The listing of number 58 Peckham High Street at Grade II is the happy conclusion to a long campaign by the Peckham Society to see the timber framed buildings on the High Street recognised and protected. Since English Heritage turned down the Society’s request to list the buildings in 2000, it has collected additional information and relied on new research, which has now enabled the national heritage organisation to change its mind.
No. 58 is the last surviving building in a terrace of four houses erected in the 1720s, possibly by Isaac Bennett. It was originally part of a matching pair with No. 56 and Nos. 64-66, either side of Nos. 60-62, a lower timber framed building of C17 date, now Peckham’s oldest surviving building. (Sadly, the latter has been deemed too altered for listing.) This grouping was complete in 1928, although Nos. 64-66 disappeared after WWII, and No. 56 was lost in the 1960s.
The listing is thus useful in recognising the building’s importance but it also allows its consideration in any redevelopment plans for the area. It has been in poor condition for some time, and its listing provided Southwark Council with powers to seek its repair. As has been the case throughout London, its repair and retention may well provide a catalyst for wider regeneration.
