Thursday 20 March 2014

Visit to the Excalibur Prefab Estate, Lewisham - go while you can


THE EXCALIBUR PREFAB ESTATE

On 15th March, in superb spring weather, a splendid two hour organized walk took place round the estate. There was scant publicity but an embarrassing number of people turned up - from as far afield as Scotland. Despite much press publicity about bulldozing, it turned out that almost no prefabs have actually been demolished, so far.  Areas have been cleared of their occupants and groups of empty prefabs are now hidden behind black hoardings, but they are almost all still there.

On this estate there were two types of prefabs and six, in the most original condition, have been listed grade II. Lewisham Council have complained that English Heritage is irresponsible. The Excalibar estate is in poor condition and the land is urgently required to build new homes for needy and deserving people.

Some residents love their prefabs; they remember the old slogan - popular at the time prefabs were built -  'an Englishman's home is his castle' and are determined to stay. The Estate still has a bit of its old secluded atmosphere. It is relatively traffic free and as well as roads, pedestrian walkways run between some of the bungalows. Pay a visit while you still can. A prefab museum has been opened at 17 Meliot Road SE6. See:

https://www.facebook.com/PalacesForThePeople

1 comment:

Clare said...

I live nearby and have been documenting the estate for a while - these are my pictures http://www.flickr.com/photos/clogsilk/sets/72157642629837185/