Railway
The original London to Greenwich Railway terminated here. The line continued with an extension to Maze Hill Station In 1878 which completed a through line from Greenwich to the North Kent Line
Post to the west Deptford CreekPost to the south BlackheathPost to the east Maze HillBardsley Lane
This was previously known as Lamb Lane and was the main road from Greenwich to the Creek until 1909. Bardsley was an early 20th vicar of Greenwich. The majority of the lane consists of the backs of premises in Creek Road and some conversions to light industry and the motor trade.
20 Coroners Court. Built for the Metropolitan Borough in 1902 and now converted to housing.
22 Weights and Measures Office. Built for the Metropolitan Borough and now converted to housing
24a Mortuary. Built for the Metropolitan Borough and now converted to housing and offices
Walls. 18th red brick walls to the recreation ground.
Housing at the west end of the street was cleared in the 1940s, together with some in Creek Road. This has left a long tongue of grassed over land for which plans for housing have long been extant. Local groups have however named this site ‘Greenwich Green’ and have campaigned for its retention as amenity space.
Billingsgate Street
This road ran from Greenwich Churchyard to Billingsgate Dock on the riverside. It was cleared before 1950 and is now under Cutty Sark Gardens.
Billingsgate Dock. There are some early medieval associations with Billingsgate in the City of London. This was the main dock in medieval Greenwich and important to the large Greenwich fishing fleet. It is first noted in 1449. It was enlarged in 1850. It is the traditional landing place for the Greenwich Ferry from the Isle of Dogs and it has been suggested that this was the destination of Watling Street. Greenwich ‘peter boats’ fished in the river and larger vessels went to the North Sea. The fleet moved to Hull and Grimsby in the 1850s when rail transport became available.
W.G.Allen & Sons. This was a lighterage company 1850-1906
Baker Bros. They were barge breakers in the early 20th taken over Juett and Kane, barge repairers. They became part of Orient Lighterage in 1925. Orient’s address was Wood Wharf
Hugero. Book Boat moored here in 1975.
D. & E. Noakes. This forage contractor – handling hay and straw was in a weather boarded riverside house. The Noakesoscope projector was also developed by family members.
6 Sugar Loaf beer house. Demolished
Dark Entry or Sugar House Lane ran beside the pub to Brewhouse Lane.
Brand Street
On the line of what was Gang Lane. The area belonged to Morden College and Brand was Lady Morden's maiden name. These are their estate houses built in the 1830s by George Smith for Morden College. This now has consent for conversion to flats.
1 Morden Arms. 19th stucco-trimmed pub.
Greenwich Park Railway. The line ran between Brand and Prior Streets and is a narrow tree covered strip between the street and some lock-up garages.
Brewhouse Lane
This lane ran parallel to the River between Church Street and Billingsgate. It is now part of Cutty Sark Gardens – the, now removed, Gypsy Moth had been here. Greenwich Foot Tunnel would have stood originally on its corner with Church Street. The name may relate to a brew house owned by a Captain Barratt in 1695
Huntley’s. William and Robert Huntley had a business here in the 19th as coal merchants and ship owners. A double rail based delivery system ran onto the wharf from first floor level on the landside buildings. A different brother ran a yard at Wood Wharf.
9 Fubb's Yacht. 19th pub since demolished. Fubbs Yacht itself was built by Phineas Pett at Greenwich in 1682 as a Royal Yacht for King Charles II. It was called ‘Fubbs’, after one of Charles’s girl friends.
Burney Street
Named for Dr. Burney. This was Fanny Burney’s brother Charles, who founded a school there in the 1790s. In 1830 Burney Street was made up from the site of the house and its garden.
County Court Building. This stood slightly to the east of the current police station building from 1850. It was destroyed by a V1 rocket attack in 1944 in the Second World War.
Police Station. Built post war, following the destruction of the previous police station. This is roughly on the site of part of the Greenwich Park Railway line. The station closed in 2014 but remains in police use.
Maribor. Post War local authority flats named after a Slovenian City with which Greenwich is twinned. When built the Burney Street Welfare Centre was on the ground floor.
Burney Street Garden. This garden was created with money raised by local people and it opened in 1981-2. It stands roughly on the site of the abandoned Greenwich Park Line and a siding ran from the station to the road junction here. An oak tree planted by the Duke of Edinburgh has died. A red granite obelisk records the creation of the garden and there is a plaque to Doug Mullins whose dairy was on the corner with Gloucester Place.
Poet's Corner. Named for poet C Day Lewis who lived nearby. It is a small shrubbery.
W.R. Nicholls & Sons, Burney Street Plant Depot. This was a yard dealing in all types of plant, including locomotives from time to time.
Greenwich Park Line. Passed under a wide bridge carrying Burney Street close to the corner with Royal Hill. Some parts of this bridge remain. The line passed the signal box on the down side and tracks then began to widen for the approach to the station. The area between Burney Street and Greenwich High Road, now a car park, was taken up with the station and rail track.
Station Master’s House.
Signal Box. This stood very near the corner with Royal Hill
Churchfields
This was once named as part of Straitsmouth.
1 The Earl Grey. Pub now closed and used as housing. The name ‘Earl Grey’ appears on a large panel above the door
Circus Street
Opposite the fenced-in lorry yard on the old track bed, one of the most obvious reminders of the abandoned section of the Greenwich Park Line can be seen.
Zero. Meeting Hall. This is a house converted from a 19th meeting room of the Exclusive Brethren until the 1960's. It was partly promoted by George Raven who was secretary to the Royal Naval College. It was later used as a warehouse.
12 ‘Royal Circus Tea Warehouse’ inscribed round the downstairs window and very difficult to see
Turpins Yard. Yard behind Royal Hill shops at the south east end of the street. Previously yard for builders W.J.Turpin and now converted to housing.
College Approach
This is part of Joseph Kay's improvement scheme for the Royal Hospital, landowners. It consists of a long stucco frontage from around 1830. The road was previously called Clarence Street – William VI had been Duke of Clarence. It is said to stand on the site of the Observant Friars building and had been known as Stocks Lane or Rood Lane.
The Franciscan Friary of the Observant Friars was established here in 1485 adjacent to the palace and was the first Observant House England. Elizabeth was christened there. Suppressed by the Pope in 1534 and it was refounded as a Franciscan Conventual house until closed in 1538. Re-established in 1555; they were expelled in 1559. The buildings were demolished in the 17th.
Service areas for the palace. North and west of the Friary Church was a forge and horse-mill for the Armoury. Other workshops necessary for a large court - including a book bindery, painters' studio and metal working shop - were probably also here.
Gateway into Greenwich Market. Built as part of the Kaye development of 1831. The centre rests on a wide, open carriageway. On 1st floor is an inscription "GREENWICH MARKET, ERECTED MDCCCXXXI."“A false balance is an abomination to the Lord but a just weight is his delight.
7 Admiral Hardy pub. Dates to 1840 and is part of the terrace along College Approach
7a Inc Bar. Pub, another one of Greenwich Inc’s
Creek Road
The road dates from the construction of a bridge over the Ravensbourne in 1804 -1809 and was initially called Bridge Street.
176 Twin bow-fronted shop front which is stored in the Museum of London. It is dated 1810-20.
210 The Gate Clock. A Wetherspoon’s pub which opened in 2002. Name comes from the clock fixed to the gate of the Greenwich Observatory, in 1851.
258-260 Beehive Pub. This was present by 1826 and remained in use as a pub until at least 1938. It is now a book shop.
Magic Garden. This is a wildlife garden on the corner of Welland Street, paths for disabled, pond and hollow. It belongs to St. Peter and St.Alfege School.
Mural ‘Wind of Peace’ this was by Greenwich Mural workshop and painted in the mid-1970s. It "Depicts local people rising up to defend Greenwich in a spiral of all races destroying the missiles that threaten London. This was on the west facing wall of the shops demolished for the Docklands Light Railway.
St.Peter's Church. The church was built on 1866 on land previously used for Greenwich Fair. It was by S.S.Teulon who lived locally. The church was bombed in 1941 and subsequently demolished.
Nags Head Brewery. Esther Place. Founded in 1826, it belonged to James Lovibond of Frome by 1831. He moved to Greenwich High Road in 1865
St.Alfege with St.Peter School. The original school by S S Teulon for the Rev. George Blisset was called St Peter's School and was joined to St Peter's Church, now demolished... The main school building dates from 1860. In 1951 the parish of St Alfege and St Peter were formerly united. The school changed its name from St Peter's School to St Alfege with St Peter's Church of England Primary School in 1972
302 Up the Creek. This is shown on the 1867 OS map as St Peter's Infant School and it later became St. Peter’s Hall. It is also said to have been a Baptist chapel. It was then taken over by the late Malcolm Hardee as a Comedy Club.
A Baptist chapel was built in Bridge Street in 1827. This continued under various ministers but another faction founded a church in London Road. In 1861 it was bought by Benjamin Davies who appears to have soon moved elsewhere. It is not shown on the 1867 OS map.
300 Lord Hood. Subject of a number of campaigns to keep it open. It dates from the 1840s and has probably been rebuilt.
West Greenwich Ragged Schools and Working Lads instituteCrooms Hill Grove
There is a stone by the entrance dating the street to 1838.
