Built in 1938 .. designed by the borough engineer Mr H W Tee and built by the councils own labour force. copyright Chris Mansfield
Before I started studying local history I had always assumed this row of houses were living quarters for the officers of the adjacent police station, But they are actually much older.. This was originally a terrace of nine small houses built in 1832..these five still remain.. In 1807 the Woolwich board of Commissioners came into being ( an early version of the council) They had the power to rebuild the market which at that time was an unregulated sprawl of traders on the north side of Woolwich high street .. roughly in the area of the present day entrance to the leisure centre car park. Without consulting the traders they decided it was a better idea to build a completely new market in the area now known as Market street / Bathway/ Polytechnic street.. The commissions laid out a nice new square with sheds around the edges but the traders were not interested... It was too far out on the fringes of town and the new market was a total flop. In 1824 they gave up on the idea and put the area up for sale. A man called Benjamin Davies took out a lease on a sizeable chunk of this area .. Much of the street would have looked similar to this row of houses.. The present police station arrived in 1910 and the magistrates court followed a few years later copyright Chris Mansfield
