The Phantom Blow

 

The Phantom Blow: John Evelyn and the Mysterious Stigmata of a Deptford Maid (1670)

We all know John Evelyn for his legendary forty-five-year devotion to the gardens at Sayes Court, or as the landlord who had his estate completely trashed by Peter the Great in 1698. But there is a much darker, weirder side to Evelyn’s time in Deptford.

John Evelyn

Aside from being a diarist and a gardener, Evelyn was a prominent member of the Royal Society—a group of pioneering minds dedicated to using science, logic, and observation to explain the world. In the summer of 1670, those analytical skills were put to a terrifying test when a bizarre, supernatural medical crisis walked straight through the gates of Sayes Court. 

Sayes Court.

It is a story of phantom blows, bleeding crosses, and a 350-year-old psychological mystery that very few mainstream historians ever talk about.

The Sudden Attack

On Friday, 5 August 1670, Evelyn was sitting in his study at Sayes Court when a local neighbour arrived, dragging along a young, visibly traumatised servant girl. They desperately needed the diarist's intellect to make sense of something that looked to the rest of the neighbourhood like absolute witchcraft.

Exactly one month earlier, on 5 July, the young maid had been sitting quietly in a room in Deptford, working under the watchful eye of her mistress. Out of nowhere, she gasped and clutched her arm. She claimed she had just felt a massive, invisible blow strike her—as if someone had lashed her with a whip or struck her with a rod. The pain was accompanied by a brief, violent convulsive fit. When her mistress rushed over and pulled back the girl’s sleeve, the skin was perfectly clear. There was no mark, no bruise, and no intruder in the room.

But then, the real horror began.

The Bleeding Crosses of Deptford

Over the next few weeks, the phantom marks began to manifest physically on the maid's skin. Evelyn, ever the meticulous recorder, examined her arms and shoulders under the summer light at Sayes Court and wrote down exactly what he saw in his journal. He noted that he saw the vestigia of a stroke, and that there appeared red crosses, mathematically shaped, regular and uniform, such as no device could easily duplicate.

These were not simple rashes. The marks were highly geometric, perfectly formed red crosses that appeared to be lightly bleeding or weeping beneath the skin. Even more unnerving, as the weeks went on, the marks began to shift. The girl claimed that new, invisible strokes were hitting her in the middle of the night, leaving fresh, perfectly shaped geometric patterns across her shoulders.

To the deeply religious and superstitious community of 17th-century Deptford, the diagnosis was obvious. The girl was either being tormented by a demon, cursed by a local witch, or she was a living miracle bearing the holy stigmata.

The Scientist versus The Supernatural

While the neighbourhood panicked, Evelyn and his colleagues from the Royal Society approached the situation like modern detectives. Evelyn suspected that the girl might be self-harming to gain attention or escape the brutal, grueling daily labour expected of a young servant maid in Stuart-era England.

He closely inspected her fingernails to see if she was scratching herself, searched her pockets for hidden pins or instruments, and even applied chemical washes to her skin to see if the crosses were drawn on with hidden ink or acid.

To his astonishment, the marks did not wash off. They were entirely organic, rising from deep within the tissue. Evelyn noted that while he could not definitively prove she was faking it, the sheer mathematical perfection of the crosses made him deeply suspicious. He concluded his journal entry with a sense of lingering, unresolved unease, balancing his scientific skepticism against the unexplainable marks before him.

The Modern Verdict: Dermatitis Artefacta

Today, medical historians and psychologists view the 1670 Deptford Maid as a classic, textbook example of a condition known as dermatitis artefacta or factitious disorder.

In the 17th century, young servant girls had zero agency, worked brutal hours, and faced immense societal and religious pressure. When the psychological stress became too much to bear, it often manifested physically—either through severe psychosomatic skin conditions where the mind literally causes breakouts or localized weeping, or through highly elaborate, covert self-harm designed to mimic the religious imagery of the day. By receiving the marks, the girl instantly went from an invisible, overworked servant to the most talked-about person in Deptford, examined by the King's own intellectuals.

Whether it was a cry for help, a brilliantly executed hoax, or a genuine psychosomatic mystery, it remains one of the strangest occurrences ever investigated on the grounds of Sayes Court.

