When this view from what is now the Devonshire Road area was published to mark the opening of the London and Croydon Railway in 1839, the tracks were cutting through open country in Forest Hill. Dartmouth Arms was the original name for Forest Hill station. It was taken from the adjoining pub, one of the very few buildings in the area. In this picture the pub is part of the small group seen in the centre. It is significant that the caption calls it the Dartmouth Arms, Sydenham, for Forest Hill scarcely existed as a suburb, the name being used for only a few houses in Honor Oak Road. Within fifteen years Forest Hill was established as the name for the district and the station, from which hundreds of houses radiated. Lithograph by L. J. Wood and J. R. Jobbins, published by R. Tyas, 1839.
