Gipsy Hill

Area of south London

Gipsy Hill in south London is a hilly and leafy neighbourhood spanning the southern parts of the London Boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark characterised for its stunning views of the City of London and Dulwich. It borders the neighbourhood of Crystal Palace, which was crowned as the best place to live in London by the Sunday Times Best Place to Live survey. Historically, north of its traditional Westow Central Hill southern limit, it was split between the southern projections of the West Norwood daughter parish of Lambeth and the St Giles church daughter parish of Camberwell in Surrey until urban reforms of 1889 created the County of London. It takes in, due to a diagonal, slightly weaving border, somewhat less of the London Borough of Southwark, and it has a ridge top border along the retail/services/leisure street Westow Hill and residential street Central Hill with Upper Norwood in the London Borough of Croydon.

Gipsy Hill is the name of the central road that runs south upwards from Gipsy Road, where it becomes Alleyn Park near the southern end of Croxted Road, up to Central Hill and Westow Hill (a brief eastern continuation in the Crystal Palace Triangle). The latter are two crest top roads marking the limit of Upper Norwood, part of the London Borough (and, here, former parish) of Croydon. Due to its station, as common across London, the name has been taken to extend to encompass a wider, in this case, upper hill side zone in extreme projections of the two relevant boroughs. It takes its name from the presence of Gypsies in what was, until the 19th century, sparsely populated rurality. On 11 August 1668, Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary that his wife had visited "the gypsies at Lambeth"; Keats also wrote about the Norwood gypsies. The area's name derives from the Roma Gypsies who settled in the area during the 1600 1800s. At the east and west ends of the hill which descends more gently north, are the forked sources of the former River Effra. The hill and particularly its southern climactic ridge are part of a much larger formation, the Norwood Ridge. The area rapidly developed after Gipsy Hill railway station was opened in 1856, with large houses being constructed (most now subdivided) and blocks of council built housing in the mid 20th century, a little remaining as assisted (Social) housing.

For the west, Gipsy Hill ward is represented by three elected members of Lambeth Borough Council (green and Labour); for fair apportionment it extends into West Norwood and West Dulwich. For the east, since 2018, two members represent Dulwich Wood ward on Southwark Council, which similarly extends into the Sydenham Hill area of what is traditionally South Dulwich.

The Central Hill Estate was built in the 1960s 70s designed by Rosemary Stjernstedt, Roger Westman and the Lambeth Council planning department during the directorship of Ted Hollamby.

Gipsy Hill Police Station was on the A214, Central Hill, the western continuation of Westow Hill. It was London's highest station, an old Bench Mark SW, opposite, stated 360.6 feet (110 m) Above Ordnance Datum.

Three of the pubs are central on the street Gipsy Hill: The Colby Arms, The Bull and Finch and The Great Southern. The Two Towers and Paxton are on the relatively low, north west Gipsy Road. Two independent companies brew beer commercially: the Gipsy Hill Brewing Co. and the London Beer Factory.

Elm Wood Primary School, Carnac Street. Kingswood Primary School, Gipsy Road (on two sites). Park Campus Academy, Gipsy Road. Paxton Primary School, Woodland Road. Elm Wood, Kingswood and Paxton schools are all members of The Gipsy Hill Federation. The nearest private school is in West Dulwich.