Over to You

The next time you walk near the site of Sayes Court or down the streets of modern Deptford, remember that beneath the paving stones lies a history filled with things science is still trying to explain.

Have you ever come across any other references to the Stigmatised Maid in your own research of 17th-century diaries? Do you know of any other bizarre early medical trials or oddities from our local area? Drop a comment below, or email me at axelgs1@yahoo.co.uk if you have a piece of forgotten local lore to share!

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Jeffs Memories of deptford

 Hi Old Deptford History,

I was born in the old St. Alfages hospital in Greenwich in 1950.

Apparently I was not thriving as I should as my Mum was terrified of the ward sister which caused problems with feeding me. My Dad decided to kidnap us both and we came home to the family residence at 39 St. Donatts Road, New Cross.

39 St Donatts Road.

I went to school at St. James's in the road of the same name, New Cross and later went to Addey and Stanhope grammar school (known by us as Study and No Hope)

In New Cross Road, Deptford. I well remember Carrington House and the forboding presence it cast over Brookmill Road and the surrounding area. 

Carrington House on the right of photo

When I was 15, I had a girlfriend who had a horse. She was so devoted to it that she turned up on it one day... for a date at the pictures at the local fleapit (Deptford Odeon). 

Deptford Odeon

I told her that the place was pretty bad but didn't think they would let her and her horse in. As I recall, a few of the local girls kept horses in the stables in Mechanics Passage where the totters kept theirs.

Mechanics Alley/Passage

In the 1070s, I started a long career driving buses and often drove the 47 past Carrington House and in the mid 1980s the 53 past the end of Brookmill Road.

Looking back, we seemed to enjoy our simple lifestyle and seemed a lot healthier for it.

Thank you for all the lovely memories contained in your blog.

Jeff

The Books at 38 Albury Street

 

Update: 38 Albury Street House for Sale

 

38 Albury Street up for sale

 

A Chance Encounter with a Ghost?

 

A Mysterious Sighting on the Thames Path

Submitted anonymously to olddeptfordhistory.com

We recently received the following account from an individual who wished to remain anonymous. It describes a deeply unsettling encounter along the Thames Path, near an area long associated with the maritime industry and the working history of the river.

The location—close to O'Sheas Marine Services—sits within a stretch of riverbank that has changed little in character over the decades. Boat yards, fenced enclosures, and the quiet presence of the Thames itself make it a place where past and present often feel uncomfortably close.

The Account

On Thursday, 19th March 2026, I was walking along the Thames Path with my dog.

Ahead of me, I noticed a woman standing still, looking out across the river. She had long hair and was wearing a long coat—something about it immediately struck me as unusual. It looked like a coat from the 1920s, not something you would expect to see today.

As I got closer, my dog began to growl. This is completely out of character for him. He refused to walk any further and became visibly uneasy.

I continued forward slowly, closing the distance to around 30 feet.

Then, without warning, the woman disappeared.

There was no movement—no turning, no walking away. One moment she was there, the next she was gone.

I went to the fence to check if she had somehow gone down toward the river, but she was not in the Thames. Behind the spot where she had been standing is a boat repair yard, enclosed by a fence approximately 10 feet high, with no visible doors or exits.

There was nowhere she could have gone.

She had not passed me, and she had not moved ahead of me.

Even after she vanished, my dog remained on edge.

I cannot explain what I saw.

The Scene

A Possible Echo of the Past?

Deptford and the surrounding Thames-side areas have a long and layered history. From shipbuilding to trade, and from wartime industry to modern redevelopment, countless lives have passed along this river.

It is not uncommon for local folklore to speak of apparitions tied to the water—figures seen briefly, often near the river’s edge, and just as quickly gone.

Could this sighting be a trick of light and shadow? A misinterpretation of distance and movement?

Or could it be something else—an echo from another time, briefly crossing into the present?

Have You Seen Her?

We invite readers of olddeptfordhistory.com to share their thoughts.

Have you experienced anything similar along this part of the Thames Path?

Do you know of any local history that might connect to this description?

Can the anonymous person who submitted this encounter please contact me? Please get in touch.

