GREENWICH
HERITAGE CENTRE OPENS
Tony Robinson (Baldrick) of the 'Time Team', officially opened Greenwich
Council's Heritage Centre in early February. Collections from the local history
library in Mycenae Road, Blackheath and the Borough Museum in Plumstead, are
now under one roof.
The new Centre is housed in Building 41, part of the New Laboratory
Square, on the Royal Arsenal - a building developed between about 1805 and 1878
as storehouses and which, by 1853, was used for making gun cartridges and later
became a carpenters and painters workshop.
#The opening event was a great occasion - despite the late arrival of
guests due to problems in the road outside. It was a time for old friends to
meet - and for new ones to be made.
One sad event connected to the opening is the retirement of Julian
Watson - Local History Librarian for more years than we care to think about,
and a great support to so many local researchers. So - thanks Julian - good
luck in retirement - and - are you going to join GIHS?
VANDALISM IN THE ROYAL ARSENAL
Woolwich Antiquarians report from Jack Vaughan that the clock on the
Carriage Department, Building 10, Royal Arsenal has been damaged. It seems that
vandals scaled the outside of the building and swung on the clock hands until
they were broken off. Jack is discussing the clock with the Curator of Clocks
at the National Maritime Museum.
M.B.E. FOR THE CAPTAIN OF THE WOOLWICH FERRY
The 2004 New Years Honours List included an award to Captain Peter Deeks
of the Woolwich Free Ferry as a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the
British Empire, (M.B.E.). Captain Deeks has been responsible for the Ferry for
many years, starting his career as a Thames Waterman before joining the Ferry
about forty years ago as a deck hand.
MUMFORD'S MILL - WHAT THE TIMES HAD TO SAY
A sharp-eyed member spotted a write-up in the Times for 28th November
2003 on the conversion of Mumford's Mill. This is part of what the writer, Mike
Mulvihill, had to say:
"You wouldn't think that I could live less than 200 yards from a
large 19th-century flour mill designed by Sir Aston Webb, the architect behind
the eastern facade of Buckingham Palace. But until just a couple of weeks ago,
when I walked past a 50ft blue sign announcing that the building was being
turned into luxury flats, I didn't even know it was there. Mumford's Mill, as I
learnt from the sales brochure, was at the heart of the Greenwich community for
100 years after it opened in 1848. But it fell into decline after the Second
World War and closed in the 1960s, when it was replaced by a succession of
light industrial enterprises. Its days were numbered until a development
company stepped in last year with some ambitious plans for the future. It looks
as though SE10 is about to get its first proper loft apartments.
As I read on, my mind turned to my very own life as a Trendy Loft-Living
London Professional: my girlfriend, Jo, preparing sushi in our open-plan
kitchen as I sit in the window playing the saxophone; the boys coming round on
a Sunday afternoon to watch football on my plasma screen; Chablis on the
balcony on a warm summer's evening; stainless-steel kitchens and Philippe
Starck bathrooms; surround sound, fresh coffee, olive oil, perfect hair and a
smile on your face - the glossy magazine image of modern life. And here it was
on my doorstep. I had to find out more.
There have already been considerable improvements lately, thanks largely
to a group of people who you would be advised to follow if you want to know
which area is going to be the Next Big Thing: artists. Goldsmiths College has
always been a focal point for music and the arts in the area, which has
recently witnessed the arrival of the state-of-the-art Laban dance centre,
while painters, sculptors and potters are crawling all over the former
industrial spaces of Deptford Creek, etc. etc. etc..
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BOOKS &
PUBLICATIONS
PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED
We
receive a great many newsletters and booklets - thank you, and keep them
coming - however, what is listed here are only those which have something of Greenwich
interest in the current edition. Reviews of any publications of Greenwich
interest are always welcome. There is, however, no publications
news this issue.
'Dockland Apprentice' by David Carpenter.
This
book describes the apprenticeship of a Plumstead boy working at the London
Graving Dock in Poplar. It is very highly recommended as a story of work in
the docks, when the docks were the docks, and the river was the river. Young
Dave - replete with quiff and DA - learns his trade as a marine engineer with
a variety of characters and then goes out to service the ships of the world.
The first chapter sees him on the Woolwich Ferry and in the last he is
steaming off down the estuary to new and foreign engineering jobs. Inevitably
most of the accounts of south London are in regard to his daily river
crossings through the two-way working old Blackwall tunnel on his Norton -
'flat out in 2nd gear down into the tunnel, taking the first bend at 60 mph,
then into 3rd gear at 70 mph, down the straight reaching 90mph ... slow down
for the bend, then flat out and out of the tunnel at 95 mph.'.
Bears
Hide, 2 Bramber Avenue, Peacehaven, BN10 8LR. £15.99
ENGLISH HERITAGE QUARTERLY REVIEW
July/October
2003 gives news of archaeological work.
There
is information about the Study Group on Stowage, which has found 18th Century
and 19th Century walls. Another article describes investigations in the
Arsenal - in part this says "Oxford Archaeology carried out a field
evaluation of the north-east zone on behalf of Berkeley Homes. A series of
small scale, successive timber stake and wattle structures ran on an E-W
alignment 55m inland from the current line of the Thames River Wall. These
alignments were dated to the medieval period, the earliest AD 1020- 1280.
They are considered to represent elements of former fence lines, possibly
fish traps, and the possible foundations of an earthen River Wall. Two
ditches, both running E-W are considered to be contemporary elements of the
network of drainage ditches which enabled the reclamation of this area of the
Plumstead Marshes behind the river wall to provide agricultural land. This
system is apparent on maps dating to 1670, 1701, 1717, 1725 and 1749 and may
have origins from the 'inning' of the marshes in the medieval period.
