Beresford Square

Last updated

Beresford Square
2016 Woolwich, Beresford Square market.jpg
Beresford Square with market stalls, Royal Arsenal Gatehouse and Crossrail towers
Greater London UK location map 2.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Greater London
Maintained by Greenwich London Borough Council
Location Woolwich, South East London
Postal code SE18
Nearest train station National Rail logo.svg DLR no-text roundel.svg Woolwich Arsenal
Coordinates 51°29′28″N0°04′09″E / 51.491111°N 0.069167°E / 51.491111; 0.069167
Construction
Inauguration 1813
Other
Known for Woolwich Market
Royal Arsenal Gatehouse

Beresford Square is a pedestrianised town and market square in Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in London, England. It was formed in the early 19th century and was named after the Anglo-Irish general William Beresford, Master-General of the Ordnance and Governor of the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich. With its lively street market and lined with shops, pubs and restaurants, Beresford Square has been the heart of Woolwich for over two centuries. Since 2019 the square is part of a conservation area.

Contents

Location

Beresford Square is situated in central Woolwich, between the town's shopping district and the Royal Arsenal, from which it is separated by the busy A206 road. The western section of this road is called Beresford Street, the eastern section Plumstead Road. The square is largely pedestrianised. To the east lies Woolwich New Road, accessible only for busses. Most of the bus stops are on Woolwich New Road or General Gordon Square, around Woolwich Arsenal station. Beresford square is situated close to the railway and DLR stations, as well as the future Crossrail station, more or less in between the four station buildings.

History

19th century

Beresford Square is not a laid-out square but the result of a series of clearances. Therefore, some of the buildings are older than the square. In 1812–13, some "paltry buildings" around the road junction near the main entrance to the Arsenal were demolished for "encroachment on Crown land". The northern section of the road that wound down from Woolwich Common to Plumstead Road was called Green's End. The northernmost tip, now the west side of Beresford Square, was known as the High Pavement. Land to the east of this road was part of the Burrage Estate, named after its 14th-century owner, Bartholomew de Burghersh. The Salutation Inn stood almost at the northern end of the High Pavement. It had a tea garden and may have been Woolwich's first theater, mentioned in 1721. The garden later became Salutation Alley with about 20 timber cottages. In one of these Henry Maudslay was born in 1771. Living conditions here were appalling, as described in the Booth Survey of 1900. [1] It was condemned a slum in 1955 and cleared in the 1960s and 70s and is now a market traders' pound. In 1833 the Salutation pub moved to new premises next door. In 1831 four more cottages were cleared on the southeast side of the square, creating more space between the two pubs on this end, the Ordnance Arms and the Elephant & Castle. Along with several pubs on Plumstead Road and the New Road, these all thrived with thousands of Arsenal workers passing through the area every day. [2]

OS map of 1853 Woolwich, Beresford Square, Ordnance Survey Map, 1853.jpg
OS map of 1853

The clearance formed a spacious entrance to the Royal Arsenal and in 1828-29 a new entrance gate was built by the Master-General of the Ordnance, William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford (1768–1854). It became known as Beresford Gate, later the Royal Arsenal Gatehouse. In 1837 the square too was named after Beresford, when the Board of Ordnance handed it over to the parish of Woolwich. A new road was laid out to its northwest, where the ropeyard had been from around 1570 till 1832, and was named Beresford Street. At the eastern end of this street, facing Beresford Square, Holy Trinity Church was built in 1833-34 (demolished in 1962). This large Anglican church had an imposing facade in Portland stone with a stump tower above a Greek Revival portico. [3]

Woolwich Market received its charter in 1618 but may have existed before. In 1808 it moved from Market Hill (near Woolwich High Street) to Market Street (in the Bathway Quarter). This peripheral location proved to be unpopular with traders, who drifted back to Market Hill and, after 1813, to the new square in front of the Arsenal (where no market tolls had to be paid). The police regularly cleared the square and it was not until 1879 that the existing situation was accepted and regulated. In 1887 the Local Board of Health bought out the Maryon Wilson family's interest in the market charter. A new market was laid out by the Board with room for 136 stalls, against much opposition from costermongers. It officially opened in September 1888. In the middle of the square stood an iron toll house, a drinking fountain and a brightly ornamental urinal. Most of the pubs and shops around the square were rebuilt in the last two decades of the 19th century. [4]

20th and 21st century

Throughout the 20th century, Beresford Square remained the centre of Woolwich life. In 1907 some 8,000 Arsenal workers sett off from here to demonstrate in Westminster against job cuts. Trade unionist and Labour politician Will Crooks spoke several times to large crowds in front of the Arsenal gate. Crook's memorial service was held on the square in June 1921.

