In
1848 the seventh edition of A Topographical Dictionary
of England was published in four, large volumes.
This
splendid work by one Samuel Lewis is quite inadequately described
by its short title. Some flavour of its breathtaking, encyclopædic
ambition may be gleaned from its full title:
A
Topographical Dictionary of England, comprising the several
counties, cities, boroughs, corporate and market towns, parishes
and townships, and the islands of Guernsey, Jersey, and Man,
with Historical and Statistical Descriptions: and embellished
with ehgravings of the arms of the cities, boroughs, bishoprics,
universities, and colleges; and of the seals of the various
municipal corporations.
Could
so catholic an undertaking have omitted Brixton? Of course
not. Here then is how Brixton was described one hundred and
forty five years ago:
BRIXTON,
an ecclesiastical district, in the parish and union of LAMBETH,
E. division of the hundred of Brixton and of the county of
Surrey, 4½ miles (S.S.W.) from London; containing 10,175 inhabitants.
This is one of the most agreeable suburbs of the metropolis,
and is divided into two parts, North Brixton and Brixton Hill.
It consists principally of a line of road leading from Kennington
to Streatham, upwards of two miles in length, on each side
of which are ranges of neat and well-built houses, with others
in detached situations surrounded by shrubberies. Within its
limits, also, is Tulse Hill, a gradual ascent from the church,
declning a little towards the east, and returning near its
greatest acclivity into the main road at Brixton Hill. On
both sides are elegant villas and handsome cottages, the country
residences of respectable families, commanding a fine view
of the metropolis, and rich prospects over the adjacent country.
Works on a very extensive scale have been formed for supplying
the neighbourhood with water. On Brixton Hill stands the house
of correction for the county, containing ten wards and ten
day-rooms for the classification of prisoners; the treadmill,
completed in 1821, was the first established. The church,
dedicated to St. Matthew, and consecrated in June 1824, was
erected pursuant to an act of parliament for dividing the
extensive and populous parish of Lambeth into five districts,
Brixton being one. It is in the Grecian style, with a handsome
portico supported by four fluted columns of the Doric order
at the west, and contains 1926 sittings, of which 1022 are
free; the expense of its erection amounted to £15, 192, and
was defrayed by Her Majesty’s Commissioners. The tower was
struck down by lightening, April 24th, 1842. The living is
a district incumbency; net income £650; patron, the Archbishop
of Canterbury. At Denmark Hill, in the district, is a chapel
dedicated to St. Matthew. Holland Chapel, North Brixton, is
a neat edifice, with a bell-turret; it was built in 1823,
for Independents, but has for some years been an episcopal
proprietary chapel. There are three places of worship for
Independents, and one each for Wesleyans and Unitarians. The
St. Ann’s Society, for the maintenance, clothing, and education
of children whose parents have been previously in more prosperous
circumstances, was originally founded in 1709, and for nearly
a century had only a day school in London for clothing and
instructing thirty children of each sex from all parts of
the Kingdom. The first asylum which the society established
was at Lavenham, in Suffolk, where twenty boys were admitted
in 1794; this was subsequently removed to Peckham, in Surrey,
and, in 1830, to the present building at Brixton Hill, erected
for 150 children at an expense of £8000, of which £2500 were
paid for the site. In 1838 the building was enlarged so as
to admit 200 boys and 100 girls. It is a handsome edifice
of brick, having a basement of stone, with a central piazza,
from which rises a portico of four Ionic columns, supporting
a trianglular pediment, with a frieze and cornice continued
round the building, which is also decorated at the angles
with antæ of corresponding character; it occupies, with the
grounds attached, more than two acres of freehold land. In
Acre Lane is Trinity Asylum, for aged females, founded and
endowed by Thomas Bayley, Esq., in 1824; the building compreises
sixteen neat tenements. Mrs Mary Bayley, his widow, has invested
the sum of £2000 towards founding, in connection with the
above, an asylum for the education and maintenance of the
orphans of gospel ministers and others. The Reform almshouses,
erected from a fund raised by subscription, in commemoration
of the passing of the Reform Act, were intended to form three
sides of a quadrangle; one range only, however, has been erected,
containing 31 houses occupied by 60 tenants, behind each of
which is an allotment of garden-ground.
BRIXTON
abridged an occasional series of number: 3/93 short pieces
published by price: 15p the Brixton Society ISBN: 1 873052
05 7