In 1779
this area of land was incorporated into the Arsenal having previously been
outside its eastern limits. The well-preserved brick built remains of the
Proof House, later to become the Proof Offices (built pre-1780) were
recorded. Details of the internal division of this structure add to the basic
outline detail gained from historic maps. Further brick structures comprised
brick walls and surfaces, and related to an E-W orientated range labelled on
historic maps as the Proofing Workshops (built 1780-1802). These was no
evidence for the contemporary and parallel Convict Sheds to the north
however, these may have been totally removed to make way for the north range
of the Grand Stores East Quad which was constructed in the same position as
the earlier Convict Sheds.
A
substantial cut is interpreted as groundworks for a new River Wall commenced
in 1802. These works allowed for land reclamation and a new river frontage in
advance of the construction of the Grand Stores 1806-15. In the second decade
of the 19th Century, the area was completely remodelled with the construction
of the East Quadrangle of the Stores Department. Documentary sources reveal
that this range suffered subsidence and was demolished in 1831.
WOODLANDS FARM - a brief history.
This
five-page booklet costs 20p and is available from the Farm Trust (020 8319
8900).
NEWS FROM CROSSNESS
The
current Crossness Engines Record includes this item:
"Off
to Sea"
In
July, 1908, a neatly penned note observed that the Main Drainage Committee's
Chief Engineer approved an allowance of 1/- per head for refreshments for
children from the Outfalls at Barking and Crossness during their excursion.
This exciting day out was a journey on one of the new sludge vessels as no
doubt it took its cargo out to the Barrow Deep, five miles off Clacton,
Essex. A rudimentary calculation of the number of children at the southern
outfall, reveals that about fifty children would have been of an age to make
such a trip. Assuming a similar number would be available from the northern
outfall, the prospect of the Captain and crew being responsible for about one
hundred little souls either running around or throwing-up, beggars belief.
The one hundred plus miles round trip can be very pleasant, but the
excitement of the day, sandwiches and pop and maybe an on-shore breeze
against an ebbing tide making for unwanted motion, could no doubt turn some
of the youngsters a shade of eau de nil. Whatever the weather conditions or
minor discomforts, I am sure that many children would carry memories of that
'day out' for many years to come. The thought occurred to me - who was the
first person to promote the idea of a sea- going trip for children of the
workforce of the two outfalls and when did the practice cease?
LONDON AND MIDDLESEX ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY TRANSACTIONS (Vol. 53
2002).
This
volume contains an extremely important article on Creevey's Yard, Highbridge
by Nicholas Cooke and Christopher Philpotts. This gives an enormous amount of
details illuminating our knowledge of the historic riverside. The following
brief extract may be of particular interest:
OBJECTS
OF COPPER ALLOY - PINS
Amongst
the copper alloy objects are a group of pins. Pinners' bones from the site
indicate the presence of a small-scale industry manufacturing these objects.
46 pins came from gully [with further examples from the large dumps of
domestic refuse pit. Small pins, used mainly as clothes-fasteners, were made
from the medieval period onwards. Two forms are present, which may reflect
the distinction between pins made on site, and subsequent incidental losses.
The pins from the gully have simple wire-wrapped heads and are relatively
consistent in length (30-32mm). This group includes a significant number of
what appear to be unsharpened 'blanks', and also two additional items: a
short length of wire (46mm) and a probable needle. As far as can be
ascertained, all the other pins from the site have heads formed by wire
wrapped around the shaft and then shaped to a globular form. Lengths vary
from 24mm to 32mm, and there are no apparent 'blanks'."
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On 1st February 2004 the Kent Underground Research Group (KURG) entered
the Bostall Estates chalk mine to survey the condition of the mine. At the same
time four surveyors from the London Bat Group (LBG) surveyed the mine for
hibernating bats. The Chalk Mine is located in Abbey Wood. The entrance shaft
is approximately 18 metres deep and is located in the grounds of a former
Hospice on Federation Road, approximate grid reference TQ 478 735. Construction
of the mine began in 1900 in order to supply raw materials for the construction
of the Bostall Estate by the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society. During the
next 6 years some 610 metres of tunnels were dug some up to 6 metres high.
Mining ceased in 1906. In 1914 a sloping entrance close to Federation Hall
allowed access to the mine for use as a bomb shelter. This tunnel was finally
filled in the early 1960's. This is the first recorded bat survey of the mine.
Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 all British bats and their
roosts are protected on Schedule 5. This act is subject to amendments under the
Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. The Conservation (Natural Habitats,
&c.) Regulations 1994 implements the Council Directive on the Conservation
of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora. All bats are listed as
'European protected species of animals' and it is an offence to intentionally
kill, injure or take a bat. It is also illegal to intentionally or recklessly
damage, destroy or obstruct access to any place that a bat uses for shelter or
protection (regardless of whether bats are actually present at the time); or to
intentionally or recklessly disturb a bat.
The relatively high temperatures recorded during this survey meant that
at the time of this visit it is unlikely that bats were using the site for
hibernation purposes. However it remains a strong possibility that bats may
still be using the mine at other times. It is known that the surrounding Abbey
and Bostall Woods experience high levels of bat activity with a number of
different species having been recorded in the locality. In a visit to the site
in September there was unobstructed bat access via a hole in the concrete cap
over the main shaft. At the time of this survey this hole had been covered with
a sheet of plyboard although bat access would have still been possible. With
the exception of the high temperatures, conditions within the mine were largely
suitable for roosting bats. The rough-cut walls and ceiling provided enough
nooks and cracks for bats to find roosting spots. At the time of the visit much
of the mine floor was under up to ~60cms of water.
This would increase humidity
levels, which would be to the benefit of roosting bats.
Refs: Le Gear R.F, 1987; The R.A.C.S. Chalk Mine and the Building of the
Bostall Estate. Kent Underground Research
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