Bathway Quarter is an area of historic interest in the centre of

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...

, South East London. Most buildings in the Bathway Quarter are Grade II*, Grade II or locally listed, while the area as a whole is designated a

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

by Greenwich Council. With the exception of the Old Town Hall, the listed buildings date from the late-19th or early-20th century. Several were designed by local architect Henry Hudson Church, their civic use reflected in their grand elevations formed of red brick with stone detailing.

Location

The area is bounded by the following streets: Wellington Street to the south, Market Street to the west (a section of the west side of the street is included), Calderwood Street to the north, and Thomas Street to the east. Polytechnic Street divides the quarter in two sections; the western part containing mainly (former) public buildings, the eastern part mainly Polytechnic buildings. The latter forms a solid educational block. Bathway runs east-to-west through the municipal precinct, lending its name to the entire quarter. The Bathway Quarter is close to

Woolwich Arsenal station Woolwich Arsenal station is a National Rail and Docklands Light Railway (DLR) paired interchange station in the heart of Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It has two parts; its raised, south-western part of the station is on the semi ...

History

The area which is now Bathway Quarter was mostly virgin land up till the late-18th century.

Old Woolwich Old Woolwich or Woolwich Central RiversideBoth these terms are potentially confusing as Old Woolwich may also refer to the present-day town centre, which is further south. Woolwich Riverside is also the name of an electoral ward constituting a muc ...

was then situated further north, near the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

and the

Woolwich Ferry The Woolwich Ferry is a free vehicle and pedestrian ferry across the River Thames in East London, connecting Woolwich on the south bank with North Woolwich on the north. It is licensed and financed by London River Services, the maritime arm of ...

. A small cluster of cottages stood around Green's End. A few houses of the 1760s survive on Thomas Street, facing General Gordon Square. Formally these are not part of the Bathway Quarter. Concerted development of the area did not begin until after 1799, when the Powis brothers,

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

brewers, took a 99-year lease of the land from the Bowater estate. In 1812 most of the land was acquired by Robert Ogilby, an Irish linen merchant. Woolwich map 1863-66, Bathway Quarter

Thomas Street and William Street (now Calderwood Street) were laid out around 1805, taking their names from the Powis brothers. Around the same time, the

Board of Ordnance The Board of Ordnance was a British government body. Established in the Tudor period, it had its headquarters in the Tower of London. Its primary responsibilities were 'to act as custodian of the lands, depots and forts required for the defence ...

formed Wellington Street to improve road links between the military developments at

Woolwich Common Woolwich Common is a common in Woolwich in southeast London, England. It is partly used as military land (less than 40%) and partly as an urban park. Woolwich Common is a conservation area. It is part of the South East London Green Chain. It is al ...

and the

Royal Arsenal The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proofing, and explosives research for the Britis ...

. Wellington Street gradually became an important commercial street, although always secondary to

Powis Street Powis Street is a partly pedestrianised shopping street in Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, south east London, England. It was laid out in the late 18th century and was named after the Powis brothers, who developed most of the land i ...

. A new market was set up in the area around 1810 but failed to take off and is remembered only in the name of Market Street, where a few houses from this period survive. The Market House had its main entrance on William Street, marked by a turret. On the south side it was bordered by East Street, later renamed Bathway. To either side of the market, Upper and Lower Market Street were laid out (now Market Street and Polytechnic Street). Woolwich, former Police Court

2016 Woolwich, Calderwood St, Polytechnic 02

The first

Woolwich Town Hall Woolwich Town Hall is an early 20th-century town hall located in the historic Bathway Quarter in the centre of Woolwich, South East London. Until 1965 it was the seat of local government of the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich, after which it ...

was built on the corner of William Street and Upper Market Street in 1840 but was sold upon completion to the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

to serve as a court hall, where upon an almost identical building was erected on the corner of William Street and Lower Market Street to serve as a town hall. The first was demolished around 1900; the latter has survived. The current town hall was built after a design by

Alfred Brumwell Thomas Sir Alfred Brumwell Thomas (24 February 1868 – 22 January 1948) was an English architect who trained at Westminster School of Art and became an exponent of the Baroque Revival, a style of architecture prevalent for public buildings in the early ...

in 1903–05. New buildings for the Metropolitan Police (1910) and the

Magistrates' Court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrate's Cour ...