Aerial photograph of 1921 Woolwich, Beresford Square, aerial view 1921.jpg
Aerial photograph of 1921

The market was thriving six days a week and drew in shoppers from neighbouring areas. [5] As the market was often overcrowded, plans for extension were made in 1901 but only realized in 1936 with the opening of the covered market on Plumstead Road. Traffic congestion continued to be a major problem with trams and other traffic running through the square. In 1958, 1969 and 1972 plans were presented for the widening of both Beresford Street and Plumstead Road, and the pedestrianisation of the square. Initially, Beresford Gate was to be demolished in the plans approved by the Greater London Council. In 1984-86 the A206 road was rerouted through the Arsenal, north of the gate. In the early 1990s and yet again in 2010–11, Greenwich Council relandscaped the square. A portal reflecting the market's history was erected at its Woolwich New Road entrance. By that time the market's popularity had declined considerably, parallel to the town's general decline after the closure of the Arsenal. With the redevelopment of the Arsenal it is hoped that the market will be reinvigorated. [6] [7] [8]

In 1913, the Woolwich Arsenal Cinematograph Co. started a cinema in a building between the Salutation pub and Holy Trinity Church. Twelve years later it was extended to the rear, replacing much of the north side of Salutation Alley, creating a theater with 669 seats. It was later renamed Premier Cinema, Royal Arsenal Cinema and Century Cinema. It closed in 1964 and was demolished shortly afterwards, along with Holy Trinity, the Salutations Inn and other neighbouring buildings. [9]

In May 2019 the square became part of a conservation area. The Woolwich Conservation Area comprises Greens End, General Gordon Square, parts of Woolwich New Road, the Bathway Quarter, Powis Street, Hare Street, Mortgramit Square, parts of Woolwich High Street (south) and St Mary's Church and Gardens. [10]

Description

Northwest side

The Royal Arsenal Gatehouse or Beresford Gate stands solitary at the north end of the square, isolated from the Arsenal since the rerouting of the A206. It was designed by Colonel John T. Jones in 1828. The oldest parts are of plain yellow stock brick with some stone detailing. The later additions are of red brick and feature three large windows on each side and a clock at the top of its south-facing gable. The gate has three openings which are currently closed off by iron fences. The gatehouse is flanked by two original pavilions, both adorned with recessed rectangular panels and surmounted by brass mortars. An 1859 western annex features a bell tower. Two cattle drinking troughs of the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association from the 1890s and two modern stone benches have been placed on the south side of the gatehouse. [11]

The row of buildings at what was once called the High Pavement are modern (Newman, Levinson & Partners, 1969–70), except for a modest late-19th-century survivor in the middle (nr. 5; Chessum & Sons, 1892–93). The public lavatories, underground since 1913, were rebuilt above-ground in the early 1990s. In front of the plain brick building stands another cattle drinking trough, this one from 1904. [12]

Southeast side

The east side consists of an imposing block of late-Victorian, Italianate buildings, including the Ordnance Arms public house and three shops, all with frontages on the market square and the New Road (J. Chapman, 1888). An ogee-domed turret on one end of the block matches an octagonal one on the other corner. The pub featured a first-floor club room, now a church hall. After being renamed O'Connors for a while, the pub retook its original name in 2015. The market gate of the early 1990s consists of a two-sided metal portal. The brightly coloured decorations refer to the long history of Woolwich Market. [13]

Since 1935, the back of Equitable House, the former head office of the Woolwich Equitable Building Society, looms over the smaller buildings on the south side of Beresford Square. Two houses that probably date from the early 1780s, 18-19 Green's End, are the oldest in the square. Both houses have been altered and have forward extensions for commercial use, which makes it difficult to appreciate them. They were admired by John Betjeman in 1965. No. 18 became the Elephant & Castle public house in 1848, deriving its name from a famous inn in South London. The present-day pub extension dates from the late 1950s and includes the premises next-door, 10 Beresford Square. All other buildings on this side date from the 1880s. Adjacent to no. 19 is now a vacant lot next to the new station for the Docklands Light Railway, that was built here in 2005–09. [14]

