Blackheath

Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

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All Saints Church Blackheath, 1857

Blackheath (ब्लेक-हीथ) is an area in southeast London, straddling the border of the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Lewisham.

Location

It is located 1.5 km north east of Lewisham, 2.5 km south of Greenwich and 10 km south east of Charing Cross, the traditional centre of London.

The area south-west of its station and in its ward is named Lee Park. Its northern neighbourhood of Vanbrugh Park is also known as St John's Blackheath and despite forming a projection has amenities beyond its traditional reach named after the heath. To its west is the core public green area that is the heath and Greenwich Park, in which sit major London tourist attractions including the Greenwich Observatory and Greenwich Prime Meridian. Blackheath railway station is south of the heath.

Origin of name

The name is from Old English spoken words 'blæc' and 'hǣth'. The name is recorded in 1166 as Blachehedfeld which means "dark, or black heath field" – field denotes an enclosure or clearing.

An urban myth is Blackheath could derive from the 1665 Plague or the Black Death of the mid-14th century. A local burial pit is nonetheless likely during the Black Death, given the established village and safe harbour (hithe) status of Greenwich. At those times the high death rate meant that a guaranteed churchyard burial became impractical.

Green spaces

The heath itself is the focal point of the area, and provides a genuine sense of detachment from the bustle of the urban environment. It is a popular spot for kite flying, walking and other sporty pursuits, as well as the venue for an annual Bonfire Night firework display - where over 80,000 people attend. Nearby Greenwich Park, one of London’s eight Royal Parks, is home to the Prime Meridian Line and Royal Observatory and offers stunning views across the Thames to St Paul’s Cathedral and beyond. For those who like to stretch their legs, the Blackheath to Royal Observatory route is filled with beautiful vistas and many opportunities for ice cream breaks. Neighbouring Greenwich is a tourist trail staple, with the National Maritime Museum and the Cutty Sark just a short journey away.

Archaeology

A key Celtic trackway (becoming a Roman road and later Watling Street) scaled the rise that is shared with Greenwich Park and a peak 1.5 km east-by-southeast, Shooters Hill. In the west this traversed the mouth of Deptford Creek (the River Ravensbourne) (a corruption or throwback to earlier pronunciation of deep ford). Other finds can be linked to passing trade connected with royal palaces. In 1710, several Roman urns were dug up, two of which were of fine red clay, one of a spherical, and the other of a cylindrical, form; and in 1803, several more were discovered in the gardens of the Earl of Dartmouth and given to the British Museum.

Royal setting

Certain monarchs passed through and their senior courtiers kept residences here and in Greenwich. Before the Tudor-built Greenwich Palace and Stuart-built Queen's House, one of the most frequently used was Eltham Palace about 4.0 km to the southeast of the ridge, under the late Plantagenets, before cessation as a royal residence in the 16th century.

On the north side of the heath, Ranger's House, a medium-sized red brick Georgian mansion in the Palladian style, backs directly onto Greenwich Park. Associated with the Ranger of Greenwich Park, a royal appointment, the house was the Ranger's official residence for most of the 19th century (neighbouring Montagu House, demolished in 1815, was a royal residence of Caroline of Brunswick). Since 2002, Ranger's House has housed the Wernher Collection of art.

The Pagoda is a notably exquisite home, built in 1760 by Sir William Chambers in the style of a traditional Chinese pagoda. It was later leased to the Prince Regent, principally used as a summer home by Caroline of Brunswick.

History

Blackheath was a rallying point for Wat Tyler's Peasants' Revolt of 1381, and for Jack Cade's Kentish rebellion in 1450 (both recalled by road names on the west side of the heath). After camping at Blackheath, Cornish rebels were defeated at the foot of the west slope in the Battle of Deptford Bridge (sometimes called the Battle of Blackheath) on 17 June 1497.

In 1400, Henry IV of England met here with Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos who toured western royalty to seek support to oppose Bayezid I (Bajazet), Ottoman Sultan. In 1415, the lord mayor and aldermen of London, in their robes of state, attended by 400 of the principal citizens, clothed in scarlet, came hither in procession to meet Henry V of England on a triumphant return from the Battle of Agincourt.

Blackheath was, along with Hounslow Heath, a common assembly point for army forces, such as in 1673 when the Blackheath Army was assembled under Marshal Schomberg to serve in the Third Anglo-Dutch War. In 1709–10, army tents were set up on Blackheath to house a large part of the 15,000 or so German refugees from the Palatinate and other regions who fled to England, most of whom subsequently settled in America or Ireland.

With Watling Street carrying stagecoaches across the heath, en route to north Kent and the Channel ports, it was also a notorious haunt of highwaymen during the 17th and 18th centuries. As reported in Edward Walford's Old and New London (1878), "In past times it was planted with gibbets, on which the bleaching bones of men who had dared to ask for some extension of liberty, or who doubted the infallibility of kings, were left year after year to dangle in the wind."

Vanbrugh Park: The remains of the pits and adjoining neighbourhood Vanbrugh Park, a north-east projection of Blackheath with its own church, so also termed St John's Blackheath,are named after Sir John Vanbrugh, architect of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard, who had a house with very large grounds adjoining the heath and its continuation Greenwich Park. The house which was originally built around 1720 remains, remodelled slightly, Vanbrugh Castle. In his estate he had 'Mince Pie House' built for his family, which survived until 1911.

Its church, St John the Evangelist's, was designed in 1853 by Arthur Ashpitel. The Blackheath High School buildings on Vanbrugh Park include the Church Army Chapel.