(1912) formed a small administrative quarter. Other public buildings followed: the

public baths Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...

(1894), the

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

(1901) and a

community health center A healthcare center, health center, or community health center is one of a network of clinics staffed by a group of general practitioners and nurses providing healthcare services to people in a certain area. Typical services covered are family pra ...

(1939). The most ambitious private development in this area was the Grand Theatre, built after a design by

Bertie Crewe William Robert 'Bertie' Crewe (1860 – 10 January 1937) was one of the leading English theatre architects in the boom of 1885 to 1915. Biography Born in Essex and partly trained by Frank Matcham, Crewe and his contemporaries W.G.R. Sprague an ...

and opened by

Sir Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ( ...

in 1900 . With a capacity of 1680 it was claimed to be the largest suburban theatre in the country. In 1908 it became the Woolwich Hippodrome with variety shows twice nightly, and by 1923 it was a full-time cinema. The building was demolished in 1939 and rebuilding was stopped by the outbreak of war and only completed in 1955, as the Regal Cinema. From 1982 until its demolition in 2015 it had various uses, of which the nightclub N'tyce was perhaps the most notorious. Woolwich Polytechnic was founded in 1891 as the Woolwich Polytechnic Young Men's Christian Institute. It was the second-oldest

polytechnic Polytechnic is most commonly used to refer to schools, colleges, or universities that qualify as an institute of technology or vocational university also sometimes called universities of applied sciences. Polytechnic may also refer to: Educatio ...

in the United Kingdom. The original building from 1891 survives on Calderwood Street, although much altered. Between 1898 and 1965 the institute went through a period of expansion, gradually occupying virtually the eastern half of the Bathway Quarter, with major building campaigns in the 1930s and 1960s. Its dominance of the area is reflected in the name changes of two of the bounding streets: in 1935 Lower Market Street became Polytechnic Street and three years later William Street was renamed Calderwood Street, after a local industrialist and Polytechnic chairman. In 1970, Woolwich Polytechnic merged with various other higher education institutions to form Thames Polytechnic which in 1992 was granted university status and renamed

University of Greenwich The University of Greenwich is a public university located in London and Kent, United Kingdom. Previous names include Woolwich Polytechnic and Thames Polytechnic. The university's main campus is at the Old Royal Naval College, which along with it ...

. By that time the Woolwich site was only one of seven campuses. In 2001 the university abandoned the Woolwich site, only leaving a small administrative presence in the former Woolwich Public Baths. The Polytechnic buildings were acquired by Powis Street Estates Ltd. in 2003 and renamed Island Business Centre with mixed commercial and educational use.

Future plans

In the ''

London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Greater London area in the United Kingdom that is written by the Mayor of London and published by the Greater London Authority. The regional planning document was first pu ...

'' of 2004-16, Woolwich is identified as an "opportunity area", as well as one of

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

's major centres (currently 35) that has the potential to become a metropolitan centre (currently 13). In order to achieve this, Greenwich Council aims to strengthen Woolwich' historic town function as a major employment, shopping and leisure centre, as well as improving the design of its buildings, streets and open spaces. The ''Woolwich Town Centre Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document'', adopted by Greenwich Council in 2012, designated the Bathway Quarter, together with the Powis Street and Hare Street area, a future

, the third in Woolwich after the

and

. According to the masterplan, the Bathway Quarter "has the potential to be a high quality, high-specification, loft-style place with bars, galleries and artists’ studios together with other uses such as a jazz club and creative industries such as architect's studios". In May 2019, the Bathway Quarter became part of the Woolwich Conservation Area, including also

Beresford Square Beresford Square is a pedestrianised town and market square in Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in London, England. It was formed in the early 19th century and was named after the Anglo-Irish general William Beresford, Master-General ...

