Brixton Hill

Brixton Hill is the name given to a two-thirds of a mile (1 km) section of road between Brixton and Streatham Hill in south London, England.

Brixton Hill, photographed in 2009

Brixton Hill and Streatham Hill form part of the traditional main London to Brighton road (A23). The road follows the line of a Roman Road, the London to Brighton Way, which diverges from Stane Street near Kennington, and led south from the capital, Londinium, to a port on the south coast.

History

Prior to the late 19th century, the road was known as Brixton (or Bristow) Causeway. On the eastern side of the road, a series of tree-lined open spaces and front gardens make up Rush Common — an area of former common land that, although it is subject to a prohibition on 'erections above the surface of the earth' under an Act of Parliament of 1806, has seen some incursions for building.[1]

The name Brixton Hill has subsequently been given to the residential areas on both sides of the road, and since 2002, it has also been the name of an electoral ward of the London Borough of Lambeth.

From 1891 until the 1950s Brixton Hill was served by a regular London tram service; it was cable-drawn until 1904 when it was replaced by a conventional electric tram.[2] The tram depot at Streatham Hill, opposite Telford Avenue, housed the tram cars, horses and the steam-powered winding gear for the cable. It is now a bus depot. Another surviving tram shed, which can still be seen near the junction of Brixton Hill with Christchurch Road, was designed by London County Council Tramways' architect G. Topham Forest, and had a capacity of 30 trams.[3]

Notable residents

• Edward Petherick, Australian bookseller and bibliophile lived at Yarra Yarra 30 Brixton Hill. He maintained a library, which was particularly extensive as regards Australia. George William Rusden was a frequent visitor when writing his books History of Australia and History of New Zealand.[4]
• 67 (rap group)

Lambeth Council elections

Brixton Hill 2018 (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Maria Kay	2,142
	Labour Co-op	Adrian Garden*	2,015
	Labour Co-op	Martin Tiedemann*	1,796
	Green	Gwen Buck	856
	Women's Equality	Janet Baker	842
	Liberal Democrats	Sarah Lewis	520
	Green	Richard Bultitude	517
	Green	Will Eaves	478
	Conservative	Tamara Bailey	389
	Conservative	Lavinia Cartwright	349
	Conservative	Savill Young	319
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Portelli	222
	Liberal Democrats	Jonathan Price	192
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Brixton Hill 2014 (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Adrian Garden	1,849
	Labour	Florence Eshalomi *	1,791
	Labour	Martin Tiedemann	1,560
	Green	Roger Baker	818
	Green	Andrew Child	768
	Green	Betty Mehari	719
	Conservative	James Calder	415
	Conservative	Charles Tannock	381
	Conservative	Michael Woolley	310
	UKIP	Paul Gregory	254
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Keating	244
	Liberal Democrats	Liz Maffei	231
	Liberal Democrats	Adam Pritchard	228
	TUSC	Lisa Bainbridge	132
	TUSC	Alex Richardson	83
	TUSC	Jessica Walters	74
Total votes			9,857
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Brixton Hill 2010 (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alexander Holland	2,805
	Labour	Steve Reed *	2,699
	Labour	Florence Nosegbe *	2,648
	Liberal Democrats	Kate Horstead	2,100
	Liberal Democrats	Krystal Johnson	1,873
	Liberal Democrats	John Mead	1,560
	Green	Thomas Law	1,108
	Green	Elkin Atwell	1,023
	Conservative	Tim Briggs	873
	Green	Phillipa Marlowe-Hunt	850
	Conservative	Victoria Edwards	768
	Conservative	Diana Thompson	688
Total votes			18,995
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

References

1. "Survey of London - Brixton: Rush Common".
2. "London Brixton Hill".
3. Taylor & Green (2001). The Moving Metropolis: The History of London's Transport Since 1800. Laurence King Publishing. ISBN 1-85669-326-0.
4. Petherick, Edward (1904). "George William Rusden". search.proquest.com (Feb 6, 1904). The Athenaeum. The Athenaeum.