Visit Woolwich Places

Welcome to Visit Woolwich Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Woolwich

  

Woolwich Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Woolwich

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Woolwich history

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Early history

Woolwich has been inhabited since at least the Iron Age . Remains of a probably Celtic oppidum, established sometime between the 3rd and 1st century BCE, were found at the current Waterfront development site between Beresford Street and Thames .

Military expansion

Woolwich was a relatively small Kentish settlement until the beginning of the 16th century . In 1512 it became home to “The King’s Yard”, founded by Henry VIII to build his flagship Henry Grace à Dieu (“The Great Harry”) Many great ships were built here, such as the Prince Royal, the Sovereign of the Seas, the Royal Charles, the Dolphin and the Beagle .

Gallery

Tower Place and the old Royal Military Academy, 1775, were built in 1775 . Tower Place is the site of the old Military Academy in London’s Tower Place .

Economic development

Woolwich dockyard workers were paid as much as a third more than in other naval towns . The number of artillery men grew from around 200 in 1716 to around 1,500 in 1801 . Soldiers were generally held in contempt, earning about a quarter of dockyard labourers’ wages . At the height of the Napoleonic Wars there were more soldiers than dockyard and ropeyard workers .

Urban development

Around 1500, at the beginning of the military and naval expansion, Woolwich had only a few hundred inhabitants . In 1665, when Samuel Pepys stayed here to escape the Great Plague, the population was estimated at 1,200 or more . Around 1720, the town’s population had risen to 6,500, reaching almost 10,000 in 1801 . During the booming wartime decade that followed, population reached a peak of 17,000 .

Post-war history

Woolwich declined as a town in the late 20th century, starting with the closure of the Royal Ordnance Factory in 1967 and the Siemens factory in 1968 . Other employers like the Woolwich Building Society and Morgan Grampian Publishers were taken over by other companies and moved away from the town . At the same time the town’s demographics changed, with mainly Sikhs settling down in the area, followed by black Africans, many from Nigeria .

Woolwich geography / climate

Woolwich is situated 13.7 km from Charing Cross. It has a 2.5 km long frontage to the south bank of the Thames river. The ancient parish of Woolwich comprises 297 ha (735 acres)

You can visit Woolwich places with Walkfo Woolwich to hear history at Woolwich’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Woolwich has 190 places to visit in our interactive Woolwich map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Woolwich, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Woolwich places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Woolwich & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 190 audio facts unique to Woolwich places in an interactive Woolwich map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Woolwich Places Map
190 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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Woolwich historic spots	Woolwich tourist destinations	Woolwich plaques	Woolwich geographic features
Walkfo Woolwich tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Woolwich

  

Best Woolwich places to visit

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Woolwich has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Woolwich’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Woolwich’s information audio spots:

Gilbert’s Pit Gilbert’s Pit is a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Charlton . It was notified in 1985 and was formerly known as Charlton Sand Pit . It adjoins Maryon Park and is close to Maryon Wilson Park .

North Woolwich North Woolwich is located on the northern bank of the River Thames, across the river from Woolwich. It is connected to Woolwich by the Woolwich Ferry and Woolwich foot tunnel. Despite lying on the north, Essex side of the Thames, the area is within the historic county of Kent. It was part of the parish of Woolwich in the Blackheath hundred.

Charlton cemetery Charlton cemetery is a cemetery, opened in 1855, covering 15 acres of ground in Charlton, south-east London . Situated in Cemetery Lane to the east of Charlton Park, features two 19th-century chapels and numerous military graves .

Victoria House, Greenwich Victoria House, Greenwich on Shooter’s Hill in Greenwich is the former officers mess’ and living quarters for the Royal Army Medical Corps . It is a “Building of Local Architectural or Historic Interest”

Old Woolwich Old Woolwich or Woolwich Central Riverside is an area along the Thames in Woolwich, South East London . It is the oldest inhabited part of Woolwich going back to an Anglo-Saxon riverside settlement . Most of the area was cleared in the 20th and early 21st centuries to make way for large-scale developments .

Greenwich Cemetery Greenwich Cemetery is a cemetery in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in southeast London . It is situated on the southwestern slopes of Shooter’s Hill, on the western side of the A205 South Circular, Well Hall Road .

Mycenae House Mycenae House is a community centre housed in a former convent building adjacent to the Georgian villa, Woodlands House, in Greenwich, London .

Severndroog Castle Severndroog Castle is a folly designed by architect Richard Jupp . The first stone was laid on 2 April 1784, with the first stone laid in 1784 .

Bathway Quarter Most buildings in the Bathway Quarter are Grade II* Grade II or locally listed . The area as a whole is designated a conservation area by Greenwich Council . Several were designed by local architect Henry Hudson Church .

Shrewsbury Barrow Shrewsbury Barrow is a Bronze Age burial mound (also known as a tumulus) in Shooter’s Hill in South East London . It is a Scheduled Monument .

Visit Woolwich plaques