property, homes and houses for sale in Eltham

Eltham offers a good choice of quality property and more public parks than you can shake a stick at.

Living in Eltham

Victorian and Edwardian terraces, post-war semis and architect-designed detached houses with sweeping drives are complemented by Eltham’s good transport links, green spaces and numerous golf courses.

Eltham lies on a high, sandy plateau and its strategic position led to the construction of Eltham Palace, still its most notable landmark. The original palace was given to Edward II in 1305 by the Bishop of Durham, but the current building was constructed in the 1930s.

Due east of Eltham Palace is Royal Blackheath Golf Club, and Avery Hill Park which is perfect for a chilly day as it has within its vast grounds a tropical house full of exotic plants and trees.

North of Avery Hill is Eltham Park and across the A2 Rochester Way Relief Road is Oxleas Wood, with its “secret” café and areas of dense forest that is home to oak, silver birch, hornbeam and coppice hazel.

Severndroog Castle, built in 1784, is a memorial to Sir William James of the East India Company and stands in Castle Wood to the west of Oxleas Wood. A Grade II listed building, the Gothic-style castle is 63 feet high and from the top it is possible to see seven counties of England on a clear day.

Sutcliffe Park is the most western park in Eltham and its running track is used by the Cambridge Harriers.

Eltham has an attractive High Street with a good mix of shops, supermarkets and restaurants and a number of local state primary and secondary schools.

Transport

The railway station in Eltham is by the Rochester Way Relief Road, which separates Eltham from Eltham Park.

Eltham station is on the Dartford to Lewisham line, which provides services to London Bridge, Cannon Street, Waterloo East, Charing Cross, and Victoria.

Lewisham station is the southern terminus of the Docklands Light Railway serving Greenwich, the Isle of Dogs, Canary Wharf, and stations to Stratford.

New Eltham railway station to the south of Eltham is on a loop line from Dartford to Lewisham via Hither Green.

For information regarding bus routes that serve Eltham and for information regarding the London Underground and DLR, please visit www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/default.aspx.

For details of train services please visit www.nationalrail.co.uk/.

History and culture

Eltham was a civil parish in the County of Kent until 1889 when it became part of the County of London and, ten years later, the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich.

The metropolitan borough was abolished in 1965 and now Eltham is part of the London Borough of Greenwich.

Many famous people have lived in Eltham, including Bob Hope who was born in 1903 at 44, Craigton Road. In 1982 the Eltham Little Theatre was renamed The Bob Hope Theatre in his honour, following donations from Bob Hope that saved the theatre from closing.

Film actor Jude Law lived in Eltham and began his acting career on the stage at the Bob Hope Theatre.

For further information about Eltham please visit www.greenwich.gov.uk/Greenwich/.