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Peckham is a place in the London Borough of Southwark. It was the setting for the popular sitcom "Only Fools and Horses" throughout the eighties and early nineties, and has not yet shaken off its reputation as a run-down, dangerous part of south London as it was depicted in the TV series. Most media coverage of Peckham is in relation to its high crime rate - recent famous cases include the murder of Damilola Taylor in November 2000 and the machine-gunning of eight or nine (contemporary reports vary) people queueing outside Chicago's nightclub in the summer of 2000.
Whilst it is true that Peckham is a poor area, and that gang-related shootings continue to occur with depressingly high frequency, the area has a number of good points - a lot of money has been pumped into the area by the European Union, some of which was spent on building the futuristic, award-winning Peckham Library and a new town square.
The main shopping street is Rye Lane, and the large Peckham Rye Park is nearby.
History
Peckham was a hamlet of the parish of Camberwell, situated about a mile to Camberwells east on the road to New Cross. The name means the place of the river Peck, a small steam that runs through the district. Peckham has never been an administrative district, or a single ecclesiastical parish in its own right, but today has a strong sense of identity. This has its roots in its development in the 19th century from fields to suburbs, and crucially the development of Rye Lane as one of the most important shopping streets in south London.
Until the early 19th century it was largely a rural area with a number of large houses occupied by the gentry. In the 18th century the Grand Surrey Canal was built and terminated at Peckham High Street, but had little direct effect on development
Its development divides into two phases. The earlier phase, up to the 1860s, took place in two areas. To the north development was stimulated by proximity to the Old Kent Road, and impressive villas and terraces were built in this area. A new district called Peckham New Town was built, centred on Peckham Hill Street, on land owned by the Hill family, hence the name of its main axis, Peckham Hill Road. The second was to Peckhams south near Peckham Rye, the area's Common and large houses were built in prime locations.
The turning point was the coming of public transport: railways and, more important, horse trams in the 1870s. This stimulated much building of a more modest scale in almost any open space. Indeed the common land at the Rye was also threatened with development.
Rye Lane evolved into a new shopping street encouraged by a new and young and relatively prosperous population, and good transport. Stores such as Jones & Higgins became the best known in south London.
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