East Dulwich came about when four local land owners sold up their estates to building prospectors in the final years of Queen Victoria’s reign. The largest of the four was the Friern Manor Farm estate.

On the East Dulwich section of the curiously named Ideal homes: suburbia in focus (complete with garden gnomes in the logo), there are a couple of great Ordnance Survey maps from the mid to late 19th century, and some sepia photos of Goose Green and Barry Road.

Transport played an important role with the coming of railways to Herne Hill in 1862, West Dulwich and Sydenham Hill in 1863 and East Dulwich and North Dulwich in 1868. Cheaper fares of the 1880s further stimulated demand and the arrival of the tram along Lordship Lane, Dog Kennel Hill and Peckham Rye in the early 20th century sealed the area’s success.

The houses were aimed at socially mobile members of the lower middle classes – typically London clerks – and the new population was largely one of young families.

So… not much change there then