Crooms Hill,
This ancient road runs from Greenwich centre Up to the Roman Road and then on to Lee and Eltham. It winds up the west wall of Greenwich Park, and may be the oldest known road in London, The Celtic and Saxon origin of its name - 'crom' and 'crum', meaning crooked. At one time the southern end was called Heathgate Lane and it has been speculated that there may have been a gate onto the Heath here.
Park Wall. The original high wall, built for James I, was taken down and replaced with railings in the 19th by local subscription.
1 Rose and Crown. Has a display of theatrical mementos. Rebuilt, possibly to the designs of Frank Matcham, in 1888. It is now ‘Ye Olde’.
Greenwich Theatre. This originated in a music hall which was an extension of 1855 of the Rose and Crown Pub next door. In 1871 it was renamed 'Crowder's Music Hall and Temple of Varieties' having been re-constructed by architect W.R. Hough. In 1879 it was the Royal Borough Theatre of Varieties and later the Greenwich Hippodrome. It was reconstructed again in 1885 by architect J.G. Buckle. It was rebuilt in 1898 and then became the Parthenon Theatre of Varieties. In 1924 it was converted into a cinema. In 1949 it was closed and a local campaign was formed resulting in its re-opening in 1969 as the Greenwich Theatre. Works were designed by architect Brian Meeking and a new main entrance in Crooks Hill was provided and the auditorium was rebuilt as a stadium plan theatre with an open thrust stage. There was also a multi-storey exhibition-space-cum-foyer with boldly exposed concrete and an art gallery upstairs. There were bricks with donors’ names on them – since painted over. Parts of the exterior walls are earlier and it is said that sometimes the inscription "Parthenon Palace of Varieties" can be seen. There have been various funding crises since and has worked with other theatres and theatre groups to remain open by Mark Cottle, a lawyer who lived in Crooms Hill in the mid 17th, as an investment
3-11 a terrace of ‘five fair tenements’ were built here to produce £6 a year to bring up ‘poor town-borne children of East Greenwich’. The present buildings may from the early 18th.
6 home of C.Day Lewis. He was Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972 and was the father of actor Daniel Day Lewis
12 Fan Museum. This opened in 1991 and has more than 4,000 predominantly antique fans from around the world, dating from the 11th century to the present day
13 Hillside. The house is said to have been constructed illegally in Charles 11's reign on royal property and it is said to incorporate a late 17th cottage. It was probably begun for Sir William Hooker and occupied until 1746 by John James, architect who had a number of local projects. It was also owned by members of the Teulon family. It is a large irregular house built into hillside rising to Greenwich Park. The outside is rendered and it looks 19th – and there is a 19th wing, Converted to flats in the early 20th.
15 Park Hall. Said to have been built illegally in Charles 11's reign on royal property. John James bought the land in 1716 and intended to live here, but never did. Sir James Thornhill, is said to have lived here while he working on the Painted Hall. It was converted to flats in 1932
26 Dated from 1791 and rebuilt when Gloucester Circus was built and the word ‘CIRCUS’ is on the chimney. There is a Blue Plaque to Benjamin Waugh founder of NSPCC who apparently didn't live there.
32 this is said to have an early 18th core with later wings. The windows and general outline appear to be identical to those on the strip drawing of about 1705.
52 The Grange. The house on this site was once called "Paternoster Croft" and later "Grove House". The house now looks 17th but probably has a much older core – 18inch timbers inside have been shown to be 12th.The house is mentioned in a schedule of Ghent Abbey in 1281, and was restored in 1268. Edmund Chapman, chief joiner to Elizabeth leased it from 1561-1568, and it was then the home of the Lanier family of musicians. In 1665 it was bought by Sir William Hooker, Sherriff and future Lord Mayor whose alterations managed to conceal its origins. However the early 18th strip drawings show a different looking house and it is now thought that it was rebuilt in 1786 reusing old timbers.
Gazebo. A summer-house built in 1672 and tall enough to see over the park wall. It was designed by Robert Hooke for Sir William Hooker. It was restored in 1967. It is brick with a pyramidal roof, and can be clearly seen on the early 18th strip drawings. There is a plaque to Hooker on the wall.
64 Stobcross Lodge. This has been dated to 1820 but it is now thought to be the building shown in the early 18th strip drawing.
66 Heathgate House. This built in 1625 and the home of the Mason family. It was at some time known as the Presbytery and has belonged to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Southwark since the 1870s. It is clearly the building shown in the early 18th strip drawings.
Our Lady Star of the Sea. Roman Catholic church built in 1848 by W. W. Wardell. The money was raised by priest who had been saved from drowning during the launching of a ship near Greenwich. It replaced an older chapel. The decoration of the chancel and chapel of St Joseph is by Augustus Pugin and a Sacred Heart Chapel by Edward Pugin.
68 Presbytery House. Red-brick house belongs to the Roman Catholic Church next door and built by a Dr Mason in the 1630's. There is a mounting block outside. It is clearly the building shown in the early 18th strip drawings.
70-72 Ursuline Convent. This was two buildings which were linked in 1950 and no 70 has been rebuilt since. 72 was St.Mary's Lodge built in 1814
St Anne's School. Built in 1854 and now part of S.Ursula's School
St. Ursula’s School. The main block was a house called Hyde Cliff built in 1909. The convent was founded from Duderstadt Germany but the sisters were expelled from their convent by Bismarck wanted state control. The sisters leased 70 Crooms Hill which had been a boys' orphanage and opened their school with 25 pupils. In 1886 they bought St Mary's Lodge, adjoining. Many sisters wanted to return to Germany and because French Catholic Schools were under pressure they were asked to take over the school. They bought Hyde Cliff, a mansion with a large garden. St Ursula's was recognised as a small private school in 1904 and in 1920 admitted scholarship pupils so by 1935 it was a grammar school. In the Second World War the school was evacuated to Hastings and then to Brecon. Meanwhile the Greenwich buildings were bombed and involved in a V1 attack. In 1977 the school became a comprehensive. The Sixth Form were accommodated in nearby Heathgate and Stobcross, and these houses are now used for the sisters’ accommodation.
Manor House. On the top of the hill and built in 1695 for Sir Robert Robinson, Lieutenant-Governor of Greenwich Hospital. Steps with curved, wrought iron railings to the door
The White House. This is said to have been, constructed illegally in Charles 11's reign on royal property. Its original date is 1694, but has a mid 18th exterior with a full-height bow window which was probably built for Sir Harcourt Masters around 1745. The Meridian line shown as an arrow across the front door step. There are 18th garden walls to Greenwich Park. .
Cutty Sark Gardens,
This landscaped area was built in 1953 to make a setting for the Cutty Sark. It has been relandscaped on a number of occasions in an attempt to make it less concrete. It covers the area of a number of demolished roads – Billingsgate Street and the area of the old Greenwich fishing fleet and associated industries.
Garden Stairs. These are alongside Billingsgate Dock and were at the end of Billingsgate Lane. They were the terminus for ferries from the Isle of Dogs.
Greenwich Foot Tunnel. Built by the London County Council, and opened as a free river crossing in 1902. It lies at a depth of between 44 and 66 feet. The original lifts were installed in 1903 and have been replaced in 2014. The engineer was Sir Alexander Binnie
Cutty Sark. Square rigged sailing ship of 963 tons built in Scotland in 1869 by Scott and Linton of Dumbarton for John Willis. It is thus a sailing ship built well within the age of steam ships for economic reasons. It is a composite ship of teak planking and wrought iron frames, designed for the tea, wool and opium trades. It is claimed to have been the fasted sailing ship on some routes. It was sold to a Portuguese company in 1895 as the 'Ferreira' and then bought by Captain Dowman in 1922. It was used as a training ship at Greenhithe 1938-54 and then brought to Greenwich and put in a dry dock. A vast amount of money has been spent in making the ship viable and a tourist attraction, despite a severe fire. The lower area is now encased in glass.
Gypsy Moth. This is the boat in which Sir Francis Chichester became the first man to circumnavigate the world single-handed. Sir Francis was knighted in 1967 in the College grounds by the Queen, who used the identical sword with which the Elizabeth knighted Sir Francis Drake. The boat is now elsewhere.
Ship Hotel. Thus was next to Greenwich Pier and where the Cutty Sark now sits. It was designed by Philip Hardwick and built 1853-1858. It is one of the Greenwich pubs where ministerial whitebait dinners were held. A large single storey snooker hall was attached and demolished in 1908l. It was destroyed in three separate bomb attacks in 1940 and 1941.
Ship Dock. This was alongside the pier to the east and was the principal dock in the town. A fish
market was in this area.
Greenwich Pier. This is a busy pier handling many river boat services. It was built following an Act of Parliament by the Greenwich Pier Company in 1836. It was acquired by London County Council for their steamboat service in 1905. In 1954 the upstream end was dismantled to allow the Cutty Sark into its dock. So various parts of the pier were built at various dates. It has been rebuilt again in 2010 and has become the site of a number of lurid chain restaurants. The 19th shelter was removed and rebuilt in Barbados.