Help for Andrew from Crayford Kent

 

A Deptford Street, an Orange, and a Question of Place (c.1926–1930)

This photograph has recently resurfaced that captures a quiet, human moment from inter-war Deptford: a young boy — Andrew’s father — eating an orange, sometime around 1926–1930. It’s a simple scene, yet it opens up a much bigger question: where exactly was this taken?

Andrew, who brought the image to light, has already done the hard yards. He knows the family lived at various addresses around Hughes Fields, Deptford Green, and Creek Road, including No. 122 Creek Road during the late 1920s. He has searched hundreds — possibly thousands — of images at the London Archives, with little to show for it. Anyone who has tried to visually reconstruct pre-war south-east London will understand that frustration.

Although the photo itself is modest, it offers a few valuable clues:

• A pawnbroker’s shop on the left
  Pawnbrokers were common on busy working-class streets and were usually clearly signed. Their locations are often listed in trade directories from the period, which makes them one of the most promising leads.

• A building resembling a church hall on the right
  These halls were frequently attached to Anglican or nonconformist churches and sat slightly back from the street, often with plain brick façades and tall windows.

• Possibly a pub ahead on the right
  Pubs tended to anchor street corners or sit prominently along main roads, especially routes linking docks, markets, and housing.

Together, these details suggest a lively, well-used stretch of road, not a quiet back street — very much in keeping with Creek Road or nearby routes leading toward the river, The Stowage, and Deptford Green.

Why the trail goes cold

Andrew is absolutely right to suspect that much of this streetscape has vanished. Deptford suffered heavy bomb damage during the Second World War, followed by post-war clearance and redevelopment. Entire rows of shops, pubs, and small halls disappeared, taking with them the visual continuity that historians rely on.

Yet fragments of the old area survive. Around St Nicholas Church, for example, there are still pockets where the scale and feel of old Deptford linger. While these aren’t the answer in themselves, they help us imagine the kind of environment shown in the photograph.

How this photo might be identified

If this image is ever to be pinned down to a precise location, the best chances lie in cross-referencing, rather than photographs alone:

• Street trade directories (late 1920s)
  Look for pawnbrokers listed on Creek Road, Deptford Green, and connecting streets. Once a candidate street is found, nearby churches or mission halls can be checked.

• Fire insurance maps and OS maps
  These sometimes mark pawnbrokers, pubs, and halls distinctly and can be matched to the spacing of buildings in the photo.

• Local parish records
  Church halls were often tied to specific parishes, which may narrow the field further.

More than a location

Even if the exact street name never emerges, the photograph still matters. A boy eating an orange — an everyday pleasure in the 1920s — tells us about diet, affordability, and ordinary life between the wars. It’s a reminder that Deptford’s history isn’t only about docks, bombs, or redevelopment, but about people living their lives in streets that have since vanished.

Andrew’s search is one many families share: trying to anchor memory to place when the place itself has gone. If anyone recognises the combination of pawnbroker, church hall, and pub from old Deptford, this photograph may yet give up its secret.

Sometimes, all it takes is one pair of familiar eyes.

The Day the Sky Fell Silent.

 

The Day the Sky Fell Silent. The V-2 Strike on Woolworths, 

New Cross – 25 November 1944.

In the winter of 1944, Londoners had grown grimly familiar with danger from the air. Sirens, the rising whine of the V-1 “doodlebug,” the rush for shelter. But the weapon that struck Woolworths on New Cross Road brought something new and terrifying: death without warning.

At 12:26 pm on Saturday, 25 November 1944, a German V-2 rocket hit the Woolworths store in New Cross, south-east London. In an instant, a busy shopping street was turned into rubble. It remains the deadliest single V-2 attack in Britain.

A Normal Saturday, Shattered

It was lunchtime. The shop was crowded with local families, women, children, and staff, many doing their weekly shopping or picking up small comforts in a hard year. There was no siren, no engine noise, no chance to run.

The V-2 travelled faster than sound. People only heard the explosion after it happened.

The rocket struck directly, obliterating the store and collapsing neighbouring buildings. Brick dust filled the air. Trams and vehicles were overturned. Fires broke out. Survivors later spoke of an unnatural silence before the screams began.

