FEDERATION ROAD
THE BOSTALL ESTATE
CHALK MINE
A recent planning
application in Federation Road has highlighted one of Greenwich's most- difficult-to-see
industrial sites. The following text is from an article by Rod LeGear
(reproduced with his permission)
In 1899 the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society embarked on a
large building project, a venture very different from that of its modern retail
activities. A small town/settlement was to be built suitable for 'the
industrial classes'. The Bostall Estate was constructed by the R.A.C.S. Works
Department which moved from the Society's headquarters in Woolwich to the site,
which was to the south-west of Abbey Wood station and north of Bostall Heath. A
feature of the building works was the centralisation of the various
construction trades in an area of workshops where much of the work could be
pre-fabricated. Items such as doors, window names, etc., as well as bricks and
other building materials, were transported from the workshops to all parts of
the site on light tram lines radiating from the work area which was to the
south of the construction site. A total of 4 miles of tram lines were put down
and at least 50 tip wagons ran on them.
The temporary site for the works department was chosen for
its position on the estate. As the site was uphill from the main building area
gravity could be utilised when transporting materials on the tramways. It was
also chosen for the natural resources available on site - sand, ballast, chalk,
and water
This area of intense activity at the turn of the century is
now occupied by the Co-operative Woods camp site on the south side of
Federation Road. The only reminders of its industrial past is Federation Hall.
which was the works dining hall and, hidden 60 feet below ground, nearly 2,000
ft of manmade caves - the Bostall Estate chalk mine.
The mine was dug to provide chalk for the building
operations on the new estate. Most of the chalk was burnt in a kiln to give lime
which was suitable for internal plasterwork. Unburnt, the chalk was used as a
foundation for the estate roads.
The 8ft diameter shaft was sunk in January 1900 in a corner
of the works area near to the mortar mill and lime kiln. Four main headings were
driven from the base of the shaft to commence mining operations. The floor of
the mine was on or just below the water table as the mine was also used to
obtain water for the mixing of mortar in the manufacturing processes
The mine was drained by pumps driven by a 16 h.p. surface
engine. This engine, made by Marshal & Sons of Gainsborough, also powered
the mine's winding hoist as well as a dynamo which provided electric light in
the mine. This was an unusual feature as most mines of this period were lit by
candle or oil lamps. The hard worked engine also provided motive power to the
workshop machines via a system of shaft drives.
In the first full year of operation four men worked
underground cutting out the chalk with picks and wheeling the excavated material
to the shaft bottom in barrows. Two men were employed on the surface to unload
the chalk from the tub and barrow it to either the lime kiln or to a nearby
dump for collection by the road building gangs. By 1902 the workforce had
increased to six men underground and four on the surface. From 1903 until 1906
the figures were five below and two above ground.
After 1906 the mine had
ceased operation. For the first two years of its life the mine was recorded in
the Inspector of Mines Reports as 'Suffolk Place Mine '. From 1902 it was shown
as 'Bostall Estate Mine '. Originally the mine was named after the land on which
it was situated - Suffolk Place Farm - one of the two parcels of land that made
up the development. The committee of the _ Society however, decided to call the
building venture after the original fame bought in 1887. This dual naming of
the mine has led to some historians searching in vain for another mine which
does exist.
In 1914 the mine was converted into an air raid shelter by
the addition of a sloping entrance by the side of Co-operative Hall (now called
Federation Hall). The underground tunnels remained accessible up to the 1960's
when it was still possible to crawl into the rubbish filled entrance. Harry
Pearman of the Chelsea Speleological Society entered by this method in 1960 and
produced a quick survey. Some time after the entrance was completely filled
following fears that children, who were known to 'explore ' and play in the
caves, could become lost or injured.
The next visit to the mine was in 1967 when, with the kind
permission of the R.A.C.S. and the local authority, a small group of mining
archaeologists, led by the writer, made an examination of the underground
galleries. The strong grill sealing the top of the shaft was removed by workmen
from the London Borough of Greenwich (the principle lessee of the site) in
order to gain access
In the early days of building work on the new estate an
al-fresco concert was held each summer in the nearby woods. Visitors were shown
around the new houses and workshops, and adventurous souls were lowered down
the shaft in the cage/tub and taken on a conducted tour of the mine.