Durnford Street
This pedestrian passage is one of the entrances to the market.
1 early 20th stable called the Banana Warehouse
Eastney Street
This was previously East Street.
35 Little Crown Pub. Demolished.
Feathers Place
This was East Lane and once an important through road between the Park and the river. Building in Trafalgar Road closed it as a through route and this southern end was renamed in the 1960s
19 Fortune of War Pub, This closed in 1902
14 Roan School for Boys. The school was founded by John Roan in whose Will of 1643, was a bequest for the founding of a school for 'poor town-bred children of Greenwich'. The school moved to various sites and in 1877 a school for 300 boys was opened here and moved to Maze Hill in 1928. The building then became Workshops for the Blind of Kent opened in 1929 in premises which were formerly the Roan School for Boys. This became their basket making department. It later became offices and a refinery for Vigzol Oil Refiners, makers of lubricating oil. They were taken over by Amoco in 1965. It is now a store and workshop for the National Maritime Museum.
Clark’s Buildings. This was a square of housing on the east side of the street and provided access to the Catholic Chapel in what was then Park Place. It appears to have been demolished with the building of the railway line in 1872 and may have been later replaced by the Roan School Building.
8 Clark’s Buildings. This was a Roman Catholic school opened in 1823. It was eventually moved to Pelton Road, where it remains.
1a Mission Hall. This was used in the late 20th as a project for people with mental problems and provided a workshop with an organic garden. It has now been replaced with housing.
Railway wall and rail bridge. In 1878 this cut-and-cover tunnel link between Greenwich and Maze Hill Stations was opened, completing a through line from the Greenwich to the North Kent Line
Fisher Lane
One of the old lanes now under Cutty Sark Gardens.
Five Foot Walk
This became a public walkway in 1731 when the embankment was built as part of Wren's plans for the Royal Naval Hospital.
Greenwich Beach. This was popular in the 1930s when Kentish sand was spread on the foreshore to make a beach. The idea seems to have come from Bromley and Bow MP, George Lansbury,
Bellot Memorial. This is a 35ft Obelisk of red Aberdeen Granite designed by Philip Hardwick in 1855. Ltnt Bellot embarked from Greenwich in 1851 on an expedition involved in the search for Sir John Franklin. He died while helping two crew members adrift on an ice floe.
Obelisk. This is a memorial to the dead in the New Zealand War, 1861-63. It is on a plinth with a rope twist round base and a chain round the top.
Water Gate. This gate replaced a more modest 18th one in the 1850s. The coat of arms of the Royal Hospital for Seamen is set in the middle, with a crest made up of four anchors with a central crown and a rope around the edge. Above the gate is gilded naval crown and there are tridents on the piers.
Gloucester Circus
This late 18th townscape was never finished and only one side has a posh crescent overlooking a garden. It was begun by Michael Searles around 1791. The area was badly damaged in the Second World War.
The railed semi-circular central garden was for the private use of freeholders and residents of Gloucester Circus and it was owned by the freeholders. The garden remains private and residents pay a surcharge as part of the rates. It has some large plane trees, grass and perimeter shrubs.
Greenwich Church Street
This was the main street of medieval Greenwich. From the Church it forks to the east leading to the river and to Garden Stairs. Many buildings are 17th and 28th with modern shop fronts. Buildings on the east side are mainly from the ‘improvement scheme’ of the 1830s by Joseph Kay for the Royal Hospital.
St.Alfege Church. The church has a medieval foundation and commemorates the martyrdom of Archbishop Alfege by the Danes in 1012. A church was probably built here soon after. The current building is 18th. The parishioners petitioned for a new church when the roof collapsed in 1710, and it was re-built with money from the Fifty New Churches Act of 1711. It was thus the first Commissioners' Church and a Royal pew was a condition. The body of the building, by Hawksmoor, dates from 1711-14 and the plan is his. The old tower was recased and a steeple added in 1730 by John James, rebuilt in 1813. There was woodwork by Grinling Gibbons but this was destroyed in Second World War bombing. The church was restored in 1953 by Sir Albert Richardson. The monochrome wall painting by Thornhill was repainted by Glyn Jones. The stained glass is by Francis Spear, 1953. Thomas Tallis was the organist here and there are tablets to him, and others – Woolfe, Angerstein.
Fountain Court. This area has recently been the site of a market – it consists of a slip of land alongside the railway.
2 Nat West Bank. Built as the London Country and Westminster Bank Ltd. The building also included offices for the Roan School Foundation. It was designed by Thomas Dinwiddy.
3 This building is shown on the early 18th strip drawings of Greenwich. It was once the Eight Bells Pub and is now a bookmakers.
5 In the 19th this was the Court of Requests, dealing with small debts. By 1834 had moved to Nevada Street.
7-9 site of the half timbered house of Thomas Hack the 18th Greenwich miser.
9 in the early 20th this was a telephone call office.
11-21 can be identified on the early 18th strip drawings
27-31 site of Greenwich Fun Palace. Which was operating in 1912 and 1913.
35 The Empire Electric Theatre was operating by 1910 and continued until at least 1915.
45 This was Goddards Eel and Pie shop and may be shown on the early 18th strip drawings.
48 Spanish Galleon. Shepherd Neame pub designed and built by Joseph Kay in 1834.
Cutty Sark Station. This stands between Island Gardens and Greenwich Stations on the Docklands Light Railway. It was named from the ship to the north of the station. It is the first station south of the Thames and on the Lewisham Extension. It opened in late 1999. There is a need for increased capacity but its island platforms cannot be altered and it is already running trains longer than the platforms. The construction of the station involved the destruction of many old shops and houses and the erection of new shops in pastiche.
53 Dover Castle Pub. Demolished
59/61 Bosun's Yard small craft Market. Now gone. This was under the block rebuilt as a result of the Docklands Light Railway. One building on this site had been called Prescott Place from 1898, and the other ‘Stanton’s Charity from 1896. They were on the site of the Unicorn Pub donated by William Stanton to the poor of Greenwich in 1610.
60 Gipsy Moth. Previously called The Wheatsheaf it was dedicated to Sir Francis Chichester in 1974 and opened by his widow.
67 British Queen Pub. Demolished
71 Ship and Sailor. Demolished Pub.
89/91 Dodd’s wharf. Bricks and general hauliers. Long gone. Coneybeare Engineers were also here and were owned by Dodds. They made water tanks, sewer pipes etc which were mainly exported to Crown Colonies.
Greenwich High Road
This is the main medieval road from Deptford Bridge into Greenwich. It was known as London Street until the 20th.
209 White Hart Pub. This was on the corner with Stockwell Street.
Blind Workshops. These were set up by F. Major General Bainbrigge for the blind of Kent and provide training and employment for local blind men. There was a shop and workshops which made household goods such as brooms, baskets, rugs and mattresses. It was administered by a committee until 1958 when it was taken over by the London County Council. Masonry from the workshop stands in the car park backing onto Burney Street referring to James Nasmyth who funded the building in 1892. The workshop moved to Peckham in 1972. This housed the Workshops for the Blind - which were established in 1877. The building was demolished but parts of the stonework are displayed in the car par nearby.
291 Mitre pub. The pub claims to have first opened in the 1700s as a coffee shop. Following a fire it re-opened in 1827,
281 Trevor Dannatt's building for the now defunct Greenwich Building Society extensions of 1975-6 neatly enfolding a 19th building. Now in other use. The building is said to have once been the Three Tuns pub
275-277 Stone House, block of shops and offices.
217-219 The Lost Hour Pub. This was previously called The Auctioneer. Before that it was Thomas Moore’s auction house.
46-50 Shopping precinct. This post war development which provides parking in front of shops is on the site of a line of older shops built in the front gardens of houses
180 Greenwich Picture House. This opened in 1989 the Greenwich Cinema. In 2005 it re-opened as a five screen cinema under the management of City Screen Picture houses. It has now been further changed.
173 Prince Arthur Pub. Demolished.
Antiques market. This market dates from the 1970s and is based in car parks created by the empty space left from the Greenwich Park Line, demolished houses and shops and rebuilding.
Serica Court, sheltered housing
69 Public baths. These were on the corner of Royal Hill and opened n 1851. There were zinc baths and wash tubs made of slate, and each cubicle had a looking glass, a seat, and pegs to hang up clothes. There was also a public laundry with wringing machines, drying chambers, and ironing boards. They closed in 1928.
Meridian House. Greenwich Town Hall was built for the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich in 1938-9 to house municipal offices, a civic suite and public hall and sold off by the London Borough of Greenwich in the 1970s. It was an early work by Clifford Culpin, altered by the Rolfejudd Practice when the administrative section was converted to private offices. The public halls remain. The interior was altered in 1972-4, when floors were inserted in the council chamber area. Culpin adopted a modern style through the direct inspiration of William Dudok. A corner entrance has a canopy carrying a Zodiac mosaic, part of a lost decorative scheme by W.D.Suddaby and Charles E Fryer. The tower has a viewing window directed principally towards the Thames and the clock faces were intended to be seen across the borough picked out with blue faience and enamel dials, and illuminated. Along Royal Hill the first floor Civic suite, wasraised over a car park on four cylindrical reinforced concrete columns. The public halls are to the rear, with a minor hall under the main assembly hall.
