Place Name
Local lords of the manor, the de Basynges, originally from Basingstoke, hence the name, settled in this area, at a very early period. Robert de Basynges held land in Camberwell in 1287, by which time the family had produced two Lord Mayors of London. Solomon de Basynge appears to have been sheriff of London in 1215 during the reign of King John. Their manor stood just west of the northern end of today’s Rye Lane. It continued to exist until at least 1812 when, according to the local historian William Blanch, the land was sub-divided into many parts and passed to several owners, thus permanently breaking up the estate. The family also gave their names to The City Ward of Bassishaw, Basinghall Street, Basinghall Avenue, and Basing Street. According to the Dulwich Society’s gazetteer, the name was probably picked in 1949 at random from W.H. Blanch’s late 19thCentury ‘Ye Parish of Camerwell’, at a time of major redevelopment when many ‘new’ names were needed.