The Human Cost

The scale of the tragedy was immense:

• Around 168 people were killed

• More than 120 were seriously injured

• Entire families were wiped out

• Rescue workers dug for days, often finding victims where the shop counters had been moments earlier

Many of the dead were never formally identified. In wartime London, funerals followed one another in quiet procession, grief often kept private and stoic.

Why the V-2 Was Different

The V-2 rocket was the world’s first long-range ballistic missile. Launched from occupied Europe, it arced high into the atmosphere before falling almost vertically onto its target.

Unlike earlier bombing:

• There was no defence

• No warning system worked

• No sound until impact

Psychologically, it was devastating. Londoners described feeling helpless in a new way—you could not hear it coming, and you could not hide.

Aftermath and Memory

The Woolworths site was later rebuilt and continued as a shop for decades. Today, the location is marked by memorial plaques on New Cross Road, quietly recording the names and the date.

People still leave flowers each November.

For Deptford and New Cross, the strike is not just a statistic of war. It is a deeply local memory—passed down through families, remembered by street names, scars in buildings, and stories told in low voices.

Why It Still Matters

The New Cross Woolworths disaster reminds us that:

• The victims of war are overwhelmingly ordinary civilians

• Advanced weapons don’t just change battlefields — they change daily life

• Memory is fragile unless it is deliberately preserved

The people who died that Saturday were not soldiers. They were shoppers, children, neighbours. Their lives ended not in a front-line trench, but under a familiar shop sign on a London high street. Visiting the site

If you walk along New Cross Road today, pause when you pass the memorial. Traffic moves on, shops open and close—but beneath the pavement lies one of the most tragic moments in London’s wartime history.

Lost Pubs of Deptford

 

Lost Pubs of Deptford: A Vanished Drinking Landscape

Deptford was once thick with pubs. Dock workers, market traders, railwaymen, and families all had their locals — sometimes two or three on the same street. Today, most are gone. Some survive as shells, others as betting shops, flats, or anonymous shopfronts.

This is a look back at a few of Deptford’s lost pubs, with historic photos that capture a disappearing streetscape.

The Deptford Arms

52 Deptford High Street

The Deptford Arms stood proudly on the High Street, its corner position making it a natural meeting point. It survived well into the 2000s before closing around 2010.

By the end, trade had thinned and the writing was on the wall. Like many Deptford pubs, it outlived its community but not the economics stacked against it. Today, only photographs show its former identity.

Red Lion & Wheatsheaf

45 Deptford High Street

Dating back centuries, the Red Lion & Wheatsheaf was one of Deptford’s oldest pubs. It closed in the early 1970s, a casualty of post-war redevelopment and changing drinking habits.

Its long, low frontage once anchored this part of the High Street. In photos, you can still sense how dominant pubs once were in everyday street life.

The John Evelyn

299 Evelyn Street

Named after the famous diarist, The John Evelyn was a solid Whitbread local serving the Pepys Estate area. It closed around 2010–2011 and was later converted into a betting shop.

Externally, the building remains recognisable — a familiar Deptford story where the structure survives but the soul does not.

The Beehive

72 New Street

Little remembered now, The Beehive served New Street in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like many smaller back-street pubs, it disappeared quietly, leaving few photographs behind.

Its name alone hints at a busier, noisier Deptford — streets alive with dockland trade and foot traffic.

Dog & Bell (Historic View)

116 Prince Street

Although the Dog & Bell survives today, historic photos show just how different Deptford once looked. Formerly known as the Royal Marine, it stood amid a dense web of pubs, workshops, and lodging houses.

Its survival makes it a rare living link to Deptford’s pub-heavy past.

Why Deptford Lost So Many Pubs

Deptford’s pubs didn’t disappear overnight. Their decline came in waves:

• Dock closures and loss of local industry

• Post-war redevelopment and road schemes

• Rising property values and land speculation

• Changing social habits and licensing pressures

Where there were once dozens of pubs, only a handful remain.

Final Thoughts

Old photos of Deptford pubs aren’t just about drinking — they’re about community, work, routine, and belonging. Every lost pub marks a corner where stories were told, deals were done, arguments started, and friendships formed.

If you grew up in Deptford, chances are at least one of these places mattered to someone you knew.