Today
Pepys Community Hub serves as a space for collective expression and dialogue, focused on supporting residents with access to essential services, mental health and well-being. Through our work we address the ongoing impacts of colonialism, capitalism and urban development on local communities. We work collaboratively with partners across the borough of Lewisham and further afield to connect residents to services and provide a safe space for all, whilst facilitating opportunities to develop new skills and creativity. Our approach allows us to celebrate and reflect upon the interwoven threads that make up our diverse community, share stories, new experiences and ideas in a supportive, community-led environment.
Our History
Set on the banks of the Thames, the community centre occupies a Grade II-listed building within the historic Royal Navy Victualling Yard in Deptford. Constructed between 1781 and 1798, the riverside warehouse and administrative offices—believed to be designed by the renowned engineer John Rennie the Elder—played a crucial role in sustaining Britain’s naval dominance for over 180 years. These buildings once stored and distributed provisions, clothing, and equipment to Royal Navy ships, directly supporting Britain’s colonial ventures, including its involvement in the transatlantic slave trade.
Deptford itself was a significant maritime and industrial hub for over 350 years. Alongside this legacy of empire, the area also nurtured resistance and reform. Abolitionist Olaudah Equiano, a former enslaved African, lived and campaigned here in the 18th century, symbolising the enduring struggle for justice.
The Victualling Yard was decommissioned in 1961, when advances in naval engineering rendered the Thames too shallow for larger modern ships. Its architecture remains a testament to Britain’s naval infrastructure: multicoloured stock brick buildings with arched walkways, sash windows, and a commanding presence along the Thames Path, beside Pepys Park.
Today, the site—now known as Foreshore—serves as a thriving community hub. Reimagined by local residents, it honours Deptford’s past while supporting the creativity and activism of its diverse communities. It stands not just as a relic of imperial history, but as a living space for dialogue, resilience, and collective transformation.