Theatre. This was the Theatre Royal’ which was acquired by William Morton in 1884 from Sefton Parry and opened as The New Prince of Wales Theatre. It was later called Morton’s Theatre, thereafter, or Morton’s Model Theatre and operated as a temperance house. It was sold to Arthur Carlton in 1900 .It later became the Cinema De Luxe. It was demolished in 1937 to make way for the New Town Hall
West Greenwich Library this is a Carnegie library, of 1905-7 by H. W. Willis & J. Anderson. Symmetrical front under cupola and a domed reading room
The Portland. Public house. This is long gone.
A drinking fountain and horse trough stood at the junction with Greenwich South Street. The lamp on the drinking fountain was left to the people of Greenwich by Sir David Salomons, the first Jewish MP. The horse trough was from the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association
142 Methodist Church. The church on this site was built in 1876 rebuilt in 1906 and was then lost in Second World War bombing in 1940. The current building is a replacement built in the 1953 but later closed and converted to offices. It is currently a private college. As a church a clock on the front always ran backwards to show how little time we all had.
Queen Elizabeth's College. This is on the corner with Greenwich South Street and was founded in 1576 by historian William Lambard, as homes for the poor and elderly of Greenwich. The current almshouses were rebuilt in 1817 as 40 one-bedroom cottages, by Jesse Gibson, surveyor to The Drapers' Company. In 1967 Lambard House was built to provide 28 more flats, There is a garden and the cottages are on three sides of a quadrangle with a chapel at the centre. It is owned by The Drapers' Company, and managed by Hanover Housing Association.
Bexley Place. Housing built in 1815
189 St Christopher's Inn and hostel. This was the Prince of Orange pub built as part of the station rebuilding in the 1860s – although the original pub predated this. The Greenwich Studio Theatre was upstairs. The theatre was closed and it became a backpackers hostel and for a while called Belushi’s Bar.
Greenwich Station. The original station. The plan was to build a station by the Prince of Orange in 1838. This had wooden steps, an inclined plane, turnstiles, and ran in on arches. Charles Fox was the architect and Baker were the contractors. Inside a staircase led to waiting rooms and 20 steps through a colonnade into the main road. Downstairs was a large hall, booking offices, 2 first class waiting rooms in the south front and others at the back. There were arches for Wheatley's bus and fly service to Woolwich and Blackheath – he was thrown out when he started a bus service to London. The courtyard was fenced with stone sleepers.
Greenwich Station. This is between Cutty Sark and Deptford Bridge on the Docklands Light Railway. Between Maze Hill and Deptford on South Eastern Railway Originally Opened December 1840 by the London & Greenwich Railway. The London and Greenwich’s 1838 station was moved here in 1840. It was again rebuilt in 1875 with an extension to Charlton and this involved the demolition of 43 arches of the viaduct from Norman Road the line went down to the station then down again into the new tunnel. George Smith’s original terminus was re-erected in 1878 closer to the road. The station included the early use of telegraph using Railway Electric Signals Co equipment with cables laid along the viaduct in wooden troughs. In 1926 the line was electrified and in 1999 the DLR station was added
Greenwich Market
The market was once by the West Gate of the Royal Hospital. It was later moved to its current position a roof was re-erected over it. The Commissioners of Greenwich Hospital were empowered by Parliament passed an act that enabled the Hospital to regulate and manage it. In 1908 the timber roof was replaced by the current steel trussed and glazed roof and the slaughterhouses were also closed. It later became an early morning fruit and vegetable market only but in the 1985s an arts and crafts market opened and from 1987 the shops around the markets periphery were let to new tenants
Music Hall. In 1845 the licensee of the Admiral Hardy pub was given permission to convert the large room over the newly built arch on College Approach into a small theatre with a tiered balcony at one end. The inscription on the arch still reads: “A false balance is an abomination to the Lord but a just weight is his delight”. This became the Royal Clarence Music hall until 1891. It was then an Engineering workshop and then in 1964 a TV studio.
Coach and Horses Pub. Another one of acquired by Greenwich Inc. An old building with modern ground floor. Covered outside seating in the market.
Greenwich Park
This is the oldest of London's royal parks and it is on a high escarpment overlooking Greenwich reach. The area was acquired by the Duke of Gloucester for Bella Court and enclosed by Royal licence in 1433. James I walled it and extensive tree-planting took place throughout the 1660's. Charles II had the lake built. A formal landscape was laid down in 1662 by Versailles designer Andre le Notre for Charles II. The park was opened to the public in the 18th and Greenwich fair was held around the park until the mid 19th.
Tumuli - on the hill south of the Observatory building. A group of seventeen small tumuli, all circular on plan. It has been said that they are thought to be early Bronze Age barrows re-used by the Saxons in the 6th century for burial.
Duke Humphrey’s Tower. In 1427, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester inherited the land. He was the brother of King Henry V and later Regent to King Henry VI. He enclosed the Park in 1433 and built a tower, the site of which is now the Greenwich Observatory
Flamsteed House – The Old Royal Observatory stands on the hill at the top of the park. It was built as a navigational aid by Christopher Wren in 1676 or Charles II. – using unused bricks from Tilbury Fort and was financed by the sale of gunpowder. The first Astronomer Royal was John Flamsteed who was succeeded by Edmund Halley. Airy in the 18th established the Prime Meridian. Pollution led the Observatory to move to Herstmonceaux and the building was damaged in the Second World War. As a museum it houses Britain's largest refracting telescope and a collection of timepieces and instruments. This is the oldest part of the Royal Observatory designed by Sir Christopher Wren and built in 1675. The buildings in the centre house the meridian instruments, notably the Airy Transit Circle which marks the Greenwich meridian. The large dome on the right contains a Grubb 28" refractor from 1894 and is the largest telescope of this type in the UK. The tall windows of the Octagon Room allowed observations to be made with the long focus refractors and quadrants that were fashionable in the 17th century.
Flamsteed’s Well. A deep shaft was used in the later 17th for making observations. The site of this shaft was excavated in the 1960s and a circle of bricks erected to show where it was.
The Time Ball on the east turret was erected by John Pond, the 6th Astronomer Royal in 1833. It was put there so that could set their chronometers by it. It rises at 12.58 pm and falls at 13.00 every day. The ball still rises and drops daily at 13:00 GMT precisely.
Shepherd Gate clock. This 24 hour clock was built by Charles Shepherd to show standard Greenwich Mean Time and set in the wall of the observatory to the right of the entrance. From what I can remember.
Imperial Measurements. Below the clock is a bronze plaque with the public standard of British imperial measurement
The South Building. The Physical Observatory. This was added by the 8th Astronomer Royal, Sir William H. M. Christie and completed in 1899. Above the windows are stone plaques engraved with the names of the previous Astronomers Royal and instrument makers. The dome once contained the Thompson 26" photographic refractor of 1897 and 30" reflector fitted on the same mounting. Both these telescopes are now housed at Herstmonceux. Until 2004 it housed a small planetarium.
The Meridian Building, This is the modern name for a range of rooms and spaces on the south side of the Observatory Courtyard. The majority of the Observatory’s most important telescopes were housed here, numerous extensions and alterations have been made ad in the mid 1960s when the building was converted into a museum building.
Great Equatorial Building. This was erected as a separate building in 1858 to house the 12½-inch Merz Refractor. It now houses the 28-inch telescope.
The Lassell Dome. In 1883 daughters of William Lassell offered the Astronomer Royal their father’s two-foot reflecting telescope. A single story brick building of 30-foot diameter was erected. The dome by T. Cooke and Sons made of papier mâché on an iron framework was completed the following year
The Altazimuth Pavilion. Built in 1894 and designed by William Christie to house the new Altazimuth Instrument proposed by Christie in 1892.
The Garden House/Stables/Plant Room - facilities buildings, some parts dating back to Flamsteed in the 17th.
The Meridian. In 1884 an international conference in Washington decided that Greenwich Mean Time' based on the line passing through the centre of Airy's transit circle, would be the world standard. The imaginary line from Greenwich to two poles would be 0 degrees longitude,
Bradley's New Observatory. This dated from 1749. Bradley was Astronomer Royal from 1742 and he installed new equipment. His Observatory was at the west end of the present Meridian Building. It now houses the Observatory shop
Peter Harrison Planetarium. Opened 1007
Park Conduit. Conduits were built to collect surface water and supply it to the Palace. Brick-lined passages below the park follow the contours. The floors are brick and the bottom courses of have gaps which allow surface water to drain into a lead-lined channel. The tunnel system was explored in 1961 and was found to be of a much greater extent than originally thought. The brickwork appeared to be no earlier than Tudor in date. There are four known entrances in the park. The water system was increased during the 17th and 18th centuries, but ceased to be used as water supply in 1891. It now part of park's drainage system
Standard Conduit House. This stands just off Crooms Hill in a railed enclosure. It is rectangular in brick and attributed to Nicholas Hawksmoor. A stone plaque above the entrance says `Greenwich Hospital Standard Reservoir’. It is said that a reservoir underneath has an outlet down to the hospital.
