Woolwich Common
Woolwich Common | |
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Type | common land, urban park |
Location | Woolwich, London |
Coordinates | 51°28′35″N 0°03′14″E / 51.4765°N 0.0539°E |
Area | 60 hectares (150 acres)[1] |
Status | military terrain (partly); conservation area |
Public transit access | Woolwich Arsenal station |
Woolwich Common is a common in Woolwich in southeast London, England. It is partly used as military land (less than 40%)[2] and partly as an urban park.[3] Woolwich Common is a conservation area. It is part of the South East London Green Chain. It is also the name of a street on the east side of the common, as well as an electoral ward of the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 17,499.[4]
Location
Woolwich Common lies on the northern slope of
History
Until the mid-18th century, Woolwich Common formed part of an open space that was much bigger than it is now. It covered a large part of the north slope of
Encroachments and enclosure
Because of the rapid growth of both
By the 1720s the Board of Ordnance was using the Common as a testing ground for mortars, and fifty years later a firing range was set up for artillery practice.[6] At the same time, it was still being used for the grazing of livestock; areas were cultivated for crops and other parts were quarried for gravel, to be used in road building.
In 1774-6 the character of the area changed significantly and lastingly with construction of the
By the end of the eighteenth century the common was being used for large military parades, manoeuvres and displays. Between 1796 and 1805 the Royal Military Academy (which had until then been located within the Arsenal) was rebuilt on a new site on the south-eastern edge of Woolwich Common, where it gradually expanded over the course of the next century; this was the first major building development by the Board of Ordnance on the common itself. In September 1801 additional land, to the west of Barrack Field, was leased by the Board of Ordnance from the Bowater family, largely to be used as military training ground (Green Hill and Repository Woods). Six months later the Board took outright possession of this (and all the land they had leased from the Bowater family) by virtue of an Act of Parliament.[10]
Then, in 1803, the Board purchased the lease of Woolwich Common from Sir John Shaw (they would go on to acquire the freehold from the Crown, in 1812);[11] In 1804 a local Commission, empowered by Act of Parliament to adjudicate in the matter, awarded £3,000 to the Parish in compensation for loss of rights to extract gravel (albeit without reference to parishioners' longstanding use of the common for herbage, estovers and turbary). That same year, the Board also purchased Charlton Common from Sir Thomas Maryon Wilson of Charlton House.[7] Thenceforward all the land began to be cleared for military use; (as late as 1810 much of the western part of the common still consisted of cultivated fields,[12] but in 1816 these were levelled and sowed to grass). Relations between the local inhabitants and the military remained acrimonious for more than a century afterwards, with the former continuing to claim rights of access based on custom while the latter asserted complete powers of ownership.[11]
The common under military ownership
Artillery practice
In 1803 the Board built a mortar
Horses and the Army Veterinary Corps
From early on the common was used to train and exercise military horses, including those of the
Immediately to the north of the Royal Horse Infirmary, a 'permanent Camp of Huts' was erected in the 1850s, which remained occupied by Artillery and other troops through the second half of the century;[17] further to the south were several sets of stables. In 1896 Shrapnel Barracks was built alongside,[18][19] which provided accommodation for two field-batteries of Artillery.[20] During the First World War the barracks served as No 1 (Eastern) Cavalry Depot,[21] before reverting after the war once more to house a field brigade of Artillery.[22] During and after the Second World War it continued to house Artillery units, and later provided accommodation for the Women's Royal Army Corps; Shrapnel Barracks was demolished in the late 1960s (Queen Elizabeth Hospital now stands on the site).[23]
Immediately to the north of the barracks a
After serious failings in the
Housing and hospitals
In the 1730s only twenty modest houses stood along the east side of the common (in 1763 there were about thirty, of which seven stood empty); but from the 1780s on, large houses for military officers began to replace these cottages. One of the largest, Cube House, was built by Charles Hutton, professor of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy, in 1792; he had bought a parcel of land at the southern end as a speculative venture, and went on to build a number of large houses on the site.[25] In 1804–5, the new Royal Military Academy having been built just across the road, the Crown purchased Hutton's land; Cube House was converted into a hospital for the cadets (it was later rebuilt to house the Governor of the RMA), and several other houses were adapted for use by other senior officers of the Academy. Other grand developments on this side of the common included the villas Belmont Place (1840), Clarence Place (rebuilt after a fire in 1840), Adelaide Place and Belle Vue, as well as Queen's Terrace (1830) and Kempt Terrace (1832/1850). General Gordon was born at Kempt Terrace, 29 Woolwich Common, in 1833. Between 1972 and 1975 all of this was demolished after a long and bitter conservation battle to make room for social housing (Woolwich Common Estate).[26]
Housing of a rather different sort was to be found on the western side of the common, where in the early 19th century long rows of 'mud huts' had been built by married soldiers for their families; these were interfering with the artillery exercises, so in 1812 the Board replaced them with new married quarters south of the road to Charlton: they were single rooms, built back-to-back in fifty pairs. Later named the Duke of York's Cottages (but still referred to disparagingly by contemporaries as 'the Huts'),[5] they were demolished in the late 1870s after an outbreak of diphtheria.[27] The Remount Depot was built on the site.
In the 19th and 20th centuries a series of military and civilian hospitals and related institutions were built on the south side of the common, on either side of Shooters Hill Road, including the groundbreaking
Large-scale events
Plenty of space was available for large-scale military events. As early as 1788 a parade took place on the common at the request of King
Later developments
At the start of the First World War, the common was used as a temporary camp for volunteer units preparing to travel to the front, and as an assembly space for
In 1916 the
In
By the early 21st century it was only occasionally still possible to see soldiers from the Royal Artillery Barracks training on the common; but in 2012 the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery moved to a new headquarters (King George VI Lines) on the Napier Lines site, since when horse artillery training on the common has resumed.
