Bellingham is a district in south east London, in the London Borough of Lewisham. Its neighbouring districts are Catford, Sydenham and Downham. The Ravensbourne River runs through the centre of Bellingham, also to the west and east it is bordered by railway lines jogging south from Catford.
The name Bellingham means ‘the water-meadow belonging to Beora’s people’, and was the real name of the medieval manor in the region. The real name was preserved by the farm in the region, Bellingham Railway Station and the Bellingham Estate. Other historical names have already been preserved by the road brands of the estate, which are connected with King Alfred, who was thought to have been the lord of the manor of Lewisham, and were extracted from the true names of mills, houses and fields in the certain region.
Bellingham was farmland until the Bellingham Estate was built, mostly between 1920 and 1923. London City Council built about 2600 houses and flats in this time. Bellingham Estate was one of many large estates built by London City Council after the First World War to aid with slum clearance and alleviate overcrowding. As there is lots of land available the majority of the dwellings constructed were two-story homes, and there was lots of green, open space.
Today, Bellingham is a localised town centre. Its high street is Randlesdown Road, which includes a supermarket, a gym, hairdressers and multiple restaurants and food outlets. It also has a sixth form college, and a church and a library. Bellingham boasts many well-known recent and present residents, like the singer/song-writer Kate Bush, the former Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan, and the footballer Ian Wright.