Henry Moore statue. It is called 'Standing Figure. Knife Edge’. It is almost five metres tall and was sited in Greenwich Park by the sculptor in 1979 for his golden wedding. In 2007 it was moved to Kew and later Yorkshire but returned to Greenwich in September 2011 in time for the Olympics
Reservoir. 1,250,000 gal. 158' above OD. They were built following an agreement with the Admiralty in 1846 to protect the Hospital from fire and to take water to Deptford Dockyard and the Royal Hospital. However it has also been said to belong to the Kent Water Company based on Brookmill Road to the south. It is not accessible by the public and has developed as a wild life area.
It was covered in 1871.
Wolfe Statue. This is by Tait McKenzie. Wolfe lived and is buried in Greenwich. It was presented by the Canadian people and was unveiled in 1930 by the Marquis of Montcalm, a direct descendant of Wolfe's adversary. There are landmine scars on the base.
St Mary's Lodge. Built 1807-8 for the Park Underkeeper in the style of a cottage orné, now used as a cafe. It was designed by John Nash.
Herb Garden. There is a formal herb garden near St. Mary's Lodge.
Boating lake. Small lake on which boats can be hired. When elephants were in circuses locally they used to be taken there for a wash and wallow.
Sundial. Set in a 10 m wide stone circle this was to commemorate the Olympics. It was designed by Chris Daniel, chairman of the British Sundial Society, it is a double horizontal dial – a dial that shows not only the time, but also the direction of the Sun. It is not quite on the right bit of the Prime Meridian. There are other errors and the scheme has never been completed.
The herbaceous border which runs in front of the south side of the Queen's House, is London's largest herbaceous border. It is 200 metres long and eas first planted in 1925. A redesign in 2013 will split it into sections with yew hedges and a colour scheme for each section,
Allotments. In the Second World War the area between the bottom of the hill and the Queens House was used as allotments. Aerial photographs show marks of the amenity blocks and sheds for these.
Greenwich Park Street
Sorting office for the Post Office, built 1907 in red brick. Currently in use as NHS offices.
Greenwich South Street
This was a medieval lane coming into Greenwich past the limekilns from the Roman Road, It was thus once called Limekilns Road
St.Mark's Church. Was originally a United Reformed Secession Presbyterian Church. The original church was built in 1850 and was destroyed in bombing. It was replaced by a red brick church built in 1953.
St.Mark's Close. This is on the site of what was St. Mark’s Manse which was bombed and rebuilt in 1953. The Close was built in 1981 as sheltered housing. On the west wall of the flats bricks make up the shape of a lion. Below is set in tiles the words 'Saint Mark'
Haddo Street
This was known as Union Street until 1874 when it was changed by the Metropolitan Board of Works.
Horseferry Road.
1 The Retreat. This pub closed in 1935 and has now been demolished. Earlier known as The Steam Ferry and, before that, The Unicorn. It was called The Retreat from 1910
Wood Wharf apartments built in 2007 by Weybridge Construction. Replaced the barge yard, the ferry, the wharves and the rehearsal studios.
Hyde Vale,
John Hyde of the Turnpike Trust bought the land here and roads which were previously called Conduit Lane and also Sots Vale .
1 NHS Health and Well Being Centre which has now closed.
King George Street
69 Britannia Pub. This dated from the 1870s and is now closed and in use as housing.
The Hall. This was built in 1816 as a Methodist Chapel; the adjoining small hall dates from 1879. In 1875 it was acquired by the 'open brethren', and the main building used as an assembly hall, whilst the smaller one for a school room.
Greenwich Park Centre. Adult education in what was Greenwich Park School. The narrow frontage onto this road has a plaque with the monogram for the School Board for London with the date 1898. This was the Higher Elementary School of 1904 by the School Board for London and designed for them by Bailey.
King William Walk
St.Mary's Gate to the park.
Site of St Mary's Church. This was built in 1824 and blocks of stone are markers for where it was.
St.Mary’s was designed by George Basevi. It was demolished in 1936.
King William IV Statue. Moved here in 1935 from London Bridge where it was a traffic obstruction. It is on the site of St.Mary's Church. It is a large statue in Foggin Tor granite by Samuel Nixon. William is in the uniform of Lord High Admiral and Garter sash and stands on a 25ft granite pillar designed by Richard Kelsly. It is now in the grounds of the Sammy Ofer Wing
Royal Hospital School. From 1720 about 15 boys were boarded in the Hospital originally pensioners' sons, but this was expanded.In 1758 the first Hospital school building was built on the pensioners' burying ground but run by nearby Weston's Academy.In 1782-84 a new school was built on the same site, with living accommodation for up to 200 boys, Half this building still exists as a rear wing of Devonport House.
Weston’s Academy. From 1712 Thomas Weston headed Weston’s Academy in Greenwich, which, in taking some pupils who were sons of pensioners at Greenwich Hospital, was one of the forerunners of Greenwich Hospital School. He wrote “A copy-book written for the use of the young-gentlemen at the Academy in Greenwich” in 1726. Mathematics were Weston’s specialty, as the basis to learning navigation. Before setting up his school, Weston had been an assistant to the Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed.
66-68 Devonport House. Built in 1929 by Sir Edwin Cooper, This was built as a nurses' home. The rear wing is part of the Royal Hospital Boys' School by Newton of 1783. Devonport House is now a hotel, student accommodation and conference centre.
Pathological laboratory. Built 1926-9 by Sir Edwin Cooper in red brick.
Sculpture outside is by Francois Hameury called ‘The Throne of Earthly Kings’
Devonport House grounds. The site was once the cemetery for the Royal Hospital for Seamen. A small railed area which was refurbished by the University in 1999. Until 1857 this was the graveyard of the Royal Hospital for Seamen. From 1749 onwards about 24,000 men and some women were buried here.
The Devonport Mausoleum was built in 1750, probably designed by Thomas Ripley, Royal Hospital Surveyor, and a plaque commemorates the first burial in the graveyard of Pensioner John Meriton in 1749. Inside is a monument of 1890 former headmasters of the Royal Hospital School, By 1842 the mausoleum contained over 80 coffins including Sir Thomas Hardy and Admiral Lord Hood and others
Pillar monument to Sir Thomas Boulden Thompson who died in 1828
Stone monument with a figure of Britannia, erected in 1898 to commemorate the 20,000 residents of the Hospital buried in the cemetery between 1749-1869.
1 Greenwich Park Tavern. This was previously the Duke of Gloucester. The previous building on the site was the Court of Requests 1835. This is just outside the main entrance to Greenwich Park and before Greenwich Inc renamed it it was like a country pub with forms and tables outside and bordered by trellis fencings.
11 early 18th building with a later upper bow window. Site of the Volunteer pub. The building was later used as offices by the Greater London Council and more recently by various government partnership bodies. It is now flats.
16 King's Arms. Large pub which has clearly been rebuilt since first opened in 1826.
Toilets. Underground toilets from the 1920s with many original fittings and features
22 The Cricketers. This pub dates from 1840. It had a cricketing theme but was taken over by Greenwich Inc and called ‘The Powder Monkey’. It closed in 2005 and is now a fish and chip shop.
West Gate to what is now the University. Ornamental gates with globes on pillars - one globe is a celestial sphere, the other a terrestrial sphere. There is an ironwork arch between them. These were originally sited further to the east in the grounds. The West Lodge sits alongside them.
Discover Greenwich Centre. This is in what was the Engineering Laboratory and squash courts themselves on the site of the College Brewery demolished in 1875. It was later known as the Pepys building. It is an ornate single storeyed building of 1875-9 with medallions of Drake, Cook and Nelson. The exhibition of Greenwich history is owned and managed by the Greenwich Foundation.
Greenwich Tourist Information. This is in part of the Pepys Building alongside Discover Greenwich
Raleigh Statue. The bronze is by William McMillan, 1959 and has been moved here from the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall where it was dwarfed. He is in Elizabethan dress with a drawn sword. It originated in an attempt to emphasise Anglo American relations in the Cold War
Mews. The mews are alongside the Discover Greenwich complex and used as offices and teaching space
The Old Brewery. This is a cafe, bar and restaurant selling locally brewed Meantime beer. It is also in the Pepys Building alongside the Discover Greenwich Centre
Brewery, the inmates of the Royal Hospital had a daily beer ration which was piped direct to the wards from the brewery the remains of which lie under and alongside the current Old Brewery restaurant. Water was supplied from a still extant deep well.
Langdale Road
Built up in the 1860s on Drapers Company land.
Meridian Estate
London County Council Estate. Built from 1933.
Coltman House. This replaced Coltman Street which was terraced houses, built for river workers.
Rockfield House. This replaced Rockfield Road, which ran from Thames Street to the River
Page House. This replaced Page’s Avenue which ran from Thames Street to Billingsgate Street.
Nelson Road
First street of Joseph Kay improvement scheme of the 1830s for Greenwich Hospital Estates.
