PERRY HILL AND FOREST HILL. 147 
house much added to; and beyond this was another house, now 
removed, which was once the residence of the father of Professor 
W. W. Skeat. 
An 18th century house opposite Castlands Road has been an 
inn, with the sign of the ‘‘Two Brewers,” for many years. It 
occurs in the Parish Registers of 1807. The cottages which occupy 
the slope of the hill are built on ground formerly known as 
‘‘ Beechfield,” the property of the Leathersellers’ Company. A few 
older cottages at the bottom of the hill were formerly known as 
Sabin’s Cottages, from the owner of part of Place House. The 
new shops at the corner of Woolston Road are built on a field 
known in 1723 as ‘‘Herbert’s Croft.” St. George’s Church was 
built in 1880, at the sole cost of Mr. George Parker, of Lewisham 
House. 
At Perry Slough (Perry Vale), in 1802, died the unfortunate 
Irish poet, Thomas Dermody. His tomb may be seen in the centre 
of the river portion of St. Mary’s Churchyard. 
On Rocque’s Map, 1745, the land under cultivation is shown 
as extending as far as Perry Slough (Perry Vale) and near where 
Dacres Road now runs. All beyond this was wild open forest, 
and had been so from time immemorial, hardly a house existing 
west of a line represented by the railway. A country track from 
Perry Slough led over ‘‘ Crow Green,” which occupied about the 
position of Forest Hill Railway Station, and westwards over the 
hills to Dulwich. This is represented to-day by the London Road. 
The district was known from early times simply as ‘* The 
Forest,” and those who dwelt there were styled, ‘*John atte 
Forest,” ‘‘ William atte Forest,” etc. In the Rental of the Manor 
of Lewisham, about 1320, Adam and Robert atte Forest are shown 
as paying 33d. for their tenement, which formerly belonged to one 
Martin Syward, and they further paid 3s. for land ‘‘at the Forest.” 
They were probably free tenants holding small farms on the out- 
skirts of the manor. The name, Forest Hill, does not occur in the 
Parish Registers until the year 1797, which is further evidence of 
_ the paucity of inhabitants. 
The Enclosure Act of 1810 made a considerable difference to 
this part of the parish. The forest land, then mostly scrub, was 
allotted to the various freeholders of the manor, and enclosed ; 
roads were speedily made and building began, but it was the 
coming of the railway which contributed most to the change. The 
commencement of this enterprise, however, was the Croydon Canal, 
which was projected in 1800, and opened in 1809. This started at 
New Cross and passed through Brockley, Honor Oak, Forest Hill, 
Sydenham, and thence through Norwood to Selhurst and Croydon. 
The rise through Forest Hill necessitated some twenty-five locks, 
and reservoirs were formed at Sydenham and Norwood. 
Aftera precarious existence of twenty-seven years, the canal 
was closed in 1836, having been purchased for 40,000 by the 
Croydon and London Railway, which was laid for the most part 
L2 
