DulwichHistory

Over the last two hundred years many Dulwich residents have been in the forefront of the food and drink industries. Bovril and the Vestey's meat business may be the best known but there are countless others ranging from brewers to lemonade and mineral water producers, and fish paste to mustard manufacturers. There were major names in sugar, ships biscuits, and tea, and there were also our restauranteurs, two of whom funded the English cricket team's first to tour Australia in 1861/62. Please note this talk will be held online via Zoom. Tickets are £5 per person, available here: https://www.bellhouse.co.uk/events/2026/4/7/dulwich-food-and-drink, proceeds go to St Christopher's Hospice

In 2017 local historian Brian Green wrote: ‘In East Dulwich, when people walk down the street, there is a tendency to think all the houses look alike. But look closer and you’ll see they are not. There will be a row of houses with a group of four, a group of twelve or a group of twenty, and that is a clue that they were all built by different builders, and they’ll all have their own little architectural details.’ Based on research in a small study area of East Dulwich, this online talk 'looks closer'. It reveals a typology of the houses in the area, how they have been lived in, why and how they have survived and what is happening to them in the 2020s. Please note this talk will be held online via Zoom. Tickets are £5.60 per person, available here: https://www.bellhouse.co.uk/events/2026/3/3/victorian-housing-in-east-dulwich, proceeds go to Bell House Sunshine Stitchers, an informal group for Ukrainians to meet up, make friends and socialise whilst enjoying various crafting and sewing activities.

For generations, a red lamp on a Dulwich street corner was a sign of medical help nearby because doctors made themselves known by hanging them outside their houses, 90% of which were on street corners. This online talk by Dulwich Society Local History Chair Ian McInnes explores why medical practices clustered on corners, how patients found help after dark, and tells us the everyday history of medicine in Dulwich. Please note this talk will be held online via Zoom. Tickets are £5.60 per person, available from the Bell House website: https://www.dulwichsociety.com/news/lamps-on-the-corner-250-years-of-medicine-in-dulwich. Proceeds go to St Christopher's Hospice

Discover the unexpected radicals of Dulwich at this online illustrated talk. Figures like Annie Besant, Havelock Ellis, Alison Neilans and Charles and Alice Vickery Drysdale lived here, challenging Victorian boundaries and reshaping ideas about sexuality and personal freedom. Join historian Duncan Bowie for a revealing, lively talk that uncovers a surprising part of Dulwich’s past. Please note this talk will be held online via Zoom. Tickets £5.60, available here: https://www.bellhouse.co.uk/events/2026/1/6/sexual-reformers-in-dulwich Proceeds to Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers

Dulwich Education: an Alternative Story: education has been Dulwich's main business since the mid 19th century, but the Foundation Schools are just one part of the story. Join Ian McInnes in this illustrated online talk to learn more about Dulwich's other privately-owned prep schools, dame schools, and crammers - two of whom, the former Dulwich College Prep and Oakfield, have recently celebrated their 140th anniversaries. Please not this talk will be online. Tickets £5.60 available here: https://www.bellhouse.co.uk/events/2025/11/4/dulwich-education-an-alternative-story Proceeds to St Christopher’s Hospice.

Discover Dulwich's connection with cinema's first 'Talkie' - The Jazz Singer; the early days of film making at the Gaumont outdoor film studio on Dog Kennel Hill and the wealth of film stars ranging from Boris Karloff, Peter Cushing, Rosamund John to Michael Crawford and a host of actors who have lived here. Join local historian Brian Green who combines a lifetime’s collection of images of past Dulwich together with first-hand memories and unparalleled research knowledge. This online illustrated local history talk will open your eyes to Dulwich’s remarkable, and often forgotten, place in the history of cinema, from pioneering film studios to the celebrated actors who once called it home. Please note this talk will be held online. Tickets are £5.60 per person, available here: https://www.bellhouse.co.uk/events/2025/10/7/online-talk-dulwich-and-the-silver-screen. Proceeds go to Bell House’s school enrichment programme, the Nurture Group.