13 Burtons billiard hall, in the standard Burton frontage designs decorated with elephant’s head. This was altered in 1932. This is now a Tex Mex restaurant. The shop has several signs of its existence as a Burton’s Men's Wear store. There are mosaics at both entrances – in Nelson Road and in Church Street – advertising ‘Montague Burton, the Tailor of Taste’. There are also three inscriptions at ground level to the foundation of the store in 1932 by each of the Burton siblings – Barbara Jessie, Raymond Montague and Stanley Howard.
9 South Metropolitan Gas Showroom. This is now a ladies wear shop but there some relics of the showroom fittings remain
Nevada Street
This was once called Silver Street and the Route of the old main road. Traditionally the Deptford-Woolwich Road ran past this point along Silver Street and on beneath the Queen's House.
8-9 Spread Eagle Bookshop. The bookshop is no longer there. There is a plaque on the building ‘Dick Moy 1932 - 2004 Historian and Antiques Dealer who loved Greenwich. / He restored and worked from this 1780 Inn’
Spread Eagle Yard. A formal stucco inn facade of the earlier 19th with central coach-way,
Maltings. The maltings were established by Frederick John Corder and Alfred Conyers Haycraft towards the end of the 1800s. The partnership was dissolved in 1900 with Haycraft continuing the business until selling out to Hugh Baird and Sons in 1906 or 1907. Malt kilns were behind the Spread Eagle
Old Pearson Street,
It is named for the Pearson family who owned copperas works in this area in the 19th. Their grand house – Ravensbourne House – was in this area.
Old Woolwich Road
Old Man in the Moon. This is on the corner with Eastney Street. The building bears the date 1834 as well as the pub's name and has now been converted to flats.
Park Row
Was Back Lane and Caroline Street
East Gate to the University/Old Royal Naval College. Pair of single storey lodges in Red brick
Trafalgar Quarters. Built in 1813 by Venn for officers of the civil administration of the Hospital this is now accommodation for retired naval personnel. On the first floor frieze is the Seamen’s Hospital Arms in Coade Stone. It became servants quarters after the Hospital closed, and named Trafalgar Quarters by the Naval College.
25a Lodge to Trafalgar Quarters. This was built in 1813 but has been altered. It was originally single storied but is now two.
Park Vista
It is said that this was the original line of the Dover Road passed along what is the line of the colonnade from the Queens House until it was stopped up and moved north in the late 17th.
Meridian Line – this is marked by a line of studs across the road and by stones in the pavements.
Gate with bearded keystone leads to the Queens Orchard – previously called the Dwarf orchard. This opened in 2012 having been restored with heritage fruit trees, new gates, pathways and ponds. It is managed by The Royal Parks but walled off from the main park. There is a single metal decorative gate and there is a well found inside the entrance. The mulberry tree may have died. The Orchard was part of Greenwich Park from the 17th onwards, but was alienated in 1976 when Greenwich Hospital Estates sold it to Greenwich Council. It remained in their ownership managed as a wildlife garden until it was returned to The Royal Parks for a peppercorn.
13 Manor House. A plain two-storey house from the early 18th with a gazebo on the roof;
15 Hamilton House. Late 18th three storey house. At one time this was the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society Education Department. It then went into commercial use and is now a department of the University of Greenwich.
16-18 Park Place. Built in 1791. The Catholic chapel was essential in the back garden
St. Mary’s Chapel. In 1793 the Roman Catholic chapel of St. Mary and catered mainly for Irish born Catholic seamen at the Royal Hospital. It was accessed via Clark’s buildings in what was then East Street.
19 Plume of Feathers. The pub claims to have been built in 1691. It appears in the Greenwich Parish rate books in 1717 and licensing records show it was then called the Prince of Wales. By 1726 the name had changed to The Plume of Feathers, the insignia of the Prince of Wales. Pub has been owned by various breweries: the (Greenwich based) Beehive Brewery, the Hoare Brewery, Watney’s, Truman’s, Courage, and Scottish & Newcastle. The Meridian Line means it is the first pub in the eastern hemisphere.
33/36 The Chantry. Built of 1807 and the Admiral Commissioner of the Naval Asylum School’s house. It is an irregular building with some 16th brickwork which is the remains of outbuildings of Henry VIII's palace. On the building is a carved stone replica from 1975 of a wall plaque with the Tudor royal arms. There is also an empty circular medallion with wreaths. Incorporated into the building is Queen Elizabeth Conduit, which was a highly secure reservoir for the Tudor palace. Part of the building is the St.Alfege Vicarage
Maze Hill Congregational Church. This was founded in 1786. In 1903 it came under the Kent Association and County Missionary Society Metropolitan District but by 1957 membership had fallen to 15 and the church was sharing a minister with Rothbury Hall Church. In 1971 Maze Hill it united with the local Methodist Church. A graveyard was attached to the chapel. This was the site of excavations in 1966 where graves were found which appeared to be older than the dates of the chapel. The site, on the corner with Park Street, is now housing.
Peyton Place
The Greenwich Park railway line would have crossed the entrance to this small road diagonally
Greenwich Gallery. Photographic art gallery. Part of Linear House used as offices and for a variety of arts organisations
The Old Joinery. Modern House
Hall. This hall was at the back of the Methodist Church in Greenwich High Road. Used as offices for charities and others
Prince of Orange Lane
Wheatley's Livery Stables. In the mid 19th this was the stables for Wheatley's who ran a horse drawn vehicle hire service and hauliers – clearly and handy site for the station.
Prior Street
The Greenwich Park line railway crossed the street at a diagonal at the east end. The site is now Prior Street Allotments. The line ran through the allotments and then through the car park for the police station in Royal Hill. From the 1960's it was used as a lorry park and then a garden centre and then used for some form of horticultural training. From 1980 the London Borough of Greenwich allowed the Burney Street Project to use the site as allotments on an informal basis. In 1993 a developer wanted to build on the site. A campaign led to two new houses and the remaining plots being given the formal Allotment Act protection
Randall Place
James Wolfe School. Built by the London School Board in 1877 and designed by Edward Robson. This part of the school is for the younger children and has a specialism in deaf children. Above the entrance is a stone tablet with 'girls' surrounded by sprigs of bay and berries, bound with ribbon. Above the keystone is a plaque with 'Randall Place School’ and ‘1877’. There is a similar plaque for 'infants' enclosed in oak leaves
Riverside (Billingsgate to Horseferry Road)
This, as a cobbled riverside path, was known as Wood Wharf.
13 Orient Lighterage. The company operated 80 barges, the last two being built at Faversham in 1960. They mainly handled tea, unloaded at Tilbury and brought up river to bonded warehouses at Orient Wharf, on the north bank. They also handled newsprint from Convoys Wharf. The Greenwich Yard closed in 1971 through containerisation.
15 Anglo Swedish Electric Welding Co. They were here from 1925 and had other premises at Dreadnought Wharf to the west. In the early 20th Mr.Kejllburg of Gothenburg developed a process for using electric welding rather than rivers. The company was a Syndicate formed to promote his process.
15 Predecessor companies in Anglo Swedish were Woods dealing in forage and fodder 1870-1921, Morris Timber 1922-1926, W.R.Crow timber importers 1926-1940
17 Sun Public House. This dated from 1820. Demolished in 1963 for the river walk but by then it was single storey only because of bomb damage.
24-26 Sun Coal Wharf. This was run by one of the Huntley Brothers. Barges and fishing boats later ran from the wharf.
19-55 these were cottages, slum cleared in the 1960s.
28-30 Wrightons. This was a lighterage company. They had 100 barges and eight tugs. They worked a lot in the meat trade, serving Borthwick's Cold Store at Deptford. They arranged the transport of London Bridge to America. They closed in 1972.
55 this became a music studio in 1972. Jules Holland is said to have started here along with Billy Jenkins, Kate Bush, Dire Straits and Squeeze –all local to the area. The studio was closed down by developers.
28-30 Horseferry. A building here serviced the ferry from 1840 but closed after the Blackwall and Foot tunnels were opened.
Litchfield and Soundy Ltd. They were on the old Horseferry site and maintained a fleet of 80 barges. They closed in 1965 because of containerisation.
Greenwich Steam Ferry. This had winding engines on both sides of the river. Built by Appleby Brothers Ltd of East Greenwich. Engineers are Dark and Standfield, of Westminster.
Roan Street
46 Grey Coat House. The building was formerly the Roan School of 1808. There is a plaque over the door "Erected AD 1808 Grey Coat School. Founded 1677 MR JOHN ROAN By his will dated 16th March 1643 Devised certain estates the rents whereof were directed to be applied to the education and clothing of poor towns born children of the parish of Greenwich. This tablet was set in 1835." The tablet also includes names of Vicar and churchwardens. The school was founded by John Roan 1600-1644. In 1640, Roan was appointed Yeoman of His Majesty's Harriers. During the Civil War he was arrested and as a prisoner of war. In his Will he left property to the founding of a school. The Will named the Vicar, the Churchwardens and the Overseers of the Poor of Saint Alfege, Greenwich as the Trustees. They became the forerunners of the Roan Schools Foundation, who continue to manage the Roan Estate. The school began as the Grey Coat School or Roan's Charity school, and was opened for boys in 1677-1678. The first school building was surrendered to Greenwich Hospital in 1808 and a new school, paid for by the Hospital, was built here. In 1815 the National School of Industry was opened and became the forerunner of the Roan School for Girls. Later two branch schools were opened. As demand for accommodation grew, the boys' school moved to Maze Hill in 1928. The Roan Street building has been let out for various purposes and has been a factory. It is currently flats.
