Time Walk
A Kink That Keeps a Church in View
A small bend in the road was built so a church would always close the view south. Walking down Lingham Street, that kink still steers the eye toward St. Andrew's Church, its plain brick wall standing right on the street, with the Edwardian bulk of Hammerton Memorial Hall alongside.
Only the southern end of the street is now valued for this older character; the rest has changed more freely around it. What survives began with a parish meeting more than two centuries ago, when a school was founded here — a story told in full below.
Name Origin
An Unexplained Name
The sources used here do not explain where the name Lingham comes from. No naming record, lease or map reference for the street's title appears among the material consulted for this page.
History
From Parochial School to Parish Church
A public meeting in 1815 decided to found a school for the district, to be called the Stockwell and Brixton Auxiliary Parochial School. The Archbishop of Canterbury laid its foundation stone on 9 June 1818, and the building — later known as St. Andrew's School — opened that October with 150 boys and 100 girls, at a cost of £1,000. It was run on the Madras system, under the Church of England and in union with the National Society. An Infants' School followed in 1838, in nearby South Street, and St. Andrew's itself was restored and enlarged at the end of the 19th century. Its front on Lingham Street is two storeys of red brick, with tall banded windows beneath a heavy decorated cornice.
St. Andrew's Church followed later, a small Romanesque building of brick and rough-cast raised about 1860, with a south-west tower holding the main entrance. It has no churchyard: its east wall stands on Lingham Street itself, and its south face meets Landor Road, with the other two sides closed in by neighbouring property. The parish of St. Andrew, Stockwell Green, was formed around it in 1868. Writing in the 1950s, the Survey of London described the Lingham Street school as showing the influence of the later Board schools.
Culture
A Brewer's Hall by the Old Bailey's Architect
Hammerton Hall and No. 102 are considered to have group value with St Andrew's Church next door, forming a single Edwardian and Victorian cluster.
People
A Brewer, an Architect, and a Boy of Fifteen
Charles Hammerton was a local brewer; the hall raised in his memory in 1906 still carries his name.
At 102 Lingham Street, a war memorial inside St. Andrew's Church commemorates worshippers killed in the First World War. A second, more individual loss is recorded from the Second World War: George William Bilyard, aged 15 and serving as an A.R.P. Messenger, lived at 43 Lingham Street and died on 16 April 1941 at Stockwell Road.
A brewery stood at the junction of Stockwell Green and Lingham Street for over 200 years before the site was redeveloped into modern apartments.
Recent Times
Boundaries, Not Buildings, Have Moved
In 2016, 102 Lingham Street was proposed for inclusion within the Stockwell Green Conservation Area boundary, recognising its place alongside the church and hall.
Today
A Southern Pocket of the Old Pattern
Only the southern part of Lingham Street is now counted within the area valued for its older character. There, the bend in the road still lines up the eye on St. Andrew's Church, with Hammerton Hall and its keeper's house standing close by — the same grouping of school, church and hall that has anchored this short street since the 19th century.
On the Map
Lingham Street Then & Now
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it called Lingham Street?
The sources used for this page do not explain the origin of the name Lingham.
What is Lingham Street known for?
It is known for St. Andrew's School (founded 1815, opened 1818), St. Andrew's Church (built c.1860), and Hammerton Memorial Hall (1906), built in memory of local brewer Charles Hammerton and designed by the architect of the Old Bailey.
What stands at 102 Lingham Street?
No. 102 is an Edwardian keeper's house attached to Hammerton Memorial Hall, built in 1906 in neo-Georgian style, and it also houses a First World War memorial for St. Andrew's Church.