River Peck/Earl's Sluice (Honor Oak to Surrey Quays) Guided Walking Tour with Paul Talling (author of London's Lost Rivers)

Welcome to Honor Oak Park. Source of the River Peck
From 1809 the Croydon Canal ran through Honor Oak but was replaced by a railway line in 1836.
WW1 gun emplacement on One Tree Hill near the source of the Peck, one of London's Lost Rivers
Great War gun emplacement from 1916 to counter the threat of Zeppelins near the source of the Peck on One Tree Hill
The Oak of Honor on One Tree Hill in Honor Oak
Oak of Honor.The present tree planted in 1905 and a successor to the historic one where Elizabeth I picnicked
Headwaters of a lost river of London's Lost Rivers in Honor Oak
A watery clue of the source of the Peck on One Tree Hill
This is a long but leisurely walk from Honor Oak to the Surrey Docks in Rotherhithe via Peckham & South Bermondsey. Along the route of this lost river we pass many other interesting sites over vastly contrasting landscapes. We also pass the routes of two of South London's other lost waterways  - the Grand Surrey Canal and the Croydon Canal. We stop off at a pub for drinks en route.
The Peck, a tributary of The Earl's Sluice, rose on One Tree Hill, Honor Oak  and drained into the Sluice near  South Bermondsey railway station. The Sluice then drained eastwards into the Thames on the  Rotherhithe/Deptford border. 

In May 1602, Elizabeth I picnicked by an oak tree at the summit of Honor Oak Hill. The tree came to be known as the Oak of Honor. The present tree surrounded by railings was planted in 1905 and a successor to the historic one. This tree is in the vicinity of the highest source of the Peck.

The name Peckham is of Saxon descent meaning 'the village of the River Peck', Peckham was the last stopping point for drovers from Kent taking their livestock to sell in London’s Smithfield Market. 

The only remaining above-ground section of the River Peck (or at least tributary rivulets of the said river) is in Peckham Rye. It was here in 1767 that poet William Blake had his vision of “a tree filled with angels, bright angelic wings bespangling every bough like stars." During the Second World War, temporary huts were erected here to detain Italian prisoners of war.

The main part of The Peck was enclosed as the Earl Main Sewer in 1820-3, but the section nearest to the Old Kent Road remained open until the 1830s.
​These guided walking tours with Paul Talling sell out of tickets several months ahead. Click the WeGotTickets logo for upcoming tour dates and availability.

​Join the mailing list to be informed of future walks and ticket releases.
Honor Oak Reservoir above the River Peck
The Honor Oak Reservoir (once the largest brick built underground reservoir in the world) on the route of the Peck
River Peck. Southwark's most natural watercourse emerges in Peckham Rye Park
The Peck runs underneath a school and emerges into daylight in Peckham Rye Park
Dogs enjoying the River Peck in Peckham Rye Park
The Peck supports a variety of damp loving & aquatic plants including Watercress,Cuckooflower, Lady's Smock & Water Figwort
Birds foraging in the River Peck
Peckham Rye Park. The name Rye stems from rhe or ree which is Old English for watercourse
Dereliction in Peckham along the course of a lost river
After Peckham Rye Park the river is buried for the rest of its course. Here we see pockets of dereliction along the way.
A dead pub now a restaurant. Once used by the Kentish cattle drovers beside the River Peck
On Old Kent Road there is a mural of rural scenes and herds of cattle and ducks.This building was once a pub called ‘The Kentish Drovers'. A pub of this name stood on this site for over 3 centuries.
Old Kent Road derelcit buildings
Old Kent Road. More dereliction on the route of the Peck.
Delaford Road is roughly where the River Peck joins the Earl's Sluice
Where the Peck joins the Earls Sluice near South Bermondsey Station