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Camberwell is a district of London, England. It forms part of the London Borough of Southwark, just south of the River Thames. It used to be part of the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell.
The area is a mixture of relatively affluent housing and cheaper housing such as tower blocks. Camberwell Grove and Grove Lane have some of London's most elegant and well preserved Georgian houses. The Salvation Army's William Booth Memorial Training College, designed by Giles Gilbert Scott, was completed in 1932: it towers over South London from Denmark Hill. It has a similar monumental impressiveness to Gilbert Scott's other local buildings, Battersea Power Station and the Tate Modern, although its simplicity is partly the result of repeated budget cuts during its construction: much more detail, including carved Gothic stonework surrounding the windows, was originally planned.
The name Camberwell probably derives from the old English Cumberwell or Comberwell. i.e. British well. It was already a substantial settlement with a church when mentioned in the Domesday Book. Up to the mid-nineteenth century, Camberwell was visited by Londoners for its rural tranqullity and the reputed healing properties of its mineral springs. The Camberwell Beauty butterfly was identified here in 1748 but is now rare in Britain. Like much of inner South London, Camberwell was transformed by the arrival of the railways in the 1860s.
The crossroads at the centre of Camberwell is the site of Camberwell Green, a very small area of common land which was once a traditional village green. Unfortunately it is now impossible to ignore the noise of the passing traffic.
The local ethnic mix includes a large proportion of people of Caribbean and Nigerian descent, a Greek Cypriot community, and number of immigrants of Middle Eastern origin. The area is popular with students, as it is home to the Camberwell College of Arts (part of the University of the Arts, London - formerly the London Institute) on Peckham Road. Kings College (part of the University of London) also has a hall of residence (King's College Hall) on nearby Denmark Hill.
Camberwell has one of London's large teaching hospitals, Kings College Hospital. The Maudsley Hospital, a renowned psychiatric hospital which was an international leader in developing specialist training in psychiatry, and its academic partner, the equally distinguished Institute of Psychiatry, are also close to Denmark Hill station.
Past and current residents include Joseph ChamberlainJoseph Chamberlain ( July 8, 1836 July 3, 1914) was a British politician. In his early years he was a Liberal and a campaigner for educational reform, and became President of the Board of Trade. Later he re-emerged in alliance with the Conservatives, as a, Robert BrowningRobert Browning ( May 7th, 1812 December 12th, 1889) was an English poet and playwright. He was born in Camberwell, Surrey, the only son of Robert and Sarah Wiedemann Browning. His father worked as a well-paid bank clerk and so managed to amass a library, John RuskinJohn Ruskin ( February 8, 1819 January 20, 1900) was an English author, poet and artist, although more famous for his work as art critic and social critic. His Modern Painters series were responsible for the early popularity of the artist Joseph Mallord W, Michael CaineMichael Caine (born March 14, 1933) is a British film actor. He was born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite in Rotherhithe, South London and grew up in nearby Camberwell. During the Second World War he was evacuated to Norfolk. When Michael Caine first became an, Emma ThompsonEmma Thompson (born April 15, 1959) is an Academy Award-winning British actress. She is the daughter of actor Eric Thompson (of The Magic Roundabout fame) and actress Phyllida Law. Her sister is actress Sophie Thompson. Emma Thompson came to fame with a l, Kenneth BranaghKenneth Charles Branagh (born December 10 1960) is a versatile British actor and film director. Biography He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, but when he was nine his family moved to England. Branagh received a honorary doctorate in Literature from and Nicholas Serota. Felix Mendelssohnsymphony at the young age of fifteen. Jacob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, always known simply as Felix Mendelssohn ( February 3, 1809 November 4, 1847) was a German composer of the early Romantic period. He was perhaps the greatest child prodigy aft stayed with relatives in 1842 and wrote a piano piece called 'Camberwell Green', whose popularity increased after it was renamed the 'Spring Song'.
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