Saxonia Wire Works. Saxonia used the old Roan School building. They had been founded in the late 19th and were specialist manufacturers of all types of fexibles and cables. They were taken over by AEI in 1971.
52 Hit or Miss Pub. Demolished
76-78 Little Wonder Pub. Demolished.
92 Greycoat Boy Pub. He name clearly relates to the Roan School nearby. The building now appears to be offices
Romney Road
Romney Road called after the High Steward of the Manor. It bisects the area which was covered by the Tudor Palace and associated buildings.
Greenwich Palace. In the 14th and 15th Eltham Palace was used by royalty. The nearby manor of Greenwich was given by Henry V to Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter and it then passed in 1426 to Humphrey Duke of Gloucester. He rebuilt the house walled it and supplied it with water by a new conduit from Stockwell. He called it 'Bellacourt'. In 1447 it passed to Margaret of Anjou, who called it Plaisance or Placentia. The Tudor monarchs liked it and rebuilding took place under Henry VII, and further improvements were made by Henry VIII. It was the birthplace of Henry VIII, who married Katherine of Aragon and Anne of Cleves here. In 1516 Mary was born here, in 1533 Elizabeth, and in 1522 the Emperor Charles V was received in state. Henry established Deptford and Woolwich Dock Yards and Trinity House through his association with the area. Inigo Jones built the Queen's House for James I’s wife, Anne of Denmark in 1613. The palace was badly treated during the Commonwealth and for a time it was a biscuit factory for Scottish troops. After the Restoration Charles II decided to erect a new palace and commissioned John Webb. The old buildings were pulled down leaving only the undercroft. The foundation stone of the new building was laid in 1664 but when William and Mary succeeded they decided against living there and Mary handed over the new building to be a Naval Hospital. In 1694 Wren prepared plans – similar but not the same as Webb's. The completion of the scheme took over fifty years. The first pensioners arrived in 1705. In 1763 separate infirmary was added which became Dreadnought Seamen's Hospital, was added. The hospital closed in 1869, and in 1873 the Royal Naval College moved in. Since they moved out the University have moved in.
Tilt Yard. This was on the site of a 7th Anglo-Saxon cemetery. It was built 1514-18 south of the palace, the first permanent example in the country, with two towers connected by a gallery. In 1527 a banqueting house and theatre were added. Kennels were built in 1532 and in 1533 a cockpit and a mews. In c. 1534 a real tennis court was added. In the mid 17th a laboratory was established here which worked on pyrotechnics. It eventually moved to Woolwich and the site which became the Royal Arsenal.
Armoury. This was built in 1517 to the west of the King Charles Quarter. Here foreign armourers made suits of armour using metal from the Lewisham mill.
Romney Road is the replacement main road built because the original road went right under the centre of the Queens House. It goes right through the area which was the royal palace. Basically – the area to the south of the road consists of the National Maritime Museum and Devonport House (in King William Walk). North of the road are the buildings which were the Royal Hospital, which became the Royal Naval College, and is now partly the University of Greenwich, and partly Trinity College. This area is owned by the Greenwich Foundation which refers to it as the Old Royal Naval College
South of Romney Road
The Old road from Deptford to Woolwich was diverted in the 17th and called Heathgate Street. It was probably on the line of the Tudor tiltyard. The park fence was replaced by a wall and a gateway across the road served as entrance to the park and garden. The Queen's House perpetuates old arrangement of the grounds. During the Restoration the road was put north of the Queen's House and opened in 1695/7 while the old road was blocked with gates.
Railway. The railway extension to Maze Hill Station from Greenwich built in 1878 passes under the lawn south of Romney Road.
Colonnade. In 1807-16 Daniel Asher Alexander added wings and colonnades, so that the building could accommodate the naval school from Paddington founded in 1798 – and join the school for the children of pensioners which was already there
Statue of Admiral Sir Edward Pellew 1st Viscount Exmouth. By 'Patrick MacDowell 1846.' This was commissioned by Parliament in 1842. At was at one time in the Painted Hall
Statue of William Peel by William Theed, this is a copy of a statue in Saint Swithun's Church, Sandy. He was the third son of Prime Minister, Robert Peel and was one of the earliest winners of the VC in the Crimean War
Statue of Admiral James de Saumarez by 'John Steell'
Statue of Admiral Sir William Sidney SmithThe Royal Hospital School. In 1821 the Hospital school and the Asylum were amalgamated. The 1780s Hospital School building became the children's infirmary. In 1892 the institution was renamed the Royal Hospital School. All boys were committed to enter sea service, specifically in the Navy. By the 1880s pupils were an asset to all branches of the Navy. More than 10,000 of the boys joined 1874- 1930 and five became admirals. In 1886 the school also took over the Boreman Foundation which had begun in 17rth Greenwich for the sons of local seamen, fishermen and watermen. Crowds would watch the boys marching to service at the College Chapel on Sundays preceded by the band led by the drum major. The first of three drill or 'block' ships, all called Fame, was built in front of the Queen's House in 1843. The school left for its new home in Holbrook, Suffolk in 1933. The boys marched away to go on Easter leave and returned to the new school in April/
Neptune Hall, This was added in 1874, by Colonel Clark of the Royal Engineers as a gymnasium and assembly hall for the school. Demolished.
National Maritime Museum. This is the main maritime museum in Britain and perhaps the largest in the world. It is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It was created by the National Maritime Act of 1934 under a Board of Trustees. King George VI formally opened it in 1937.It includes the Caird Library which is the world's largest maritime historical reference library
Sammy Ofer Wing. The Sammy Ofer Wing is the biggest development in the Museum’s history. The new wing includes a restaurant, a new library area and new galleries. Sammy Ofer was a billionaire Israeli businessman who, in 2008, donated £20 million the museum
Queen's House. Underneath and through the centre is the route of old main road. The house is a square two-storeyed block which originally consisted of two parallel ranges connected only by a bridge astride what was the main road. Its architectural style was revolutionary for its date. The house was completed by Henrietta Maria and ready in 1637. The main room is the hall in the centre which is a perfect cube, with a gallery around the upper floor. The main twisty staircase has a balustrade with a tulip-like top. The house was refurbished after the Restoration by John Webb, and he added two more bridges in 1662 to make it a perfect square. In 1690 it became the residence of the Ranger of Greenwich Park and in the early 18th it was used by the Governor of the Naval Hospital In 1807-16 Daniel Asher Alexander added wings, colonnades, for the Royal Naval School. The school left in 1933 and then opened to the public as part of the National Maritime Museum in 1937.
The Royal Naval Asylum. This opened in Paddington in 1798 for the orphaned children of naval seamen. In 1806 George III granted the Asylum use of the Queen's House and gardens at Greenwich and, Parliament supported expansion financially. In 1807 the colonnades and flanking wings were begun. The upper floors of the new wings were dormitories, with teaching, dining and other space below.
North of Romney Road
Grand Square. Around the square are 8 lamp standards in Portland stone carrying wrought iron lamp holders
King Charles Block. This block is on the riverside at the west side of the site. The King Charles Court incorporates John Webb's single unfinished wing 1664-69 of Charles II's projected new palace of Greenwich. It is now in use by Trinity School of Music.
Trinity School of Music. In 1872 Bonavia Hunte established the Church Choral Society and College of Church Music later to become Trinity College of Music Mandeville Place in Marylebone. In 2001 the college moved to Greenwich in partnership with Laban School of Dance, and establishing the Jerwood Library of the Performing Arts, and the Mander and Mitchenson Theatre Collection.
Queen Anne Block. This is the block at the east end fronting on to the river. Part of the block dates from 1701-7, but the rest remained a brick carcase until 1712 and its stone facade was inserted in 1725. The pavilions were added only in 1725-31. It is in use by the University of Greenwich and includes the Stephen Lawrence Gallery, for work by contemporary artists
Undercroft. This is the only remains of the original palace. It is in vaulted brick and stone built in 1604 beneath the Queen Anne Quarter.
University of Greenwich. The University has evolved from Woolwich Polytechnic having taken in some other colleges and institutions on the way. The Polytechnic dated to 1890, when it was founded as the second polytechnic in Britain. In 1970, it became Thames Polytechnic. It had taken in, Dartford College, Avery Hill College, Garnett College , and some of Goldsmiths College and the City of London Colleges. In 1992 it was granted university status. The Greenwich Campus moved here when it was sold by the Royal Navy in 1990. The Business School, the School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences and the School of Humanities & Social Sciences are based here as well as the Greenwich Maritime Institute.
King William Block. This block is fronts Romney Road on the east end of the site. It was built in 1701-2, was ready internally by 1708. In the pediment is a sculpture of Neptune delivering Nelson’s body to Britannia, designed by Benjamin West, by West and Panzetta in 1810-12. It is in use by the University of Greenwich. This is where Jason the nuclear reactor was based.
