I’ve been wondering this for a a while now, but which is the biggest hill in Forest Hill, or the highest accessible point?
I thought the top of the Horniman clock tower might be a good bet, but I think the hill rises more behind it. Then there’s also Blythe Hill… and Church Rise… etc…
Before I go off and try to find out, does anyone already know?
I’m fairly sure the highest point is the top of the mast on the Horniman hill. And the highest publicly accessible point is near the foot of it.
Sydenham Hill is a bit higher but not in SE23.
This brilliant topographical map allows you to check the height of any point in London.
I think you are right. Here’s what my phone measured with GPS:
| Altitude ASL (metres) | Raw ASL(metres) | Location |
|---|---|---|
| ? | 105 | Top of Blythe Hill |
| 93 | 140 | One Tree Hill gun emplacement |
| 106 | 153 | Top of Cannonbie Road |
| 112 | 159 | Top of Rocombe Crescent |
| 110 | 157 | Base of Horniman Drive antenna |
The app I used gave raw heights which didn’t match the topography map you supplied, until I turned on ‘geoid correction’.
You can look down towards the Church Rise Church from the top of the Horniman gardens, so that must be much lower.
Rocombe Cresent is part of the same height as the Horniman Drive reading, but the GPS wanders a bit. Either way, the Rocombe Cresent triangle (looked after by Lewisham) looks really nice:
Why can’t Duncombe Hill green be like that!
I know it’s specific to SE23 but how does it compare to Crystal Palace? Ive really enjoyed wfh lunch spots overlooking the city
I am chuckling slightly at you spending the hottest day of the year climbing up and down hills to satisfy your curiosity! Hope you now have a 
to cool off with.
In terms of the highest point accessible to humans, surely it’s the top floor of the block of flats next door to Fairlawn primary school?
The Greystead block with the antennas on top… I did wonder that as I passed previously, but it’s hard to directly measure…
Either way, whichever part of the country you’ve blown into London from the one thing all us newcomers bleat on about to friends and family back home is how effing steep some of the hills in London really are. I suppose it’s because all the school trips we took to the capital focused on all the central landmarks in central London and we had to wait until adulthood until we’d be exposed to the peaks you’ll find on the Horniman side of the tracks or the trek to Crystal Palace.
Crystal Palace Parade has to be the highest elevation accessible to pedestrians in the SE & SW postcodes.
Sydenham Hill is SE26 rather than SE23. The crystal palace transmitter and base of the former palace are the highest points on the ridge.
But within SE23 i think the highest point is close to the horniman transmitter. My experiments when younger suggested that 26 Liphook Crescent was the highest point of the road on the hill. The top of the folly is quite high but the roof terrace next door is probably one of the best 360 degree views in the area without climbing a transmitter. There are few other points where you can see the view in all directions.
But the highest building in se23 is probably Frobisher Court in Little Brownings and the views over Horniman and beyond are stunning (i’ve only seen photos).
I measured 114m at the tip of Crystal Palace triangle, at the boundary oak stump, so sadly that just beats SE23… not by much though!
This Folly is amazing!
I’ve never ever spotted it…I assume its in a private garden?
Anyone know its background? can the home owners access it?
I have a fascination with folly’s!
All will be revealed in the next edition of the Forest Hill Society Newsletter!
There is quite a good blog about the tower here.
How does one get signed up to this newsletter? I recently discovered the Folly and would LOVE to know more / get inside it!
seconded!
The Forest Hill Society newsletter is available to all members and local residents are most welcome to sign up at https://www.foresthillsociety.com/p/membership.html for £5 per year.
Newsletters come out twice a year and work is in progress for the September edition.
Because the folly is in a back garden, access is very rare and structurally it isn’t suitable for many visitors. But our intrepid reporter from the Forest Hill Society newsletter recent ascended to the top of the tower with permission from the owners, in preparation for an article in the next edition.
Much as I would encourage everybody to sign up to join the Forest Hill Society, we also make all articles available for free on our website (a few weeks after publication and distribution). But, in my opinion, that’s an even better reason to sign up for membership!
