Camberwell, England: travel guide to the historic South London district, its Georgian streets and arts scene

Camberwell is a historic district of South London, in the London Borough of Southwark. Once a rural village known for its springs and tranquillity, it grew into a lively inner-London neighbourhood that today blends fine period architecture with one of the city's most creative arts scenes.

For travellers searching for Camberwell London, Camberwell Green, the Camberwell Beauty or Camberwell College of Arts, the area offers village-like character, elegant Georgian houses and a strong cultural life.

History

Camberwell was already a settlement with a church when it was recorded in the Domesday Book, and until the mid-19th century Londoners came to it for its rural calm and the reputed healing properties of its mineral springs around Denmark Hill. The arrival of the railways in the 1860s transformed it into a busy suburb. At its centre is Camberwell Green, a small patch of common land that was once a traditional village green hosting an ancient annual fair said to rival that of Greenwich.

Architecture and the Camberwell Beauty

Camberwell preserves some of London's most elegant Georgian houses, especially around Camberwell Grove, Grove Lane and Addington Square. The district also gave its name to the Camberwell Beauty, a striking butterfly rarely seen in Britain, named after two specimens found on Coldharbour Lane in 1748. Towering over the area from Denmark Hill is the Salvation Army's William Booth Memorial Training College, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and completed in 1932.

The arts and visiting

Camberwell has a thriving creative community centred on the Camberwell College of Arts, part of the University of the Arts London, and the neighbouring South London Gallery, a leading contemporary art space, with an annual Camberwell Arts Festival adding to the scene. With its independent shops, galleries and easy bus links to central London, Camberwell is one of the capital's most characterful neighbourhoods.