, Greens End, General Gordon Square, parts of Woolwich New Road (including St Peter's Roman Catholic Church),

, Hare Street, Mortgramit Square, parts of Woolwich High Street (south) and St Mary's Church and Gardens. Most of the civic buildings in the area are no longer in use as such, with the exception of the town hall which has spilled over across the road (The Woolwich Centre, 2013). The Old Public Library now houses Greenwich Local Labour and Business. The Magistrates' Court building has been converted into apartments and similar plans exist for the police station. In 2015, the former Grand Theatre was demolished after a plan for a residential building on this site was approved. In 2016, a plan was presented for the redevelopment of the so-called Island Site, the eastern section of the Bathway Quarter. The plan entails the restoration of the historic buildings, demolition of buildings considered non-historic, and the creation of a new entertainment quarter including a cinema, cafés, restaurants and food and beverage shops.

Heritage

Wellington Street

is a fine example of

Edwardian Baroque Edwardian architecture is a Neo-Baroque architectural style that was popular in the British Empire during the Edwardian era (1901–1910). Architecture up to the year 1914 may also be included in this style. Description Edwardian architecture is ...

in the London area. The Grade-II* listed building has two monumental façades, the main entrance facing Wellington Street. The imposing entrance of

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...

has a

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

and "broken"

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

s. Its 40 m high

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another buildi ...

can be seen from afar. Next to the town hall the former site of the Grand Theatre awaits redevelopment. The façade of the Polytechnic block on Wellington Street consists largely of a

Brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...

L-shaped building that continues on Polytechnic Street (various architects, led by George Trevett, 1962–63; nominated for demolition in 2016). The eastern part of the street consists of several late-Victorian commercial buildings from the 1890s. The corner building, formerly the London and Provincial Bank, and the adjacent building, now boarded up, were both designed by Henry Hudson Church. The south side of Wellington Street, with the new Public Library and council offices, is not part of the Bathway Quarter. File:2015 London-Woolwich, Town Hall 09.jpg, Main façade Town Hall File:London, Woolwich-Centre, Wellington St, Woolwich town hall and library.jpg, Clock tower from afar File:London-Woolwich, Wellington Street, demolition Grand Theatre.jpg, Demolition Grand Theatre File:London-Woolwich, Wellington St towards Green's End.jpg, Late-Victorian façades

Bathway

The south side of this street is dominated by the Victorian brick and

façade of the Woolwich Public Baths (H.H. Church, 1892–94). The building had five entrances (separate entrances for women and first and second-class men) and contained two large swinging pools, 52 slipper baths (private baths), a wash house and a laundry. The baths were modernized around 1960 and closed in 1982, after which it was used as a

community centre Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

and then as a

students' union A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...

of the

. After the departure of the university from Woolwich, it has served as an administrative building and a rehearsal studio for drama students. Until recently, all the buildings on the north side of the street were part of the municipal enclave. The Magistrates' Court building (

John Dixon Butler John Dixon Butler (December 1860 – 27 October 1920) was a British architect and the Surveyor to London's Metropolitan Police Service, Metropolitan Police from 1895 until his death. He completed the designs and alterations to around 200 police ...

, 1911–12) had its main entrance on Market Street. The neo-classical building next to it was the rear elevation of the Woolwich Public Library, designed by H.H. Church in 1897 and built in 1900-01. Adjacent, a soup kitchen of 1913-14 was converted into a reading room for the library in 1979. The library closed in 2011 and was relocated consequently at The Woolwich Centre, opposite the town hall on Wellington Street. For the building on the corner of Polytechnic Street, see below. File:London-Woolwich, Bathway01.jpg, Public Baths File:London-Woolwich, Bathway03.jpg, Detail Public Baths File:London, Woolwich-Centre, Bathway-Market Street.jpg, Former Magistrates' Court File:London-Woolwich, Bathway04.jpg, Rear elevation Public Library

