The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Blackheath

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BLACKHEATH, England, an elevated heath in the county of Kent chiefly in the metropolitan borough of Lewisham. It borders on Greenwich Park, contains 267 acres, and is a place of popular resort. In 1381 Wat Tyler and John Ball mustered their followers here. Jack Cade occupied the same position twice in 1450. In 1497 the Cornish insurgents, under Lord Audley, were routed there by the King's forces. Blackheath has been the scene of many historical pageants and processions. Henry IV met there (1400) the Byzantine emperor, Michael Palæologus; the corporation of London there met Henry V, on his return from Agincourt; and the year afterward, the Emperor Sigismund. One of the last was the reception of Anne of Cleves, by Henry VIII, in 1541. The Roman road to Dover crossed Blackheath. Consult Drake, ‘History of Blackheath’ (London 1886).