Bostall Heath and Woods is an area of 159.1 hectares of woodland with areas of heathland located in the Royal Borough of Greenwich ward of Abbey Wood, west of the adjacent 73-hectre Lesnes Abbey Woods in southeast London. The area to the south of the A206 (Bostall Hill) is Bostall Woods; to the north is Bostall Heath.
The wood is owned and maintained by the Royal Borough of Greenwich. This excludes the Cooperative Woods, in the north east corner of the site, which in 1988 was gifted to the newly formed Greenwich & Bexley Community Hospice by the local community-owned Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society (RACS: founded in 1872 to serve locals and workers at the Royal Arsenal). [1] [2] The farm and a few residual tracts of ornamental verges between the homes and streets built below Bostall Woods and named by the RACS over a century ago remain the last historically significant landholdings of what was once one of Kent's largest and longest lasting employers.
On Bostall Heath there are a bowling green, cricket nets and casual soccer facilities. It is part of the Green Chain Walk network. [1]
Bostall Heath and Woods is located within a mostly residential area and is accessible to the public from a number of points at all times. There are also public transport links. The nearest railway station is Abbey Wood railway station, the heath is served by buses B11 and 99 and the wood by B11, 99, 177, 180, 96, and 422. [1]
The Royal Borough of Greenwich is a London borough in southeast Greater London, England. The London Borough of Greenwich was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The new borough covered the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich and most of the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich to the east. The local council is Greenwich London Borough Council which meets in Woolwich Town Hall.
Erith is an area in south-east London, England, 13.3 miles (21.4 km) east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historical county of Kent. Since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Bexley. It lies north-east of Bexleyheath and north-west of Dartford, on the south bank of the River Thames.
Thamesmead is an area of south-east London, England, straddling the border between the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Bexley. It is located 11 miles (18 km) east of Charing Cross, north-east of Woolwich and west of Erith. It mainly consists of social housing built from the mid-1960s onwards on former marshland on the south bank of the River Thames.
The London Borough of Bexley is a London borough in south-east London, forming part of Outer London. It has a population of 248,287. The main settlements are Sidcup, Erith, Bexleyheath, Crayford, Welling and Old Bexley. The London Borough of Bexley is within the Thames Gateway, an area designated as a national priority for urban regeneration. The local authority is Bexley London Borough Council.
Belvedere is a town in south east London, England, within the London Borough of Bexley. It lies close to the River Thames, with Erith to the east, Bexleyheath to the south, and Abbey Wood and Thamesmead to the west. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, Belvedere was in the administrative county of Kent.
Lesnes Abbey is a former abbey, now ruined, in Abbey Wood, in the London Borough of Bexley, southeast London, England. It is a scheduled monument, and the abbey's ruins are listed at Grade II by Historic England.
Falconwood is an area of south east London within both the London Boroughs of Bexley and Greenwich. It is north east of Eltham and south west of Welling. According to the 2021 census, Falconwood, has a population of roughly 16,600.
Bexleyheath and Crayford is a constituency in Greater London to be represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Daniel Francis following his victory in the 2024 general election for the Labour Party..
Erith and Thamesmead is a constituency created in 1997 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Abena Oppong-Asare of the Labour Party.
Abbey Wood is an area in southeast London, England, straddling the border between the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Bexley. It is located 10.6 miles (17 km) east of Charing Cross. According to the 2021 census, Abbey Wood has a population of 17,700.
The London Borough of Bexley owns and maintains over 100 parks and open spaces within its boundaries, with a total of 638 hectares. They include small gardens, river and woodland areas, and large parks with many sporting and other facilities.
The Royal Borough of Greenwich has over fifty parks and open spaces within its boundaries. They include:
The South East London Green Chain, also known as the Green Chain Walk, is a linked system of open spaces between the River Thames and Crystal Palace Park in London, England. In 1977 four London boroughs and the Greater London Council created this Green Chain of 300 open spaces to protect them from building activity. The four London boroughs are Bexley, Bromley, Lewisham and Greenwich. More recently it has been extended to include sections in Southwark. Many parts of the system are also part of the Capital Ring route.
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.
Erith and Crayford was a constituency which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the UK's Parliament.
The Ridgeway is a 3.5-mile (5.6 km) "cycling permitted pedestrian priority" footpath owned by Thames Water in southeast London. It runs between Plumstead and Crossness on an embankment that covers the Joseph Bazalgette Southern Outfall Sewer.
Lesnes Abbey Woods, sometimes known as Abbey Wood, is a 73-hectare ancient woodland in southeast London, England. It is located near to, and named after, the ruined Lesnes Abbey in the London Borough of Bexley and gives its name to the Abbey Wood district. The woods are adjacent to the 159-ha Bostall Woods.
The Docklands Light Railway extension to Thamesmead is a proposed Docklands Light Railway (DLR) extension to serve the Beckton Riverside and Thamesmead redevelopment areas of East London.
Little and Lesnes was a hundred, a historical land division, in the county of Kent, England. It occupied the northern part of the Lathe of Sutton-at-Hone in the west division of Kent. Little and Lesnes was the northernmost hundred in the whole county of Kent. The hundred existed since ancient times, before the Domesday Book of 1086, until it was made obsolete with the creation of new districts at the end of the nineteenth century.
The Wogebourne is an 8 km (5.0 mi) tributary of the River Thames in the southeast London boroughs of Greenwich and Bexley, that flows generally in a northeasterly direction, from its source in Oxleas Wood in Shooter's Hill, to Thamesmead where it joins the Thames.
51°28′55″N0°06′46″E / 51.4819°N 0.1129°E