Calderwood Street

The failed Market House of 1810 was replaced by the Police Court in 1840, and then by the Magistrates' Court in 1910. The Police Station next door made room for the Public Library, designed by H.H. Church in 1897 and opened by Lord Avebury in 1901. It features a busy façade of red brick and Portland stone with a large bay window. The plinth of red

Aberdeen granite Aberdeen is one of the most prosperous cities in Scotland owing to the variety and importance of its chief industries. Traditionally Aberdeen was home to fishing, textile mills, ship building and paper making. These industries have mostly gone a ...

contains a commemoration stone with a dedication and the names of the Woolwich

Board of Health Local boards or local boards of health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate environment ...

, which helped establishing the library. The Old Town Hall further down the road was almost identical with the Police Court, but unlike the latter it survived: a handsome classical structure with a

below which "Town Hall" is inscribed (Th. Kinton & G.H. Graham, 1841–42). On the opposite corner with Polytechnic Street stood the Duke of Wellington public house, which in 1935 had to make room for a new lecture hall of the Woolwich Polytechnic. The hall was designed by the head of the Polytechnic building department, James H. Anderson, with classic proportions and

Bath stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of ...

detailing to mirror the Old Town Hall across the street. Further east and slightly set back, a large detached house from 1808 was owned by the architect Henry Hudson Church who enlarged it in 1860. In 1891 Church incorporated it in the original building of Woolwich Polytechnic. The house survived numerous proposals for rebuilding "like a small nut in a large lump of toffee". The brick-and-terracotta Polytechnic building has lost its western bay, two Baroque turrets and other flourishes. Behind the façade, Church's house can still be admired, as well as an 1892 gymnasium with an open wooden-trussed roof. For the corner building, see Thomas Street below. The north side of Calderwood Street is not included in the designated conservation area. File:2016 Woolwich, Old Public Library.jpg, Old Public Library File:London-Woolwich, Calderwood St-Polytechnic St, Old Town Hall.jpg, Old Town Hall File:London-Woolwich, Calderwood St-Polytechnic St02.jpg, Polytechnic Hall File:London-Woolwich, Calderwood St, former Polytechnic College.jpg, Oldest Polytechnic building

Market Street

The red-brick gable of Woolwich Town Hall stretches along the southwestern section of Market Street. The Italianate clock tower near the Wellington Street corner rises up 40 meters and has rich ornaments in white stone. The side entrance of the town hall further down the road is ornamented with military and maritime symbols. Adjacent is the red-brick west façade of the Woolwich Public Baths, simpler than the main façade on Bathway, this section being the second-class part. The façade of the former Magistrates' Court (John Dixon Butler, 1911–12, now a residential building) takes up the northwestern section of the street. On the east side of Market Street only the former police station (J.D. Butler, 1909–10) and a row of early Victorian houses are included in the Bathway Quarter conservation area. Other buildings such as the Woolwich Central

Health Centre A healthcare center, health center, or community health center is one of a network of clinics staffed by a group of general practitioners and nurses providing healthcare services to people in a certain area. Typical services covered are family pr ...

and the

Jobcentre Plus Jobcentre Plus ( cy, Canolfan byd Gwaith; gd, Ionad Obrach is Eile) is a brand used by the Department for Work and Pensions in the United Kingdom. From 2002 to 2011, Jobcentre Plus was an executive agency which reported directly to the Minis ...

are not. File:London-Woolwich, Market St, Town hall tower01.jpg, Town Hall clock tower File:2016 Woolwich, Town Hall 3.jpg, Town Hall entrance, detail File:2016 Woolwich, Old Magistrates Court 2.jpg, Former Magistrates' Court File:2015 London-Woolwich, Market St, former Police Station 01.jpg, Victorian houses & police station

Polytechnic Street

The largely post-war Woolwich Grand Theatre was demolished in 2015, the vacant site offering surprising views of the back of Woolwich Town Hall. Adjacent to the construction site, a modest town hall annex was added in 1929–30. A tapering square brick chimney (25 m tall) towers over the former wash house and laundry of the Woolwich Public Baths. The cream-coloured tiles on the lower part of the building date from a 1959-60 modernization campaign. North of Bathway, a richly-ornamented corner building designed by H.H. Church in 1892 served as the

county court A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions (subnational entities) within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of ''county courts'' held by the high ...

