Carnac Street
The street was laid out around 1872 and named after an important figure of British colonial administration, Sir James Rivett-Carnac, the governor of Bombay in 1838 and chairman of the East India Company, in line with a recurring Victorian trend to name streets after imperial or military figures. It was originally laid out and named Karnac street around 1898 after being part of winding Hamilton Road. The name reflected the exoticism of the East when Egyptology was at its peak following the British occupation of Egypt in 1882. The new spelling of Carnac Street by 1902-1907 sprang from the London County Council’s campaign to standardise names, thereby establishing also a European connection with the neolithic stones of Britanny.
Maps and Land Ownership
Robert Bayspoole was the owner of this primarily arable land in his plot 860.
Timeline
Building of the street
17-19-21-Carnac-street drainage map
31 Carnac Street
39 Carnac Street
43 Carnac Street
41 Carnac Street
Architecture
Significant Street Buildings
Simpsons Cottages Carnac Street
Some of the cottages were named Simpson cottages, after a highly successful and respected family of tea grocers and dealers, North, Simpson, Graham & Co. Like many wealthy businessmen they looked to leafy Dulwich to settle their main residence away …Lauriston House Carnac Street
Lauriston House would have been a large detached villa or a prominent mansion sitting on a substantial plot before the area was subdivided and infilled into the terraces of today. The name most likely referred to Lord Dalhousie, governor general of Ind …Elmwood Primary School Carnac Street
Elmwood Primary School opened in 1929 as Carnac Street Central School to capture a massive population boom in the large municipal style of the London County Council when it was the most prolific and innovative architectural body in the world. The LCC d …Courage’s Cottages Carnac Street
Courage’s Cottages were named after the famous brewery family either as their properties or to house staff. Dagmar for a Terrace was a name that took London by storm in the 1870s due to very popular Royal wedding between Princess Dagmar of Denmark, si …Social History
Residents