Dulwich Wood

Dulwich Wood together with the adjacent Sydenham Hill Wood is the largest extant part of the ancient Great North Wood. The two woods were separated after the relocation of The Crystal Palace in 1854 and the creation of the high level line in 1865. The wood is privately owned and managed by the Dulwich Estate. In the Middle Ages the Manor of Dulwich belonged to Bermondsey Abbey, having been given to the abbey in in 1127 by King Henry I. When Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1542 he had the Dulwich Estate surveyed. The Court of King Charles I, paid frequent visits to Dulwich and its woods to hunt deer. By 1605 Edward Alleyn was a wealthy man and for £5,000 (a large amount in those days), was able to buy the Manor of Dulwich from...