In 2016 the Ministry of Defence announced its intention to withdraw all military personnel from Woolwich by 2028;[36] however in 2020 these plans were revised with a view to retaining Napier Lines as the long-term home of The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery.[37]
Nature and leisure
Since the early 18th century Woolwich Common, more specifically
During the 2012 Summer Olympics shooting took place at Barrack Field. The London Marathon passes over Woolwich Common.
These days, except for Barrack Field which is still used for sports, the common is mainly used for jogging and dog walking. In September, the Woolwich Common Funfair takes possession of a section of the common.
A ha-ha still separates Barrack Field, the military section owned by the Ministry of Defence, from the remainder of the common, which is now overseen by Greenwich London Borough Council.[39]
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Evening view
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Natural area
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Barrack Field with public access path
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Ha-ha along Barrack Field
Cultural heritage
Heritage buildings, north end
The
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Royal Artillery Barracks
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Government House
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Ruined Garrison Church
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John Nash's Rotunda
Heritage buildings, south end
The
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Royal Military Academy
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Royal Herbert Hospital
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Detail Herbert Hospital
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Victoria House
Monuments
Situated on the south end of the parade ground of the Royal Artillery Barracks is the Crimean War Memorial by John Bell (1861). The bronze statue of a woman ("Honour") distributing laurel wreaths was entirely cast from Russian cannons captured at Sebastopol. On the east side of the common, along Woolwich New Road, two memorials in the shape of obelisks draw attention. The Major Little Memorial, originally a drinking fountain, dates from 1863. It is accompanied by a 19th-century drinking fountain for horses. The Second Boer War Memorial dates from around 1902. Along Repository Road several historic cannons are on display, although others were removed when the Royal Artillery left Woolwich in 2007.
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Crimean War Memorial
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Major Little Obelisk
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Second Boer War Memorial
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Drinking fountain for horses
See also
- Plumstead Common
- Winn's Common
- Eltham Common
- Charlton cemetery
References
- Newsome, S., & A. Williams, Woolwich Common, Woolwich, Greater London. An Assessment of the Historic Environment of Woolwich Common and its Environs. Research Department Report Series #098-2009. Swindon, 2009 (online text)
- Saint, A., & Guillery, P. (ed.), Woolwich - Survey of London, Volume 48, Yale Books, London, 2012 (online text)
- 'History of Woolwich', in: Ideal homes: A history of south-east London suburbs. University of Greenwich, 2015 (online text)
- ^ S.P.B. Mais (1939): Fifty Years of the L.C.C., p. 79 (text partially online)
- ^ Newsome & Williams (2009), p. 1.
- ^ "Woolwich Common and Royal Artillery Barracks". London Gardens Online. London Parks & Gardens Trust. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
- ^ "Woolwich ward population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ a b Hewitt, J. (1870). "Old Woolwich". Minutes of Proceedings of the Royal Artillery Institution. VI: 273. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
- ^ a b Saint & Guillery (2012), p. 419.
- ^ a b Newsome & Williams (2009), p. 6.
- ^ Saint & Guillery (2012), p. 328.
- ^ Saint & Guillery (2012), pp. 342-343.
- ^ Saint & Guillery (2012), p. 350.
- ^ a b Saint & Guillery (2012), p. 420.
- ^ PLAN shewing the ORDNANCE GROUND and adjacent parts at WOOLWICH March, 1810
- ^ Newsome & Williams (2009), pp. 37-39.
- ^ Newsome & Williams (2009), p. 39.
- ^ Curson, H. H. (1936). Matters of Veterinary Interest, 1795-1881. South Africa: University of Pretoria.
- ^ a b c Winton, Graham (2013). Theirs Not To Reason Why': Horsing the British Army 1875-1925. Solihul, W. Midlands: Helion & Co. pp. 40–47.
- ^ Vincent, William Thomas (1885). Woolwich: Guide to the Royal Arsenal &c. London: Simpkin, Marshall & co. p. 69. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
- ^ "Woolwich: plans and section of Shrapnel Barracks". The National Archives. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
- ^ "Woolwich Barracks: Cavalry Depot, Shrapnel Barracks. Officers' mess and quarters. Record..." The National Archives. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
- ^ Baedekker, Karl (1905). London and its Environs. Leipzig: Karl Baedekker, Publisher. pp. 415–16.
- ISBN 978-0977607280.
- ^ Hughes, B. P. (1992). History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: between the wars 1919-1939. Woolwich: Royal Artillery Institution. p. 45.
- ^ a b Newsome & Williams (2009), p. 10.
- ^ Winton, Graham (2013). Theirs Not To Reason Why': Horsing the British Army 1875-1925. Solihul, W. Midlands: Helion & Co. pp. 134–137.
- ^ Saint & Guillery (2012), pp. 420-421.
- ^ Saint & Guillery (2012), pp. 434-437.
- ^ Saint & Guillery (2012), p. 439.
- ^ The Times, 25 July 1835, quoted in Newsome & Williams (2009), p. 21
- ^ Newsome & Williams (2009), pp. 21-22.
- ^ Saint & Guillery (2012), p. 441.
- ^ Newsome & Williams (2009), p. 11.
- ^ Newsome & Williams (2009), pp. 14-18.
- ^ Saint & Guillery (2012), p. 442.
- ^ Newsome & Williams (2009), p. 9.
- ^ Saint & Guillery (2012), p. 446.
- ^ "A Better Defence Estate" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. November 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
- ^ MOD to sell off Woolwich Barracks, but King's Troop to stay
- ^ Saint & Guillery (2012), p. 343.
- ^ Newsome & Williams (2009), p. 3.
- ^ Saint & Guillery (2012), pp. 354-355.