Pedestrianisation

Starting in 2009 and ending in Spring 2012, Beresford Square, along with the neighbouring Greens End and General Gordon Square, was redeveloped to be more centred on pedestrians. Bus stops were also relocated on Beresford Street and Thomas Street. Since 2019, buses cannot turn right from Beresford Street on to Plumstead Road, as a result of a separate redevelopment scheme on Plumstead Road, including the brief use of the former Woolwich Public Market as Public, a street-food market owned by the former company Street Feast, who also opened markets in Canary Wharf, Canada Water, Lewisham and Shoreditch.

Related Research Articles

Plumstead Human settlement in England

Plumstead is an area in southeast London, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich, England. It is located east of Woolwich.

Woolwich District in southeast London, England

Woolwich is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

Woolwich Dockyard Naval dockyard in Kent, England; in use from 1512 to 1869

Woolwich Dockyard was an English naval dockyard along the river Thames at Woolwich in north-west Kent, where many ships were built from the early 16th century until the late 19th century. William Camden called it 'the Mother Dock of all England'. By virtue of the size and quantity of vessels built there, Woolwich Dockyard is described as having been 'among the most important shipyards of seventeenth-century Europe'. During the Age of Sail, the yard continued to be used for shipbuilding and repair work more or less consistently; in the 1830s a specialist factory within the dockyard oversaw the introduction of steam power for ships of the Royal Navy. At its largest extent it filled a 56-acre site north of Woolwich Church Street, between Warspite Road and New Ferry Approach; 19th-century naval vessels were fast outgrowing the yard, however, and it eventually closed in 1869. The former dockyard area is now partly residential, partly industrial, with remnants of its historic past having been restored.

Royal Arsenal Public community common, and housing, formerly a Military owned site

The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proofing, and explosives research for the British armed forces. It was originally known as the Woolwich Warren, having begun on land previously used as a domestic warren in the grounds of a Tudor house, Tower Place. Much of the initial history of the site is linked with that of the Office of Ordnance, which purchased the Warren in the late 17th century in order to expand an earlier base at Gun Wharf in Woolwich Dockyard.

Woolwich Common

Woolwich Common is a common in Woolwich in southeast London, England. It is partly used as military land and partly as an urban park. 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.

Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society Former English consumer co-operative

The Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society (RACS) was a large consumer co-operative based in south east London, England. The co-operative took its name from the Royal Arsenal munitions works in Woolwich and its motto was: "Each for all and all for each". In 1985 it merged into the national Co-operative Wholesale Society.

Royal Ordnance Factories Football Club were a football club from south east London, England, that existed in the late 19th century.

Manor Ground (Plumstead)

The Manor Ground located in Plumstead, south east London was a football stadium. This arena was the home of football club Royal Arsenal, which was later named Woolwich Arsenal, and as so came to be known as Arsenal F.C.

Greenwich Heritage Centre

Greenwich Heritage Centre was a museum and local history resource centre in Woolwich, south-east London, England. It was established in 2003 by the London Borough of Greenwich and was run from 2014 by the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust until the centre's closure in July 2018. The museum was based in a historic building in Artillery Square, in the Royal Arsenal complex, which was established in the 17th century as a repository and manufactory of heavy guns, ammunition and other military ware.

The Auto Stacker, also Autostacker, was an ambitious but ill-fated automated parking system in Woolwich, South East London in the early 1960s. The project was initiated by Woolwich Borough Council but failed to work and was demolished in 1965–66.

St Mary Magdalene Woolwich Church in London, England

St Mary Magdalene Woolwich is an 18th-century Anglican church dedicated to St Mary Magdalene in Woolwich, southeast London, England.

The Invicta Ground was a football stadium in Plumstead, south-east London, that was the home of club Royal Arsenal, now known as Arsenal.

Michael Richards (engineer) Irish soldier and engineer

Michael Richards (1673–1721) was an Irish military engineer who rose to become Chief Engineer of Great Britain and Surveyor-General of the Ordnance.

