Dulwich DataLinks 2024

A chronological calendar (with commentary) of every known written historical source relating to Dulwich, spanning the period from AD 967 to November 1626 — the date of Edward Alleyn’s death and the founding of Dulwich College.

The work brings together, in date order, references gleaned from over twenty years of research into the original documents held principally at the Wodehouse Library at Dulwich College, with additional material from the Minet Library in Camberwell, the National Archives at Kew, Canterbury Cathedral Archives, and other repositories. Each entry is allocated an Item Number with citations to its original source — most drawing on the catalogues of Dulwich College manuscripts compiled by George F. Warner (1881) and Francis B. Bickley (1903), the manorial Court Rolls of Dulwich (1333–1626), and earlier records reaching back to before the Norman Conquest.

The 967 starting date reflects the earliest documentary mention of land in what is now Dulwich. From there, the work traces every subsequent reference through the medieval period — including the various spellings under which the area was known (Dilwihs, Dylwyssh, Dilwisshe, and others), its connection to Bermondsey Abbey, and the long line of named individuals associated with the area before Edward Alleyn’s purchase of the manor in 1605.

Originally compiled in 1997 and revised in 2024, the work builds on the earlier research of William Darby — Patrick’s father and a noted Dulwich historian — whose two published volumes, Dulwich Discovered (1966) and Dulwich – A Place in History (1967), drew on the same archives.