Jason. This was a nuclear reactor installed by the Ministry of Defence. It was an Argonaut series 10 kW research reactor designed by the US Argonne National Laboratory, and was used for experimental and training purposes. It was operational from 1962 to 1996 but had previously been operated by the Hawker Siddeley Nuclear Power Corporation at Slough
Queen Mary Block. This is the inland block at the west end. It was the last finished. It is in use by the University of Greenwich
Bowling Alley. Built in the 1860s this is in the restored Chalk Walk beneath the Queen Mary Quarter. It is now managed by the Foundation.
Chapel of St.Peter and St.Paul. This was severely damaged by fire in 1779 and reopened in 1789. It is thought that most of the detailed work was done by the Clerk of Works, William Newton. In the octagonal vestibule are statues of Faith, Hope, Charity, and Humility designed by Benjamin West in Coade stone. On the doorway is a frieze by John Bacon. At the end is an altar painting by West of St Paul and the Viper and also Coade stone angels by West. The Oak and mahogany pulpit is derived from the monument to Lysicrates: The joiners were Lawrence and Arrow.
Painted Hall. This dramatic building is divided into a vestibule, a main hall, and an upper hall, each separated by steps and by fragments of cross walls. It is a very theatrical although the type of stone changes as the ceiling is reached. The central ceiling is by James Thornhill, 1708-12. It was cleaned in 1957-60, revealing what had been obscured by fifteen coats of varnish. The main part framed by an oval, shows William and Mary attended by the four cardinal virtues. And much much more.
Dreadnought Hospital. Originally the infirmary to the Royal Hospital. Built By James Stuart, 1763-4. It is a utilitarian square block with an inner courtyard. The Seamen’s Hospital Society was founded in 1821 because the health of the sailors in the merchant service had been almost totally neglected. Originally called the Society for Distressed (Destitute) Seamen, in 1821 it became the Seamen’s Hospital Society. At first it ran a floating hospital ship anchored off Greenwich. Thousands of merchant seamen were cared for a succession of three ships. The second ship was called the Dreadnought and the name has been kept. In 1870 the Dreadnought began work in the former Greenwich Hospital Infirmary. In 1986, with changes in the NHS and the decline of the merchant fleet, the Dreadnought Hospital was closed and its work transferred to Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital where seafarers continue to receive priority medical treatment. The building is now the university library
Royal Naval Division Memorial Fountain also called the Gallipolli monument to those who died in the Great War. Designed by Lutyens in 1924 and originally on the wall of the Admiralty. It features a central obelisk above a fountain bowl
George II Statue. This is by J.M.Rysbrack and made from a block of marble found in a French ship and presented by Sir John Jennings who paid for it. The king is in Roman dress and the statue was set up in 1735. It is much weathered.
Royal Hill
Medieval road, called Gang Lane. It was later renamed after Robert Royal, the builder of a theatre in 1749.
Greenwich School of Management. This independent, for profit, college is in what was the office area of Meridian House – the old Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich’s Town Hall, and has an entrance in Royal Hill. The college dates from 1973 and awards degrees through the University of Plymouth
Borough Hall. The hall attached to the Greenwich Town Hall remained in the ownership of the Borough when the rest was sold. It fronts onto Royal Hall and is currently used by the Greenwich Dance Agency. A large art deco space Designed by Ewart Culpin & Son in 1939 with 'ocean liner' features inspired by Dutch & Scandinavian buildings.
Greenwich Park Line– near the Prior Street allotments is some railway wall, where the route ran parallel with Royal Hill. This became a car park. Looking back towards Blackheath Hill some of the track bed was visible into the 1970s, marked by a BR Estate Surveyor ‘Open Storage to Be Let' sign.
6 Globe Pub, demolished
52/54 Richard I. 19th pub but says it dates from 1923. Also called The Tolly, currently a Young’s pub.
56 Greenwich Union. This pub was previously the Fox and Hounds. In the past it has also been called McGowans. It is one of a couple of pubs associated with Meantime, Greenwich brewery.
59/59a stables of 61 Royal Hill done up to look like houses. These are actually situated in Royal Place
James Woolfe School. Royal Hill Campus for older primary children with a specialism in children with a hearing disability. This is in the Royal Hill frontage of what was Greenwich Park School.
70-72 The Prince of Greenwich. This pub was previously the Prince Albert.
St.Paul's Parochial Rooms, built 1872. This is now housing
89 The Hill. This was the Barley Mow pub. It closed in 2005 and is now a restaurant
101 Royal Hill Care Home103 Good Intent pub. Demolished 1903
St Alfege Churchyard
Greenwich National Schools. This has an inscription on the front ‘GREENWICH NATIONAL SCHOOL OF EDUCATION AND INDUSTRY FOR GIRLS’. Former school building of 1814. This is used as the, Church Hall
St Alfege Park. This is part of the churchyard of St Alfege church. It is part of an additional area of land taken over in 1803 as an extension to the over crowed burial ground. It was itself closed as full in 1853. In 1889 management was passed to the Greenwich District Board of Works. The western area was laid out as a recreation ground with design by Fanny Wilkinson, landscape gardener of the MPGA. Many tombs and gravestones remain here. In the 1950s a ball park, a playground were installed there is also a modern toilet bloc. Since 2007 the park has been extended onto a timber yard to the north.
St Alfege Passage
Gated pedestrian walkway alongside the church and leading to Roan Street
5 old joinery works now housing
Stockwell Street
The road, at the base of the hill, is called Stockwell from the town well which stood there.
Greenwich Park Station site. This is now the site of the Ibis hotel. The London Chatham and Dover railway had powers for this line in 1863 and built it as far as Blackheath Hill in 1871. The Greenwich station was opened in 1888 but by 1929 it was closed the line cut back to near Lewisham. The station had a side and an island platform built on a curve and a centre line so locomotives could be run-round for departure. The main building, canopied, aced Stockwell Street, and was built of yellow brick, with segmental arches above doors and windows picked out in red. Adjoining the booking hall was a buffet, and first and second class ladies' rooms, a two storey house was provided as a home for the Station Master. Behind was a small awninged concourse, providing access to the platforms. The line was abandoned by an Act in 1929 and the line taken up. The station building was let out. It became the Mayfield Temperance Billiard Club and later a saw mill and timber yard.
30 Hotel Ibis. This is on the site of the station and opened in 1988; Designed by BDP.
1-2 Spread Eagle Coaching Inn, which has been used as a restaurant with an associated junk and book shop. The site of the inn is considerably older than it now appears to be and stood on the old main road. It was taken over by Greenwich Inc and closed suddenly in 2014.
John Humpheries House. The first local authority computer centre built 1963 for London On Line Local Authorities and their Leo 3. The Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich had been the lead authority but the new London Borough left the consortium in 1969. John Humpheries was the Greenwich Borough Treasurer. Demolished in 2011
University of Greenwich. on the site of John Humpheries House. New university library, TV Studios and the School of Architecture & Construction by Architects Heneghan Peng. Opened 2014.
Greyhound Hotel. Demolished. This was a major hotel in 19th Greenwich, holding balls and it was where the masons met.
Straightsmouth
There has been considerable speculation about this road – if it is Roman, if it is an old main road, and what the name of the road derives from.
Gospel Hall. In 1902, the hall was an Iron Room, made of corrugated iron. In the Second World War a V2 destroyed it and several houses. In the 1950s the Iron Room was rebuilt, but this time out of asbestos concrete. In the 1980s, British Rail, who owned the land, wanted to redevelop. The planning permission said that the hall should be included. The Gospel Hall is now on the ground floor of a new building with flats above.
Zigzag footpath, arched brick footbridge on a footpath linking Straightsmouth and Greenwich High Road andprobably contemporary with the railway of 1878.
Druids Arms Pub. Long closed and demolished
Thames Street
62 Old Loyal Britons. Pub which for a while was a restaurant. Claimed to be an old fire station, but shown as housing on old maps.
Trafalgar Grove
Reade and Travers Houses Flats. These were owed by Greenwich Hospital Estates for their pensioners. Sold in the late 1990s and now being replaced with posh flats.
Trafalgar Road
Trafalgar Estate.. This was built by Gowan for the London County Council in 1965. It is a quadrangle of maisonettes with the upper balconies passing through projecting wings. It recalls the workers' housing of the early Modern Movement in Europe.
Hardy Cottages. Built by the London County Council in 1902. An unpretentious estate on an early slum-clearance site
Good Duke Humphery Coffee House. Thus stood on the corner with Park Row and was a Temperance Hotel. It was replaced by East Greenwich Police Station and demolished in 1905
Police Station. Built on the site of the coffee house in 1908 and was itself Demolished after a V1 hit in 1944
Widow Smith's Almshouses. These were on the north side of the road on the corner with East (now Eastney) Street. They were founded in 1865, and built of red brick with stone dressings and leaded windows. The site is now a car park and the almshouses are amalgamated with the Penn Almshouses in Greenwich South Street
Turnpin Lane
This narrow pedestrian lane links Church Street and King William Walk and travels through the market area. Called after a pivoted turnstile called a’turnpin’
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