Things you didn't know about... Lewisham

Letsby Avenue, Lewisham
15,100 sq m (162,500 sq ft) in area, Lewisham's borough police station opened in 2004. It's officially the largest in Europe.

Free Lewisham museum opens up the world
The Horniman Museum's 1,600 musical instruments are just one reason to visit this amazing collection of global artefacts. Inside, 3,500-year-old Egyptian clappers rub shoulders with flint tools, rare fossils and early Peruvian pottery. Museum founder FJ Horniman was a passionate collector who wanted to share his finds with the public.

Lewisham, you say—how are you spelling that?
"Leaisham", "Lewisgam, and "Lrwisham" are just three of over 50 recorded misspellings of Lewisham.

Lewisham—a haunt for media stars
Celebrity Lewisham residents have included actors Timothy Spall and Jude Law, outdoorsman Ray Mears, entertainer Danny Baker and the musical Bedingfield siblings.

A pedal-power contest drew a famous French artist to Lewisham
The first velocipede (early bicycle) races held at Crystal Palace in 1869 began a strong cycling tradition, which continues today. The painter Toulouse-Lautrec, a keen cyclist, came to watch (and sketch) the celebrated 1896 Simpson Chain Matches. In 2007 the Tour de France paid its first visit.

They've moved on in Lewisham....
Today's ethnic mix is aeons away from the slave "triangle" voyages, which started in Deptford in 1562. European traders sailed to West Africa, exchanging goods there for slaves who were transported to Caribbean plantations. In return, traders carried back slave-produced goods like sugar, coffee, rice and cotton to Europe.

Lewisham's had its share of greats
Tsar Peter the Great was in Deptford to learn about shipbuilding in 1694—apparently he and his friends caused drunken havoc. Music-hall star Marie Lloyd, writer Walter de la Mare, bouncing bomb inventor Barnes Wallis, medium Doris Stokes, zany comedian Spike Milligan and one-time PM James Callaghan have all lived in Lewisham.

Lewisham makes free
Pioneer of the modern hospice movement and founder of St.Christopher's Hospice in Sydenham, Dame Cicely Saunders OM received the freedom of Lewisham in 2000. Similarly honoured in 1990 was irrespressible anti-apartheid campaigner, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a local in the 1970s.