Sheet 20 of Stanford’s Library Map of London and Its Suburbs records the south-eastern outskirts of London in 1862, covering Lewisham, Lee and Eltham. Much of the sheet remains open and semi-rural, with established villages, estates and railway lines set among fields and wooded ground.
Map Details
- Original title: Stanford’s Library Map of London and Its Suburbs
- Sheet: 20 of 24
- Publisher: Edward Stanford
- Published: London, 15 February 1862
- Scale: Six inches to one mile, approximately 1:10,560
- Area shown: Lewisham, Lee, Eltham and adjoining districts
- Orientation: North at the top
- Original appearance: Printed linework with hand-coloured roads, water, boundaries and open ground
Lewisham, Lee and Eltham in 1862
Lewisham is the most developed centre, while Lee and Eltham retain a looser pattern of roads, houses and estates. The wide areas between settlements demonstrate how separate these districts still were before later suburban growth joined them together.
Railways and the Expanding South-East
Railway routes are among the clearest signs of change on the sheet, connecting older villages with central London and encouraging new residential development along their corridors.
Postal and Administrative Detail
The sheet retains the South Eastern postal geography and coloured parish boundaries of the mid-nineteenth century.
Modern Postcode Coverage
The area shown broadly corresponds with parts of:
- SE13 – Lewisham
- SE12 – Lee
- SE9 – Eltham
- SE6 – the eastern edge towards Catford
Modern postcode boundaries do not precisely follow the historic divisions shown on the map.
