Geograph - photograph every grid square

The butterfly shown is a Camberwell Beauty, so called because the first known British specimen was found here in 1748. The species is not native to Britain, occasionally straying here across the channel, so its presence in Camberwell was an accident: nonetheless, the area is extremely proud of its namesake butterfly. Camberwell-based band The House of Love used the butterfly on the cover of their self-titled LP: see Link (Archive Link ) .

For the mural in context, see TQ3276 : Butterfly mural, Denmark Hill, Camberwell. For another tiled mural, probably the one used on the LP cover, see TQ3377 : Camberwell Beauty. For another local example of the butterfly motif in a different medium, see TQ3276 : Direction sign on Denmark Hill.

The author who named the Camberwell Beauty also suggested as an alternative name the Grand Surprise: some miles to the south in Shirley the butterfly appears on the sign of the Surprise pub TQ3565 : Upper Shirley Road, Croydon.