North Woolwich is an area in the

London Borough of Newham The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the s ...

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the ...

. It is located on the northern bank of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

, across the river from

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 thr ...

. It is connected to Woolwich by the Woolwich Ferry and

Woolwich foot tunnel The Woolwich foot tunnel crosses under the River Thames in Woolwich, in East London from Old Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich to North Woolwich in the London Borough of Newham. The tunnel offers pedestrians and cyclists an alternativ ...

. Despite lying on the northern,

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

side of the Thames, the area was within the historic county of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. It was part of the parish of Woolwich in the Blackheath hundred and since 1965 has been in the London Borough of Newham. Its position within Kent was an arrangement most likely imposed in the aftermath of the

Norman Conquest of England The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conqu ...

from 1066. The placename North Woolwich was probably taken from

North Woolwich railway station North Woolwich railway station in North Woolwich in east London was the eastern terminus of the North London Line. The station closed in 2006, to allow for the North London line between Stratford and Canning Town to be converted to Docklan ...

which opened in 1847 and closed in 2006; before that, the area was referred to by terms such as "Woolwich in Essex",Powell WR ed. (1973) Becontree hundred: East Ham, in ''A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6'', pp. 1–8. London: Victoria County History.
Available online
at

British History Online ''British History Online'' is a digital library of primary and secondary sources on medieval and modern history of Great Britain and Ireland. It was created and is managed as a cooperative venture by the Institute of Historical Research, Uni ...

. Retrieved 2021-06-30.) "Kent in Essex" and "detached Woolwich".

Boundaries and geography

Unlike many areas of London, North Woolwich had formally-defined boundaries by which it comprised two separate tracts of riverside land. The smaller and more westerly part, containing , extended west for about from North Woolwich station. The larger detached part, further fragmented by

dock A dock (from Dutch ''dok'') is the area of water between or next to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore) or such structures themselves. The exact meaning vari ...

facilities, extended east from the

Royal Victoria Gardens Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

. However as in many areas of London, informal local definitions of districts are more nuanced North Woolwich -Formal

Most of Pier Road and the Royal Victoria Gardens, as well as King George V DLR station, are, strictly speaking, in a finger of

East Ham East Ham is a district of the London Borough of Newham, England, 8 miles (12.8 km) east of Charing Cross. East Ham is identified in the London Plan as a Major Centre. The population is 76,186. It was originally part of the hundred o ...

surrounded by North Woolwich. However, as is so often the case in London, formal boundaries have not proved the deciding factor in defining local areas, and this part of

has also long been regarded as being part of North Woolwich. Conversely, the area of the eastern part that lies north of the docks – an area of employment land, infrastructure facilities and post-industrial dereliction, with very few residents – is more usually seen as being part of

Beckton Beckton is a suburb in east London, England, located east of Charing Cross and part of the London Borough of Newham. Adjacent to the River Thames, the area consisted of unpopulated marshland known as the East Ham Levels in the parishes of Barki ...

, an area that has never had any formal definition. In summary, the area now commonly considered as North Woolwich differs markedly from the two areas which formerly had the association with Woolwich, covering a smaller area but with a higher population. It could now be said to consist of the area to the south of King George V Dock and Lock, east of the boundary with the

Silvertown Silvertown is a district in the London Borough of Newham, in east London, England. It lies on the north bank of the Thames and was historically part of the parishes of West Ham and East Ham, hundred of Becontree, and the historic county ...

area of

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancient ...

"Woolwich in Essex" – administrative history

The area now called North Woolwich was originally in the eastern part of the Manor of Ham, in the

Becontree Becontree or Both pronunciations are given as Received Pronunciation in the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, but the form is prioritised (). The dialectologist Peter Wright wrote in 1981 that is the traditional pronunciation in the cockney ...

hundred of

; a territory that was subsequently divided into the more familiar

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

and

, sometime in the 12th century. North Woolwich appears to have been separated a century or so before that time, following the

Norman conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conq ...

. Having defeated the English,

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

rewarded his followers and consolidated his rule, by dividing the lands of his new Kingdom between them. Amongst the foremost of these was

Hamo The daggertooth pike conger (''Muraenesox cinereus'') also known as the darkfin pike eel in Ozzyland, to distinguish it from the related pike-eel (''Muraenesox bagio''), is a species of eel in the pike conger family, Muraenesocidae. They prima ...

