"These mulberries are in the grounds of what was Camberwell House Lunatic Asylum which was opened 1846. The hospital took over several large houses built in 1790. There are two other mature mulberry trees in Mistral Community Garden (Sceaux Gardens) on the opposite side of Peckham Road behind UAL buildings which were once more of those large 1790s houses." Rosalin Rutt remembers the Lucas Gardens tree: I live in Southampton but worked in Camberwell 1966-68 in the London Borough of Southwark planning department in Peckham Road. Looking at Google maps, this building now appears appears to be the Southwark Register Office. There was a large old mulberry tree in the back garden where we used to take our tea breaks in warm weather. I clearly remember a group of women appearing one day to spread sheets and shake down the fruit to collect it. No idea who they were - would love to know. I have not been back to Camberwell since 1968. I have pored over your photos and maps trying to establish whether “my” much-loved mulberry tree is still there. There is a photo of a tree near a fence, but my memory is of a bigger, more dome-shaped mulberry in the middle of a grassy area. It’s a long shot, but do you have any information on whether this tree is still there please? Or maybe the photo on your site is of my tree, but now lopped and close to a new fence. Incidentally, the building there had iron rings on the walls of the basement. We were told that they used to be for chaining the inmates of the asylum on the site - a ghastly practice.

Public transport: Debmark Hill rail station

Find out more at www.moruslondinium.org/research/camberwell-mulberries

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