Woolwich, Greenwich
A historic naval town, now much altered, situated three miles east of Greenwich
A community has existed by the river at Woolwich (pronounced ‘woolidge’ or ‘woolitch’) since at least the Iron Age, and the Romans built a fort here. The Old English place name probably means ‘trading place for wool’, but no evidence has been found of a wool market. Henry VIII initiated shipbuilding here and the town’s military facilities subsequently expanded to fill the entire waterfront, while pottery, glass, bricks and tiles were produced inshore. In 1695 the Royal Laboratory was established next to Tower Place. The laboratory manufactured explosive armaments and was the precursor of the Royal Arsenal.
A burst of activity from 1716 to 1720 saw the construction of a brass foundry, the barracks, a new mansion house and the ‘great pile’ of buildings at Dial Square, which was probably the work of Nicholas Hawksmoor. The town was soon entirely built up, except for the common, which was used for artillery practice. Shops lined the main streets and Woolwich became north Kent’s principal commercial centre. Such was the pressure of expansion that growth began to spill over into Plumstead in the 19th century and later into Eltham. But the dockyard closed in 1869 and the Royal Military Academy relocated to Sandhurst in 1947. The arsenal ceased manufacturing in 1967 and closed altogether in 1994. These events brought a period of decline to Woolwich from which it is only now recovering.
At present, the proportion of council tenants in Woolwich are very high while owner-occupation is very low. The town also has an exceptionally large number of single-parent households. Woolwich has been touted by some property consultants as south London’s ‘next big thing’ because of its improving transport links, the developments on the Royal Arsenal site and its selection of well-built Georgian terraces.
In an IRA bombing in November 1974, two died and many more were injured when a device was hurled through a window of the King’s Arms, opposite the Royal Artillery Barracks.
In 1975 Woolwich acquired the UK’s first McDonald’s hamburger restaurant, which took the place of a branch of Burton’s, the tailors.
