Pepys Road was part of the development of substantial houses built by the Haberdashers Company on their Hatcham/New Cross estate from the 1870s onwards.

Here we can see an elaborate front garden with bird-bath and yucca plants.

This is the view north from the corner of Ommaney Road, showing nos. 61, 59, etc.

Colin Turnbull of New Cross writes that 61 Pepys Road survived the Second World War but that 55, 57, and 59 were destroyed. "57 and 59 were rebuilt across the three plots. 55 was not rebuilt, so there is a gap in the street numbering, considered by some to be a useful fake address."