page_title: Herne Hill
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Herne Hill / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Published by D.Walther, 1823. Painter unknown.
context_page_description: Herne Hill is a district in South London, England, approximately four miles from Charing Cross and bordered by Brixton, Denmark Hill, Dulwich Village, Loughborough Junction and Tulse Hill. It overlaps the boundary between the boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark. There is a road of the same name in the area, as well as a railway station.
context_section_description: The area now known as Herne Hill was part of the Manor of Milkwell, which existed from at least 1291, and was a mixture of farms and woodland until the late 18th century. It was divided between the ancient parishes of Camberwell and Lambeth. In 1783, Samuel Sanders (a timber merchant) bought the land now occupied by Denmark Hill and Herne Hill from the Manor; he then began granting leases for large plots of land to wealthy families.
  By the mid-19th century, the road from the modern Herne Hill Junction to Denmark Hill was lined with large residential estates and the area had become a prosperous suburb for the merchant class. (John Ruskin grew up, from the age of 4, in a house on Herne Hill).
  Herne Hill was transformed by the arrival of the London, Chatham & Dover Railway in 1862. Cheap and convenient access to London Victoria, the City of London, Kent and south-west London created demand for middle-class housing; the terraced streets that now characterise the area were constructed in the decades after the opening of Herne Hill station and the old estates were entirely built over.
  A letter reporting a Herne Hill sighting of Victorian folklore demon Spring-heeled Jack, "that malapropre fellow of the ghost", was published in the Camberwell and Peckham Times on 9 November 1872. The incident was recorded as taking place where the footpath on Herne Hill ran past St.Paul's Church into Half Moon Lane.
  The Half Moon is a Grade II* listed public house in Half Moon Lane.
  Herne Hill escaped lightly from V-weapons attacks during World War II, with five V-1 flying bombs and six deaths recorded.
  During the early morning of 7 August 2013, an 88‑year‑old 0.9 m diameter water main on Half Moon Lane burst, flooding Herne Hill, Dulwich Road and Norwood Road along with 36 properties (including the Half Moon public house) to create a scene described as "biblical" by local residents. Thames Water admitted liability and estimated the total cost of the damage to be around £4 million. The Half Moon reopened in March 2017, following a vigorous local campaign to save it as a pub; Southwark Council has designated it an asset of community value.
caption: Herne Hill and Half Moon Lane in 1823.
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