Woolwich Town Hall Municipal building in London, England

Woolwich Town Hall is an early 20th-century town hall located in the historic Bathway Quarter in the centre of Woolwich, South East London. Until 1965 it was the seat of local government of the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich, after which it became the headquarters of the Greenwich London Borough Council. It is a rare example of an Edwardian Baroque town hall in London and is a Grade II*-listed building.

Bathway Quarter

Bathway Quarter is an area of historic interest in the centre of Woolwich, South East London. Most buildings in the Bathway Quarter are Grade II*, Grade II or locally listed, while the area as a whole is designated a conservation area by Greenwich Council. With the exception of the Old Town Hall, the listed buildings date from the late-19th or early-20th century. Several were designed by local architect Henry Hudson Church, their civic use reflected in their grand elevations formed of red brick with stone detailing.

St Peters Roman Catholic Church, Woolwich Church in London, UK

St Peter's Church is a Roman Catholic church in Woolwich, South East London. It is situated between Woolwich New Road and Brookhill Road, the main entrance being on Woolwich New Road. The church was designed by Augustus Pugin in 1841–42 in the style of the Gothic Revival and is one of only three Pugin churches in London. Pugin's design remained unfinished as the projected tower and spire were never built. The parish of St Peter the Apostle serves the Catholic community of central Woolwich and surrounding areas, and is part of the Archdiocese of Southwark which is in the Province of Southwark.

Royal Arsenal Gatehouse

The Royal Arsenal Gatehouse or Beresford Gate is the main gatehouse of the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, South East London, England. It was built in 1828, enlarged several times and is now a Grade II-listed building. The gate was named after the Anglo-Irish general William Beresford, Master-General of the Ordnance and Governor of the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich.

Powis Street

Powis Street is a partly pedestrianised shopping street in Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, south east London, England. It was laid out in the late 18th century and was named after the Powis brothers, who developed most of the land in this part of the town. The street has been rebuilt several times but has retained some notable examples of late-Victorian and Art Deco architecture. Since 2019 the street is part of a conservation area.

Old Woolwich

Old Woolwich or Woolwich Central Riverside is an area along the Thames in Woolwich, South East London. It is the oldest inhabited part of Woolwich, going back to an Anglo-Saxon riverside settlement. When the demographic centre of Woolwich shifted south in the 1800s, the area became a Victorian slum. Most of Old Woolwich was cleared in the 20th and early 21st centuries to make way for industrial, infrastructural and other large-scale developments. Although most of the earlier buildings have been demolished, the area has retained some interesting architecture, including the Georgian parish church, the Edwardian foot tunnel rotunda and two cinemas of the 1930s.

Woolwich Works

Woolwich Works, also known as Woolwich Creative District, is a multi-disciplinary cultural venue on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, that opened in September 2021. It occupies a range of historic buildings at the Royal Arsenal, and includes a 1200-seat auditorium for concerts and events, a performance courtyard that seats up to 600, as well as offices, studios and rehearsal spaces for resident companies. Future phases will include a 450-seat black box theatre and a riverside restaurant. Woolwich Works is situated close to the Royal Arsenal Pier and the new Woolwich Elizabeth line station.

References

Sources

Citations; references

  1. ↑ "Very poor and rough, Irish, some costers, some thieves, fat loathsome women, barrows". Saint & Guillery (2012), p. 228
  2. ↑ Saint & Guillery (2012), pp. 5, 224-226, 228.
  3. ↑ Saint & Guillery (2012), pp. 79-80, 162-163, 225-226
  4. ↑ Saint & Guillery (2012), pp. 226, 228, 230
  5. ↑ In 1900, The Royal Magazine published a seven-page article entitled 'The Street Auctions of Military Woolwich' in its American edition. Bedford (2014), p. 40
  6. ↑ Saint & Guillery (2012), p. 227
  7. ↑ Woolwich Town Centre Masterplan SPD (2012), pp. 16, 62, 68, 80
  8. ↑ Bedford (2014), p. 42
  9. ↑ Saint & Guillery (2012), pp. 228-230
  10. ↑ Woolwich Conservation Area Character Appraisal SPD, Draft June 2021, page 2, 4.
  11. ↑ Saint & Guillery (2012), pp. 162-163, 225-227
  12. ↑ Saint & Guillery (2012), pp. 225-228
  13. ↑ Saint & Guillery (2012), pp. 227, 230
  14. ↑ Saint & Guillery (2012), pp. 229-230
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.