This is the description of Castlands Road (off Perry Hill) in the book, Read About Lewisham Street Names and Their Origins by Joan Read. What on earth was "Castle-lands"? The river was of course the Pool. I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that an expert on Castles was living closeby in Perry Hill House, in 1820?
What does John Coulter mean by this sentence in his book, Sydenham and Forest Hill Past?
"Orchard House...until 1768 it was the nucleus of a farm that included Cast lands and sometimes a great deal more."
The history of Sydenham is turning into a fairy tale story!
On the Rocque map from 1745, there is 2 trackways coming from Bromley Road above and below the line of the footbridge across the river. In the middle of this junction was a massive field, and since Bellingham is such an ancient name--mentioned before the Domesday survey even--I believe there must have been a Timber Castle here or some building of importance. Who Knows: it could be Lewisham's Saxon connection with the Romans? I've not seen the report of the Firhill Playing Fields excavation, but I think it must have shown the first evidence of Roman settlement in the local area. Bellingham might be the most historically important area in the Lewisham parish!
