Gipsy Hill

infobox UK place
country = England
map_type = Greater London
region= London
population=
official_name= Gipsy Hill
post_town= LONDON
dial_code= 020
os_grid_reference= TQ332710
latitude= 51.4229
longitude= -0.0848
london_borough= Lambeth
constituency_westminster= Dulwich and West Norwood
postcode_area=SE
postcode_district=SE19, SE27

Gipsy Hill is an area of South London near Upper Norwood and is considered to be part of Crystal Palace. This area of Gipsy Hill also includes the Central Hill estate.

Gipsy Hill is the name of the main road that runs up and down the north side of the hill in SE19 and takes its name after a community of Gypsies or an Indian who formerly lived on the hill in Crystal Palace. It links Gipsy Road (formerly Gipsy House Road) with Westow Hill, Westow Street and Central Hill in Upper Norwood. It is in the south-east corner of London Borough of Lambeth with its Southern end up by Westow Street in London Borough of Croydon and its northern end down by Long Meadow (aka Bell Meadow) where the borough is Southwark.

Gipsy Hill Police Station is located on Central Hill about 50 m from the top of Gipsy Hill. It is London's highest Metropolitan Police station.

In Lunham Road there is a decommissioned nuclear bunker. The 18-room bunker was constructed between 1963 and 1966 as part of a block of flats on the Central Hill Estate called Pear Tree House. To the north of Gipsy Hill is West Dulwich a small part of which south of Park Hall Road falls under the Gipsy Hill Ward of the London Borough of Lambeth

Nearest places

* Crystal Palace
* Upper Norwood
* West Dulwich
* West Norwood

Nearest stations

*Gipsy Hill railway station
*West Norwood railway station
*Sydenham Hill railway station

chools

*Elm Wood School
*Kingswood School, Gipsy Hill
* [http://www.norwoodpark.lambeth.sch.uk/ Norwood Park School] (Please note that Norwood Park Primary School closed in July 2002. The site is due for development by the London Borough of Lambeth as a Pupil Referral Unit - see [http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/moderngov/mgDecisionDetails.asp?IId=7110&Opt=1|Lambeth's decision] The school website was still 'live' as of 24th February 2008)
*Paxton School

Churches

* Christ Church, Gipsy Hill
* Baptist Church, Gipsy Road

Notable residents

*Richard Ayoade of The IT Crowd
*Errol Brown of Hot Chocolate, lived in Alexandra Drive, Gipsy Hill
*Daniel Kitson of Phoenix Nights
*Nadia Sawalha
*Kate Thornton presenter of The X Factor

External links

* [http://www.virtualnorwood.com/ Virtual Norwood]
* [http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/p/pear_tree_house/ Pear Tree House - London SE Group War HQ (Control 51C)]
* [http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/history/communities/gypsy-traveller.html Proceedings of the Old Bailey] Early references to Gypsy community in Norwood