History and Facts

There was an Anglo-Saxon church on this very site recorded in the Domesday Book 1086

The former Anglo-Saxon church was rebult in stone by William de Mellent, Earl of Gloucester and Lord of the Manor of Camberwell.

By 1841 the church had been enlarged and altered to the point of an 'architectural mess' It was destroyed by fire on 7th February 1841.

Moffatt and Scott won the competition of 53 entries for a new design. It was the first of many major Gothic buildings by Sir George Gilbert Scott. The spire is 210 feet tall.

The church is 152 feet in length, built of Kentish Ragstone faced with stone fron Caen in Normandy and Sneaton in Yorkshire. It cost £24000 and was consecrated on 21st November 1844 by the Bishop of Winchester.

The East window was designed by John Ruskin.

The Organ was designed by Samuel Sebastian Wesley, grandson of John Wesley of the Methodists. It is the largest surviving pre 1850 organ built by JC Bishop.

On the south side of the Lady Chapel can be seen a 14th century Sedilla and Piscina from the mediaeval church.

The spire was rebuilt in 2000 at a cost of £1.2m

The interior with new lighting was redecorated in 2004.

History of Camberwell

There is a good History of Camberwell at

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45281

It covers:

Antiquity of the Parish—Its Etymology—Its Condition at the Time of the Conquest—Descent of the Manor—Sir Thomas Bond's House—The Bowyer Family—Bowyer Lane, now Wyndham Road—The Royal Flora Gardens—St. Giles's Church—The Burial—place of Mrs. Wesley, and of "Equality" Brown—Camden Chapel—St. George's Church—The Vestry Hall—Camberwell Green—Camberwell Fair—Abolition of the Fair, and the Green converted into a Park—The "Father Redcap"—The Old House on the Green—The Green Coat and National Schools—The Camberwell Free Grammar School—The Aged Pilgrims' Friend Asylum—Rural Character of Camberwell in the Last Century—Myatt's Farm—Cold Harbour Lane—Denmark Hill Grammar School—Grove Hill and Dr. Lettsom's Residence there—The Story of George Barnwell—Grove Hall—The "Fox-under-the-Hill"—Old Families of Camberwell—Tom Hood a Resident here—Camberwell Lunatic Asylum.

From: 'Camberwell', Old and New London: Volume 6 (1878), pp. 269-286.

St. Giles and St. Matthew

St. Giles and St. Matthew Churches, Camberwell, London, SE5

There is a good History of Camberwell at