Abbey Wood
Abbey Wood, Greenwich/Bexley
A hitherto unfashionable locality situated south of Thamesmead, now boosted by the arrival of the Elizabeth line (Crossrail)
Abbey Wood is named after the ancient woodlands that surround the remains of Lesnes Abbey, founded in 1178. The abbey’s site was close to a marsh that was prone to frequent flooding when the Thames overflowed its banks. The monks had to maintain the river wall to prevent the floods, which allowed the development of a small settlement here. The hamlet had only a hundred inhabitants when the North Kent Railway arrived and a small station opened in 1850, and its setting remained rural for the rest of that century.
To the south, the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society began building the Bostall estate from about 1900. Further expansion came with the construction of a tram depot, which was subsequently converted to a bus garage.
In the 1950s land sales by the shrinking Woolwich Arsenal allowed the council to build the Abbey Wood estate on land west of Harrow Manor Way. For a while the estate was a boom town, with industry and more housing piling in.
Local amenities followed, but only after pressure from community activists. More than half the households are now owner-occupied and Abbey Wood has historically constituted a useful first step on the ladder for cash-strapped home buyers, especially those with children. However, house prices have increased in anticipation of the arrival of the Elizabeth line, which eventually opened in May 2022.
In 2012 Development Securities PLC announced plans for an £85 million project called the Cross Quarter scheme, transforming a 10-acre derelict industrial site adjacent to Harrow Manor Way and Felixstowe Road. Among other elements the scheme has resulted in the construction of a Sainsbury’s supermarket with flats above.
In 2013 the London Borough of Bexley secured monies from the Heritage Lottery Fund that has been used to make Lesnes Abbey Woods more accessible and appealing to residents and visitors.
, Greenwich Guidebooks, 1996