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Road in South East London, England

Old Kent Roadefn|Though official maps refer to "Old Kent Road", some print media uses "the Old Kent Road". Just east of the railway bridge, the road crosses the boundary between the London boroughs of Southwark and Lewisham, where the road ahead becomes New Cross Road. The road appears on a map to form a boundary between Walworth, and Peckham to the south and Bermondsey to the north, although the Bermondsey boundary runs along Rolls Road. The Inter III was one of the most important Roman roads in Britain, linking London with Canterbury and the Channel ports at Richborough (Rutupiae); Dover (Dubris) and Lympne (Lemanis). Pilgrims, as documented in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, travelled along the road from London and Southwark on their way to Canterbury. In 1415, the road was a scene of celebrations for soldiers returning from the Battle of Agincourt heading towards London. John Rocque's Map of London, published in 1746, shows hedgerows along its course.

The bridge at St Thomas a Watering over the River Neckinger was at the junction with what is now Old Kent Road and Shorncliffe Road (previously Thomas Street), and marked the boundary of the Archbishop of Canterbury's authority over the manors of Southwark and Walworth. that marked the first resting place for pilgrims while travelling to Canterbury. A nearby public house, the Thomas a Becket, at the corner of Albany Road was named after this. Charles II's journey along the road on his way to reclaim the throne in May 1660 was described by contemporary writer and diarist John Evelyn as "a triumph of about 20,000 horse and foote, brandishing their swords and shouting with inexpressible joy". The Welsh Protestant martyr John Penry was also executed here on 6 April 1593; a small side street nearby is named after him. The Catholic martyrs John Jones and John Rigby were executed in 1598 and 1600 respectively.

In the early 18th century, the Rolls family of The Grange in nearby Bermondsey acquired a significant amount of land around Old Kent Road. changed the character of the road from rural to industrial. Tanneries were established along it and a soap processing plant was built. Older properties occupied by the upper and middle classes were converted into flats for the emerging working class population. By the time Bricklayers Arms goods station opened in 1845, the road was entirely built up and Old Kent Road had one of the highest population densities in Europe, with an average of 280 residents per acre. Sections along the road were commercial with various market stalls and sellers until the construction of the tramway in 1871. Camberwell Public Library No. 1, which later became the Livesey Museum for Children was designed by Sir George Livesey in 1890. The road's southern section remained residential throughout the 19th century. Nos. 864, 866 and 880–884 were constructed by John Lamb in 1815, and feature Ammonite capitals, ornamental features resembling fossils, a feature also used in contemporary architecture in Brighton. The Licensed Victuallers' National Asylum (now Caroline Gardens), an extensive almshouse estate off Old Kent Road at Asylum Road, opened in 1827. Its first patron was Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex who was followed by Prince Albert and Prince Edward. During the 19th and 20th century, the industrial and working class makeup of Old Kent Road made it a haven for organised crime and violence. The notorious Richardson Gang operated in the area, and boxing clubs became popular. Lennox Lewis' manager Frank Maloney grew up in the area and recalled, "If you weren't into crime, people thought you were a pansy". Henry Cooper trained in the boxing club above the Thomas a Becket pub from 1954 to 1968; he unveiled a local blue plaque there in 2007. Draining the Surrey Canal in 1971 uncovered a number of cracked and blown safes that had been thrown in the water.

Old Kent Road railway station at the southern end of the road opened in 1866 and closed in 1917. The London City Fire Brigade opened a fire station on the road around 1868. It was subsumed into the London Fire Brigade from its formation and in 1904 was replaced by a new station which was in turn replaced by another on the corner of Coopers Road. The station was demolished for redevelopment in 2014 and reopened the following year. When the Old Kent Road baths were opened in 1905, the then independent Borough of Camberwell became the first London borough to provide municipal Victorian style Turkish baths in addition to the more usual Russian vapour baths. The building was designed to include two swimming pools, each measuring 75 feet (23 m) by 30 feet (9 m). In 1913–4, they were used by 188,336 private bathers, 14,687 of whom used its Russian, Turkish, or special electric baths. The 1923 Municipal Year Book noted the "great success" of the Turkish and Russian baths. The baths were destroyed in the Blitz just before the end of World War II.

Unlike many places in London, the Old Kent Road area did not suffer significant bomb damage during World War II. In 1968, a flyover opened at the northern end allowing access to New Kent Road which catered for the main flow of traffic. During the 1970s, run down Victorian properties on and around Old Kent Road were demolished to make way for new housing estates. Burgess Park was created as part of the County of London Plan in 1943, which recommended new parkland in the area. Several tower blocks were built along the road, although some earlier 19th century buildings, such as Nos. 360–386, survived. Public houses on Old Kent Road have been closing since the 1980s. At one point, there were 39 pubs. The Dun Cow at No. 279 opened in 1856 and was well known as a gin palace, and later became a champagne bar and featured DJs such as Steve Walsh and Robbie Vincent. The premises closed in 2004 to become a surgery. The World Turned Upside Down had been on the Old Kent Road since the 17th century, and may have been named after the discovery of Australia, Van Diemen's Land, or Tierra del Fuego in South America. Southwark Borough Council do not consider Old Kent Road to fit the characteristics of an urban town centre, and consequently large retail parks more in character with out of town schemes have been developed including a large Asda superstore, B&Q store, Halfords, Magnet and PC World. Southwark Council have begun consultations on plans to redevelop much of the area, known as the Old Kent Road Area Action Plan. This master plan would mimic similar regeneration projects in other London neighbourhoods such as Elephant & Castle, Nine Elms and Canada Water. The consultations centre on a vision to open four new Bakerloo line London Underground stations along the road route, beginning at Bricklayers Arms, as well as 20,000 new homes, a further education college, a health centre and a number of primary and secondary schools. Officials have also suggested the development of a "green spine" of parks and green spaces along the mostly disused Surrey Canal.