When Dulwich Hamlet School old boys established a football team in 1893, the idea they would go on to provide two full England internationals was ludicrous. The club wasn’t likely to survive a particularly long time, never mind become the biggest team locally. In this talk, part of the Dulwich Society Local History series, Roger Deason, one of Dulwich Hamlet’s club historians, will briefly look at the development of football in Dulwich prior to Hamlet and explain why today you see Dulwich Hamlet shirts locally, not Dulwich, Dulwich Wood, Greyfriars, Dulwich St Peter’s or Townley Park shirts. He will walk us through some of the Dulwich residents and locations crucial to explaining why Hamlet survived, as the other clubs folded. The talk will also touch on forgotten tales such as the FA Cup winning team who subsequently called Dulwich home, the Dulwich team who made the last ten of the FA Cup and the local lad who played in the first ever football international, spending one half as an attacker and one half in goal. He’ll also reveal which Rugby League Superleague side played in Dulwich, and the local rugby club official whose legacy includes the foundation of Rugby League and seemingly the foundation of Dulwich Hamlet FC as a diehard Rugby Union man. Ensuring both the eclipse of rugby locally and the foundation of Rugby League is an achievement you suspect he’d rather we didn’t mention… Please note this talk will be held online via Zoom. Tickets £5, available here: https://www.bellhouse.co.uk/events/2025/9/2/online-talk-dulwich-hamlet-football-club Proceeds to Albrighton Community Fridge, SE22.

A West Norwood Cemetery walk guided by Dr Jane Jordan covering some of its fascinating Dulwich residents. Part of the Dulwich Festival, 50% of ticket sales go to Friends of West Norwood Cemetery. Tickets £8 family/£5.50 concessions. https://dulwichfestival.co.uk/event/stories-of-west-norwood-cemeterys-dulwich-residents-2pm/

A West Norwood Cemetery walk guided by Dr Jane Jordan covering some of its fascinating Dulwich residents. Part of the Dulwich Festival, 50% of ticket sales go to Friends of West Norwood Cemetery. Tickets £8 family/£5.50 concessions. https://dulwichfestival.co.uk/event/stories-of-west-norwood-cemeterys-dulwich-residents/

A walk around East Dulwich covering some of the fascinating and unlikely social radicals who lived there, some known, some unknown, some just eccentric. starts at Grove Vale library, ends at Dulwich library. Part of the Dulwich Festival, 50% of ticket sales go to St Christopher's Hospice. Tickets £8 family/£5.50 concessions. https://dulwichfestival.co.uk/event/social-radicals-walk-east-dulwich/

A walk around West Dulwich covering some of the fascinating and unlikely social radicals who lived there, some known, some unknown, some just eccentric. starts at West Dulwich station, ends at Gipsy Hill station. Part of the Dulwich Festival, 50% of ticket sales go to St Christopher's Hospice. Tickets £8 family/£5.50 concessions. https://dulwichfestival.co.uk/event/social-radicals-walk-west-dulwich/

This short walk between North Dulwich station and the Burial Ground is a chance to learn about the large houses that used to be there and their noted occupants. Start at North Dulwich station, ends at the Burial Ground, Dulwich Village. Part of the Dulwich Festival, 50% of ticket sales go to St Christophers Hospice. Tickets £8 family/£5.50 concessions. https://dulwichfestival.co.uk/event/step-into-the-past-exploring-high-st-dulwich-4pm/

This short walk between North Dulwich station and the Burial Ground is a chance to learn about the large houses that used to be there and their noted occupants. Start at North Dulwich station, ends at the Burial Ground, Dulwich Village. Part of the Dulwich Festival, 50% of ticket sales go to St Christophers Hospice. Tickets £8 family/£5.50 concessions. https://dulwichfestival.co.uk/event/step-into-the-past-exploring-high-st-dulwich/

Join Eric Large to follow the historic River Effra through the neighbourhood and discover some general Dulwich history along the way. Part of the Dulwich Festival, 50% of ticket sales go to St Christophers Hospice. Start at West Duwlich station, end at Herne Hill station. Tickets £8 family/£5.50 concessions. https://dulwichfestival.co.uk/event/dulwichs-lost-river-the-effra/