Nunhead is a place in the London Borough of Southwark in London, England.^[1] It is an inner-city suburb located 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Charing Cross. It is the location of the 52 acres (0.21 km²) Nunhead Cemetery.^[2] Nunhead has traditionally been a working-class area and, with the adjacent neighbourhoods, is currently going through a lengthy process of gentrification.^{[3][dead link][4]} Nunhead is the location of several underground reservoirs, built by the Southwark and Vauxhall Waterworks Company.^[5]

The name is first recorded in 1680 and is believed to be taken from a local inn named The Nun's Head. It is rumoured that this name refers the beheading of a nun during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. However, there is no evidence to support this claim.^[6]

Nunhead formed part of the large ancient parish of Camberwell in the Brixton hundred of Surrey.^[7][8] It has not formed an independent unit of civil administration, however as population grew a separate St Antholin, Nunhead ecclesiastical parish was created in 1878, with a church built in 1877.^[7] The church was later rebuilt in 1957 as St Antony's Church. ^[9] It was then Listed Grade II in 1972 but became surplus to requirements of the church and was declared redundant in 2001 and sold to its present owners. It then became the Lighthouse Cathedral.^[10] The area then came within the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1855 and was transferred to the County of London in 1889. Having formed part of the Camberwell parish, it became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell in 1900.^[7] In 1887 Nunhead is recorded as having a population of 10,727.^[11] There was a Nunhead Football Club from 1888 to 1949. Nunhead has some fine examples of late Victorian / early Edwardian properties; these can be seen on both Carden Road and Tresco Road.

Nunhead forms part of Southwark London Borough Council's Peckham Programme regeneration scheme.^[12] As part of this plan, the area forms part of the East Peckham and Nunhead renewal area.^[13] A component of this regeneration is the proposal that the Cross River Tram could serve the area,^[14] however in November 2008 Mayor of London Boris Johnson announced that due to funding constraints this project would no longer be taken forward.^[15]

• East Dulwich
• Brockley
• Peckham
• New Cross Gate

Gibbon Road is the location of Nunhead railway station. The station is located on the line from Blackfriars to Sevenoaks and Victoria to Dartford. Train services are provided by Southeastern.^[16] The area is also served by a variety of London Buses services.^[17] As part of the urban sprawl of London, Nunhead is contiguous with the neighbourhoods of Brockley to the east, Honor Oak to the south, East Dulwich to the south west, Peckham to the north west and New Cross to the north east.

Nunhead forms part of the Camberwell and Peckham Westminster constituency, with a ward in that constituency named Nunhead. The current MP is Harriet Harman and the ward councillors are Fiona Colley,^[18] Althea Smith^[19] and Sunil Chopra.^[19] Some local policy elements are devised through consultation between Southwark Council and the Nunhead and Peckham Rye Community Council.^[1] Fiona Colley also operates an online question and answer surgery with residents at local forum South East Central [1] Nunhead forms part of the Lambeth and Southwark London Assembly constituency represented by Valerie Shawcross and the London European Parliament constituency.

v t e London Borough of Southwark
Districts	Bankside Bermondsey Borough/Southwark Camberwell Crystal Palace Denmark Hill Dulwich Dulwich Village East Dulwich Elephant and Castle Herne Hill Honor Oak Newington Nunhead Peckham Peckham Rye Rotherhithe South Bank South Bermondsey Surrey Quays Sydenham Hill Upper Norwood Walworth West Dulwich
Attractions	Bankside Gallery Blue Elephant Theatre Borough Road Gallery Bridge Theatre Brunel Museum Camberwell Public Baths Champion Hill City Hall The Clink Cuming Museum Dulwich Outdoor Gallery Dulwich Picture Gallery Dulwich Public Baths Fashion and Textile Museum Globe Theatre Golden Hinde (1973) Greenwood Community Theatre Hay's Galleria Herne Hill Velodrome House of Dreams Museum HMS Belfast Imperial War Museum Jerwood Space Kirkaldy Testing Museum The London Bridge Experience London Dungeon London Fire Brigade Museum Mandela Way T-34 Tank Menier Chocolate Factory Michael Faraday Memorial More London Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret The Old Vic Oxo Tower Peckham Platform Pumphouse Educational Museum Rose Theatre Sam Wanamaker Playhouse The Scoop Shakespeare's Globe The Shard The View from The Shard South Bank South London Gallery Southwark Cathedral Southwark Playhouse Surrey Docks Farm Tate Modern Theatre Peckham Unicorn Theatre Union Theatre Winchester Palace
Markets and shopping	Borough East Street Surrey Quays Shopping Centre
Bridges and tunnels	Blackfriars Bridge Blackfriars Railway Bridge Cannon Street Railway Bridge London Bridge Millennium Bridge Rotherhithe Tunnel Southwark Bridge Tower Bridge Waterloo Bridge
Parks and open spaces	Belair Park Bellenden Road Nature Garden Bermondsey Spa Gardens Burgess Park Camberwell Green Centre for Wildlife Gardening Dulwich Park Dulwich Upper Wood Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park Lavender Pond Newington Gardens One Tree Hill, Honor Oak Peckham Rye Potters Fields Park Russia Dock Woodland Stave Hill Southwark Park Sydenham Hill Wood Tabard Gardens
Constituencies	Camberwell and Peckham North Southwark and Bermondsey Dulwich and West Norwood
Tube and rail stations	Bermondsey Borough Canada Water Denmark Hill Elephant and Castle Kennington London Bridge Nunhead Peckham Rye Queens Road Peckham Rotherhithe South Bermondsey Southwark Surrey Quays Sydenham Hill West Dulwich
Other topics	Council Grade I and II* listed buildings People Public art Schools
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