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Downham is a suburban district located in south east London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is located north of Bromley.
Downham was named in honour of Lord Downham, who was chairman of the London County Council between 1919-20.
The Prime Meridian passes just to the west of Downham.
Before 1920, the area had no houses, apart from a shooting range close to Rangefield Road and areas of farmland in the period around 1890. Some belonged to Holloway Farm and others to Shroffolds Farm. Following the First World War, local boroughs like Deptford, Bermondsey as well as the London County Council [LCC] felt it was essential to reduce overcrowding by erecting more residential property. This needed to excel that which was provided by private landlords. The final spur for LCC to commence works in the area was the new law of 1923 that provided government funding to enable residential developments to be built by local governments. As a result, the Downham Estate was developed towards the end of the 1920s by the London County Council.
The area of the estate was in the region of 522 acres, with 461 acres in the Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham, (from 1965 the London Borough of Lewisham) and 61 acres in the Municipal Borough of Bromley (from 1965 the London Borough of Bromley); the estate stretched for about 1.25 miles. Prior to this, most of the terrain was countryside. However parts around Grove Park railway station to the east had already begun to experience some building works. In this territory which was the then furthest extreme of London, 5659 homes of different sizes were built. 408 apartment complexes of four storeys were also erected.
At the time of development, the area was considered 'a showpiece, a cottage estate'. With less than 20 houses to an acre, and lots of greenery and shops, the area was of relative low population density. An official Lewisham publication around 1930 considered Downham to be 'a Garden City'.
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