Living in Blackheath

Blackheath is named after the wide, open heath that sits at its heart: a large, almost treeless plateau crossed by roads, with All Saints' Church standing alone on its southern side. Kite-flyers, walkers and runners use it every day, and on one Sunday each spring it is where the London Marathon begins. Greenwich Park adjoins the heath to the north, so the area has an enormous amount of open space.

The village, clustered below the heath around the station, has a traditional high street of independent shops, cafés, restaurants and pubs, plus Blackheath Halls, a concert venue. It feels polished and well kept, and is noticeably quieter than Greenwich on busy weekends.

Housing is one of Blackheath's defining attractions. The Paragon, a sweeping crescent of Georgian houses joined by colonnades, is one of the most admired terraces in London, and handsome Georgian and Victorian villas line the heath. Blackheath also has an unusually large number of mid-twentieth-century Span estates, modernist developments of houses and flats set in shared landscaped gardens, which are prized by architecture enthusiasts. The rental market is limited and mostly flats in period houses or those estates.

Blackheath station has Southeastern trains to London Bridge, Cannon Street and Charing Cross, taking around fifteen to twenty minutes to London Bridge; there is no tube or DLR in the village, though Lewisham's DLR is a short bus ride or walk away. The area sits across the borders of Lewisham and Greenwich. Blackheath is for households who want space, beautiful architecture and village life within easy reach of central London, and who are happy with rail-based commuting and quiet evenings.