In 1967 the shaft was descended using strong
lightweight flexible wire 'caving ' ladders and associated safety equipment.
When the mine was to be converted to a shelter a detailed plan of the
underground galleries was made by Howard Humphreys & Sons of Westminster.
During the 1967 visit the plan was checked and a new survey was plotted to the
same scale. Very few differences were found, the most significant being that
the sloping entrance was now filled and inaccessible. Another was the
appearance of a small excavation at the end of a side passage off of the main
southern gallery. This consisted of two poorly cut upwardly inclined tunnels
which joined after a few feet. It is probable that this relatively modern piece
of mining had been undertaken by adventurous youths at a time prior to the
closure of the sloping entrance.
The mine was found to be in excellent condition with no roof
falls or sign of stress in the wall observed. The galleries average 10ft wide and 18 ft high with an arched roof which
gave a mechanically strong cross section. Chalk is fairly easy to mine and is usually
quite stable so it is not necessary to use props as long as care is taken on
the roof sections. The junctions of galleries are also cut with great care to
ensure that the loads are spread correctly. The highest galleries are to the
south of the shaft where the main development of the mine took place. The adits
are 20ft high in this section. Only three galleries were dug to the north of the
shaft and they are only 11ft high. In this part of the mine the depth of the
roof below the surface is only about 17ft. The excavators wisely did not extend
the mine further in this direction as the surface slopes down to the north and
cover would have been decreased to a point when the risk of subsidence would
become acute.
The mine proceeded forward in a series of steps or benches,
the miners cutting away their working platform as the adit was extended. A
number of those benches could be seen in the Bostall Estate mine. Such working
benches can be seen in any chalk mine. But their presence in the chalk workings
at Chiselhurst have lead to the rather quaint theory that they are 'Druid's
Altars' The final layout of the mine developed from the four original galleries
radiating from the shaft. From these main driveways other adits were cut at
right-angles to be joined by cross passages which created large pillars of
chalk to support the ground above. From a careful study of the underground
galleries and the pick marks left by the miners tools it is possible to re- construct
the probable development sequence of the mine.
The last section of the mine to
be worked was an extension to the south when a farther 1 80ft of passages were
excavated in 1906, the last year of operation.
The final addition to the mine was made in 1914 when the
drift entrance was dug.at the side of Federation Hall so that underground
tunnels could be used as an air-raid shelter. The sloping tunnel from the
surface was intercepted by another dug from the main east driveway to create
the shelter entrance. Although the water table had dropped since the mine was abandoned,
it was found necessary to put boards and gravel on the floor as parts of the
mine were wet. Harry Pearman noted several inches of scummy water, over much of
floor during his visit in 1960. In 1967 no water was present although a long period
of dry weather had proceeded the date of the investigation. By 1939 parts of
the entrance drift had fallen in and it was declared unsafe. For this reason,
despite vigorous protests from local residents, the mine was not used as a
shelter in the Second World War.
Upon completion of the two day investigation of the mine in
1967 the shaft was re-sealed and made safe, the underground galleries once
again quiet and dark, and a silent reminder of the busy industry that existed
on the surface at the turn of the century.
This piece first appeared in GIHS Newsletter November 2005
3 comments:
Thank you so much for taking the time to write about this it’s incredibly interesting do you think they’ll ever open it up to the public like they have done for Chislehurst caves.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write about this it’s incredibly interesting do you think they’ll ever open it up to the public like they have done for Chislehurst caves.
Tank you so much for for this well researched information as i always wondered there history and grew up at abbey wood so as kids we used to explore them and wondered at there immense size,
i seem to remember stories being told of them being dug by prisoners from the napoleonic wars and that they went all the way to meet up with the chislehurst caves but had been blocked off.
well at least now i know the history after all these years.
kind regards Steve
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