying professions in the City or come with large deposits from the Bank of Mum and Dad.
Postcode
SE5 is the Camberwell postcode. On its western flank it strays into the Loughborough Junction area of Brixton.
Best roads
Camberwell Grove, Grove Lane and Grove Park.
Up and coming
The roads off Coldharbour Lane, such as Eastlake Road, Luxor Street and Southwell Road are generally cheaper.Between the railway line and Ruskin Park there is an enclave of small Victorian terrace houses nicknamed “Ruskin Village”.
Travel
Denmark Hill is Camberwell’s station. There are Overground trains to Shoreditch High Street for the City and Canada Water, one stop away from Canary Wharf on the Docklands Light Railway. There are also trains to Victoria, London Bridge, Blackfriars and St Pancras International.
Nearby Loughborough Junction station has Thameslink trains to Blackfriars, Farringdon and St Pancras International although locals complain of rush-hour overcrowding. Both stations are in Zone 2 and an annual travelcard to Zone 1 costs £1,404.
There are nine commuter buses: Nos 12, 35, 36, 40, 45, 68, 171, 176 and 185, serving all central London locations.
Council
Southwark council is Labour controlled. Band D council tax for 2018/2019 is £1,329.54.
Lifestyle
Shops and restaurants
Camberwell’s high street is along Camberwell Church Street where there is a predominance of independent shops.
There are more shops along Denmark Hill including in Butterfly Walk shopping centre where there is a Morrisons supermarket.
In Camberwell Church Street or off it, there is a choice of coffee shops including Daily Goods, the Pigeon Hole and Lumberjack, a social enterprise which supports young people into work, and then there is Fowlds in Addington Square, a small place occupying the front of an upholstery workshop, and Love Café in Denmark Hill which celebrates the poet Robert Browning, who grew up and lived in the area, with a quote about Camberwell on the underside of its awning.
The Camberwell Arms reputedly has the best food in Camberwell.
Tasty, cheaper choices include Silk Road, a locally renowned Sichuan restaurant; The Crooked Well gastropub in Grove Lane; Vineyard, a long-standing Greek restaurant at the bottom of Camberwell Grove; FM Mangal, popular for kebabs; and Good Neighbour, a wine bar with cheese and charcuterie sharing plates.
The Habit is a breakfast and brunch café in two beautiful rooms in the South London Gallery in Peckham Road.
There are two pubs run by the Antic group: The Tiger on Camberwell Green and The Sun in Camberwell in Coldharbour Lane.
Other pubs include The Bear and The Old Dispensary in Camberwell New Road and the huge Wetherspoons pub The Fox on the Hill in Denmark Hill.
Other highlights in the town centre are Cowling & Wilcox for art supplies, and Pesh Flowers. Estate agent Becky Munday is a fan of the pizzas at Theo’s Pizzeria at the bottom of Grove Lane next door to sourdough baker and delicatessen, The Hill Street Bakery & Deli.
There is farmers’ market on Camberwell Green every Saturday from 10am to 2pm.
Open space
Camberwell Green, an open space and children’s playground in the town centre, recently had a facelift. Burgess Park, which borders Camberwell, Peckham and Walworth, is Southwark council’s largest park. At its centre is Chumleigh Gardens, historic almshouses where there is a café and a world garden.
Elsewhere in the park there are wild flower meadows as well as more formal plantings; a BMX track, fishing lake, children’s playgrounds with summer water play; sports pitches; a community food growing project and, unusually for a London park, fixed barbecue areas.
Myatt’s Fields Park is a 14-acre community-run park in Knatchbull Road. There is a children’s playground and one o’clock club; a bandstand; a community greenhouse which grows plants for local food growing projects, and a wildlife garden.
Ruskin Park, named after the 19th-century art critic John Ruskin, who lived on Denmark Hill until he opposed the arrival of the railway and moved away, has a children’s playground with a popular children’s paddling pool which is kept open and paid for by the local community.
There’s also a bandstand, a wildlife area with an orchard, plus sports pitches.
Leisure and the arts
Camberwell Arts Festival marks its 25th year this June, when many local artists and studios will open their doors.
South London Gallery in Peckham Road is one of London’s leading contemporary art galleries.
GX Gallery in Denmark Hill, a small gallery, puts on regular exhibitions and offers framing services.
Camberwell Leisure Centre is the local council-owned facility with a restored Victorian swimming pool.
Schools
Primary school
Two state primary schools get the Ofsted “outstanding” rating: Crawford in Crawford Road and John Ruskin in John Ruskin Street.
With the exception of Oliver Goldsmith in Peckham Road and Brunswick Park in Picton Street, which are judged to “require improvement”, all the other local primary schools are rated “good”.
Lyndhurst in Grove Lane; Dog Kennel Hill in Dog Kennel Hill and Bessemer Grange in Dylways are popular.
Comprehensive
Camberwell’s “outstanding” comprehensive school is the Catholic Sacred Heart (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Camberwell New Road.
The nearby “outstanding” comprehensive schools, many of which have small catchment areas, are The Charter School North Dulwich in Red Post Hill; St Saviour’s & St Olave’s CofE (girls, ages 11 to 18) in New Kent Road; Lilian Baylis (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Kennington Lane in Vauxhall; and Notre Dame RC (girls, ages 11 to 16) in St George’s Road in Kennington.
The following are judged to be “good”: The Charter School East Dulwich (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) a free school which moved in January to its permanent new home on the Dulwich Hospital site in Jarvis Road; Ark All Saints Academy (co-ed, ages 11 to18) in Wyndham Road, and Harris Academy Peckham in Peckham Road.
King’s College London Mathematics College (co-ed ages 16 to 18) in Kennington Road is a selective sixth form college.
Private
The Villa (co-ed, ages two to seven) is a private nursery and pre-school in Lyndhurst Grove in Peckham and the private Dulwich schools are nearby: James Allen’s Girls (co-ed, ages four to 18) in East Dulwich Road; Alleyn’s (co-ed, ages four to 18) in Townley Road and Dulwich College (boys, ages six months to 18, with girls in the nursery and pre-prep ages six months to seven) in Dulwich Common