In the shadow of the Shard: new homes in Southwark enclave that's one of the best-kept secret areas in south London

Trinity Village in Southwark is one of the capital’s best-kept secrets — a traffic-free enclave comprising 300 or so Georgian homes set around two historic garden squares and a listed church, now a venue and rehearsal space for London Philharmonic Orchestra.

The conservation area is one of the few neighbourhoods in this part of central London (postcode SE1) that survived the Blitz relatively unscathed, and could well be a film set for a Charles Dickens novel.

For decades, the homes, a mixture of elegant four-storey houses and apartments, have been occupied by prosperous in-the-know locals such as Guy’s Hospital surgeons, barristers and City bankers.

But with the arrival of the Shard, the rise of nearby Borough Market and regeneration of Elephant & Castle, this backwater has dropped on to the radar of more home buyers.

Trilogy, a scheme of 64 apartments spread across three brick and bronze aluminium-clad buildings, is rising on the site of a former low-rise postal depot bordering the village, right opposite handsome Inner London Crown Court.

Curiosity was raised by the discovery during the site excavations of a 1,600-year-old sarcophagus for a member of the nobility.

Homes for sale include duplexes with big roof terraces. Prices from £550,000 to £1.75 million. Call Galliard on 020 7620 1500.