Steward Steward may refer to: Positions or roles * Steward (office), a representative of a monarch * Steward (Methodism), a leader in a congregation and/or district * Steward, a person responsible for supplies of food to a college, club, or other ins ...

to the king and

Sheriff of Kent The high sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown (prior to 1974 the office previously known as sheriff)."Sheriffs appointed for a county or Greater London shall be known as high sheriffs, and any reference in any enactment or instrum ...

, who was given manors in

and

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

. The Domesday Book of 1086 shows Hamo as holding land on both sides of the river as part of the manor of

. The widely-held view is that the upheaval of the conquest gave Hamo an opportunity to attach some of his land in

to his manor of Woolwich and by extension to his Sheriffdom of

. In so doing he became both

lord of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

and Sheriff on both sides of the ferry crossing, an arrangement that allowed him to more effectively tax the revenues of the ferry. This enhanced control of the crossing may also have given him personal military and political advantages. The

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

of Woolwich developed from the manor, and administered North Woolwich until 1888 when it was replaced by the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich and made part of the new

County of London The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government A ...

. The neighbouring areas' local authorities of

and Barking, while also heavily urbanised, were excluded from the new London authority to remain in Essex; and so North Woolwich remained an anomaly at county level. Local administration changed again in 1965, with the creation of the

as part of a new

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness Greatness is a concept of a state of superiority affecting a person or object in a particular place or area. Greatness can also be attributed to individuals who possess a natural ability to be better than al ...

area. North Woolwich joined

and other areas between the rivers Lea,

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 Roding to form an authority which effectively reestablished the old area of Ham. The administrative association with Woolwich ended at that time, and Woolwich itself became part of a new London Borough of Greenwich, whereas North Woolwich became part of the

General history

It appears that a hamlet in the area was destroyed by medieval floods and the area remained uninhabited from that time until the 19th century. The area was formerly the site of industries including the cable works of W. T. Henley (later

Associated Electrical Industries Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) was a British holding company formed in 1928 through the merger of the British Thomson-Houston Company (BTH) and Metropolitan-Vickers electrical engineering companies. In 1967 AEI was acquired by GEC, to c ...

) and the Western Electric Company (later Standard Telephones and Cables) on the river to the west of the ferry, and a large Harland & Wolff ship building and repair shop at Gallions Point to the south of the King George V Dock entrance lock (not to be confused with their works at the western end of the dock). Often on the day of launch of a new ship, the company would invite children from the local primary school (Storey Street, now closed) to witness the event. The population peaked just before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, and reduced substantially in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

when it was heavily bombed.

Transport

The King George V DLR station is North Woolwich's principal public transport asset, offering direct links to the

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is an area of London, England, located near the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Canary Wharf is defined by the Greater London Authority as being part of London's central business district, alongside Central Lon ...

(via Poplar), Stratford and

. The extension of the

Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated light metro system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of London, England and provides a direct connection between London's two major financial districts, Canary Wharf and the City of Lo ...

to the area opened in December 2005. Until 2009, this terminated at

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

; a further extension under the river to Woolwich Arsenal opened in 2009. The disused

, which was closed in preparation for future transport developments which will use sections of the line, is situated adjacent to the ferry terminal. This situation means that North Woolwich now sports two old station buildings. The closed

North London Line The North London line (NLL) is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of west, north-west, north, and east London, England between Richmond in the south-west and Stratford in the east, avoiding central London. Its route is a ro ...

station is adjacent to an earlier station which closed in 1979; this housed the Old Station Museum from 1984 until it closed in 2008, which was devoted to the history of the Great Eastern and London and North Eastern railways. North Woolwich is also linked to Woolwich, to its south, by the

Woolwich Free 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 ...

(which connects the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

and South Circulars) and the

Population

Nearby places

Custom House A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting ...

The nearest Docklands Light Railway station is

Education

Gallery

Image:North_woolwich_railway_museum 2.jpg, North Woolwich old railway museum frontage. (February 2007) Image:North_woolwich_railway_museum 1.jpg, North Woolwich old railway museum. The platform for the closed

station is visible on the far right. (February 2007)

References

External links

The Great Eastern Railway's Woolwich Ferry

North Woolwich – Eastside Community Heritage
{{LB Newham Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Newham Cable manufacture in London Shipbuilding in London Districts of London on the River Thames Port of London Woolwich