Blackheath

BLACKHEATH, a village and chapelry in the parish of Lewisham, partly also in the parishes of Greenwich and Kidbrooke, in the hundred of Blackheath, and lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, in the county of Kent, 6 miles to the S.E. of London. It is a station on the North Kent railway. The village is pleasantly situated on the Heath, an elevated spot next Greenwich Park, commanding wide and beautiful views over the surrounding country and the river Thames. From its nearness to the metropolis, and its situation on the great road from London to Dover, Blackheath has been the scene of many historical events. The Roman road Watling Street crossed the heath and the neighbouring Shooter's Hill, and traces of it are still to be found. Roman urns containing ashes and coins have been discovered, some of which are now in the British Museum. A body of Danish invaders encamped on Blackheath in the year 1011, and there murdered Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury, who opposed their demands. It was from this spot, in 1381, that Wat Tyler led his followers, 100,000 in number, to London. When Palæologus, the emperor of the East, came, in the year 1400, to ask assistance against the Turks, Henry IV. had a conference with him here." See also under Lewisham

[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868 by Colin Hinson ©2010]