, which by that time also made use of the Old Town Hall, further north. The building is of red brick dressed with stone and

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, a ...

decorations. Its Dutch gables are repeated in the almost simultaneously-built Public Baths. The east side of the street is entirely occupied by former Polytechnic buildings. From north to south: the Polytechnic Lecture Hall (J.H. Anderson, 1935–36), the Art and Science School (H.H. Church, 1898), and the Brutalist L-shaped building that continues on Wellington Street (various architects, led by George Trevett, 1962–63). The latter building will be demolished in the Island Site plans, while the Art and Science School is to be adapted for residential use; its entrance opposite Bathway will give access to the future entertainment area inside the block. The sculpted entrance of Portland stone is enriched by a bust of

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...

and attributes of music and architecture. File:London-Woolwich, Calderwood St-Polytechnic St01.jpg, View from Calderwood Street File:2015 London-Woolwich, Polytechnic St, Town Hall annexe.jpg, Town Hall annex building File:2015 London-Woolwich, Old County Court 04.jpg, Old county court building File:London-Woolwich, Polytechnic St, old Polytechnic College.jpg, Art and Science School

Thomas Street

On the corner of Wellington Street stands the former London and Provincial Bank, now a bookmaker's shop (H.H. Church, 1891–92). The Earl of Chatham public house was begun around 1805 by the Powis brothers, who were brewers themselves, but rebuilt in 1898, probably after a design by Church. Adjacent to it is another Brutalist extension of the Woolwich Polytechnic (various architects, led by George Trevett, 1963–64), then two 1930s school buildings (J.H. Anderson, 1937, and Figgis & Munby, 1931), and on the corner of Calderwood Street the Rotunda building. This building was designed by T.P. Figgis and A.E. Munby. The grand building in Portland stone with a full-height circular hall lit by a domical lantern, was ceremonially opened in June 1917, in the middle of war. In the Island Site plans the 1960s building and the one from 1937 will be replaced by new commercial and residential buildings; the other buildings will be restored with the exception of the Earl of Chatham, which is the only building not owned by the Powis Street Estate.Montagu Evans (June 2016), p. 9. File:2015 London-Woolwich, Wellington St - Thomas St 3.jpg, Former bank, now Jennings File:2016 Woolwich, Thomas St, Earl of Chatham.jpg, Earl of Chatham pub File:London-Woolwich, Thomas Street.jpg, Polytechnic building File:London-Woolwich, Calderwood St-Thomas St2.jpg, Rotunda Building

References

* , ''Woolwich through time'', Amberley Publishing, 2014. * , ''Woolwich Town Centre Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document, 2012''
PDF online available
on royalgreenwich.gov.uk) * , ''Island Site, Wellington Street, Woolwich. Built Heritage, Townscape and Visual Effect Assessment'' (April 2016)
PDF online available
* , ''Island Site, Wellington Street, Woolwich. Design & Access Statement'' (June 2016)
PDF online available
* , ''Woolwich – Survey of London, Volume 48'', Yale Books, London, 2012.
online text chapter 5
please note page numbers do not correspond) {{Coord, 51.490283, 0.06492019, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Woolwich Buildings and structures in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Grade II listed buildings in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Conservation areas in London Former Metropolitan Police stations

Location

History

Future plans

Heritage

Wellington Street

Bathway

Calderwood Street

Market Street

Polytechnic Street

Thomas Street

See also

References