Things you didn't know about... Deptford

Christopher Marlowe came to a sticky end in Deptford
London playwright and Shakespearean rival Christopher Marlowe lived and was murdered in a Deptford tavern. There is a plaque commemorating him at the nearby St Nicholas Church.

Deptford has long been an area popular with musicians
1980s British-born rockers Dire Straits used to be flatmates on Deptford's Crossfield Estate; Jools Holland's band Squeeze lived there during the 1970s and recorded on a label named Deptford Fun City. Recent Mercury Prize winners Klaxons hail from Deptford too.

Russian Royalty have been residents of Deptford
When Peter I of Russia came to England to study shipbuilding in 1698, he lived at Sayes Court in Deptford.

Deptford has its own local delicacy
Deptford Pudding, a lemony bread pudding, is a local treat. It was created in the days when Deptford was still a rural part of Surrey.

Vampires have been known to hang out in Deptford
The 1994 movie adaptation of Anne Rice's novel Interview With The Vampire was partly filmed in Deptford. St Paul's Church was a key location.

Deptford has been thanked in BAFTA speeches
Double Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis grew up in south London and when he won his 2008 BAFTA award for There Will Be Blood, he thanked the area. "The streets of Deptford, Lewisham and New Cross," he said, "the bomb sites on the Isle of Dogs, the wharves and shadowy laneways of the South East London docks... those were the playgrounds of my early life."

Sir Francis Drake was knighted in Deptford
The renowned adventurer and favourite of Queen Elizabeth I was knighted at the naval dockyard in Deptford on 4 April 1581. The dockyard had been established in Deptford in 1513 by King Henry VIII.

Deptford's name is related to its riverside roots
The area used to be written as "Depeford", which referred to the deep ford where the London to Dover road crossed the River Ravensbourne. Deptford Bridge now lies across this spot.