Blackheath Park

Blackheath Park occupies almost all of former 0.4-square-mile (1.0 km2) Wricklemarsh Manor. Developed into upper middle class homes by John Cator, it forms the south-east of Blackheath: from Lee Road, Roque Lane, Fulthorp Road and the Plantation to all houses and gardens of right-angled Manor Way. Built up in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, it contains large and refined Georgian and Victorian houses – particularly Michael Searles' crescent of semi-detached/terrace houses linked by colonnades, The Paragon (c. 1793-1807). Its alternate name, the Cator Estate, extends to lands earlier those of Sir John Morden, whose Morden College (1695) is a landmark in the north, with views of the heath. The estate has 1960s Span houses and flats with gardens with discreet parking.

Its church (St Michael & All Angels) is dubbed the Needle of Kent in honour of its tall, thin spire (it is also nicknamed the Devil's Pick or the Devil's Toothpick).

Jat History

ब्लेक-हीथ (Blackheath): लेखक ने 11.8.2018 को ब्लेक-हीथ का भ्रमण किया था. हमारी टूरिस्ट बस ब्राईटन से आकार ग्रीनविच पार्क के दक्षिण के गेट पर रुकी. दक्षिण में ब्लेक-हीथ गाँव पड़ता है. ब्लेक-हीथ ग्रीनविच से 2.5 किमी दक्षिण में स्थित है. अब यह लंदन का हिस्सा है और दक्षिण-पूर्वी लंदन का एक जिला है. पूर्व में यह केंट (Kent) राज्य के अंतर्गत आता था. केंट पर जट (Jute) लोगों का शासन रहा है. इस तथ्य की पुष्टि जाट इतिहासकारों और पश्चिमी इतिहासकारों से होती है.

दलीप सिंह अहलावत लिखते हैं: जूट्स, सेक्सन्स और एंगल्स लोग जर्मनी की एल्ब नदी के मुहाने और डेन्मार्क के तट पर रहते थे। ये लोग बड़े बहादुर थे। ये क्रिश्चियन धर्म के विरोधी थे। ब्रिटेन से रोमनों के चले जाने के बाद ब्रिटेन के लोग बहुत कमजोर और असहाय थे। इन लोगों पर स्काटलैंड के केल्टिक कबीलों, पिक्ट्स और स्काट्स ने हमला कर दिया। ब्रिटेन निवासियों की इसमें भारी हानि हुई। इनमें इतनी शक्ति न थी कि वे इन हमलों करने वालों को रोक सकें। इसलिए मदद के लिए इन्होंने जट लोगों को बुलाया। जट्स ने उसी समय ब्रिटिश सरदार वरटिगर्न (Vortigern) के निमन्त्रण को स्वीकार कर लिया। जटलैण्ड से जाटों की एक विशाल सेना अपने जाट नेता हेंगिस्ट और होरसा (Hengest and Horsa) के नेतृत्व में सन् 449 ई० में केण्ट (Kent) में उतर गई। इन्होंने पिक्ट्स और स्कॉट्स को हराया और वहां से बाहर निकाल दिया। उन्हें भगाने के बाद जाट ब्रिटेन के लोगों के विरुद्ध हो गये और उन्हें पूरी तरह से अपने वश में कर लिया और 472 ई० तक पूरे केण्ट पर अधिकार कर लिया। यहां पर आबाद हो गये। इसके अतिरिक्त जाटों ने अपना निवास व्हिट द्वीप में किया।

Alistair Moffat writes...Vortigern is a title which is version of Vawr Tigherna, or Overlord, a Celtic description of a man who may have High King of southern Britain. Vortigern invited then Germanic Warriors of Horsa and Hengest, as the Picts of the North had been raiding in Britannia for at least a century - Gildas called them ‘transmarini’ - and the Vortigern or overlord needed mercenaries to contain them. It has been characterized as one of the most spectacular misjudgments in British history. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle gives a more complete report of events:

449 AD: In this year Mauricius and Valentinian obtained the Kingdom and reigned seven years. In their days, Hengest and Horsa, invited by Vortigern, King of Britain, came to Britain at a place which is called Ypwines fleot (Ebbsfleet) at first to help the Britons, but later they fought against them. They then sent to Anglein, ordered them to send more aid and to be told off the worthlessness of the Britons and of the excellence of the Land. They then sent them more aid. These men came from three nations of Germany: from the Old Saxons, from the Angles, and from the Jutes.

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Alistair Moffat writes... The Vortigern wanted the Germanic warriors to go away from Britain. But they did not go. A Barbarians Rebellion flared in the South East, and it seems that three battles fought around London and Kent were lost by the British. The Germanic incomers seized more land and began to settle. Bede is clearest on the territory they took:

From the Jutes are descended the people of Kent and the Isle of Wight and those in the province of the West Saxons opposite the Isle of Wight who are called Jutes to this day.

From the Saxons - that is, the country now known as the land of the Old Saxons - came the East, South and West Saxons.

And from the Angles - that is, the country known as Angulus, which lies between the province of the Jutes and Saxons and is said to remain unpopulated to this day - are descended the east and the Middle Angles, the Mercians, all the Northumbrian stock (that is, those people living north of the River Humber), and other English peoples.

बलेक-हीथ नामकरण: बलेक-हीथ के नाम के बारे में कहते हैं यह नाम यहाँ की काली मिट्टी के खुले मैदान होने के कारण पड़ा है. पुरानी धारणा यह भी है कि 14 वीं शदी की काली-मौत या 1665 के प्लेग में हुई मौतों के नाम पर इसका नाम पड़ा हो. इन महामारियों में मारे गए लोगों को यहीं पर दफ़नाया जाता था. रोमन रोड जिसको बाद में वटलिंग स्ट्रीट नाम से जाना जाने लगा यह ब्लेक-हीथ के उत्तरी छोर से जाती है.