117-589: 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 in this part of the town. The street has been rebuilt several times but has retained some notable examples of late-Victorian and Art Deco architecture. Since 2019
234-578: A Freemasons' hall, a theater and a number of public houses , two of which, the Shakespeare and the Star & Garter, were owned by the Powis brothers. In the late 1840s around 1,000 people lived in Powis Street. Most shops were at the east end of the street, close to Woolwich market and the railway station , which opened in 1849. At this time Woolwich was already considered "the emporium for all
351-523: A revivalist style reminiscent of Church in 1923. The two rows of red-brick shops that follow (nrs 22-28 and 32–42) were built by Church in 1894–99. They are separated by a narrow street, Murray's Yard. The corners feature pointed and stepped Flemish gables (the stepped gable is repeated on the Murray Yard side). The row originally continued further west, but some of it (nrs 44–48) was replaced by Woolwich Borough Council 's Electric House in 1935–36. This
468-451: A 600 ft 'cable house' along with a series of sheds accommodating different parts of the rope-making process. In 1695–1697 the ropeyard was largely rebuilt, under the supervision of Edmund Dummer ; by the end of the century it included a double-ropewalk, 1061 ft long, a parallel single-ropewalk of similar length, a brick storehouse with a clock tower, houses for the yard's senior officers and various other buildings, all enclosed within
585-549: A century) in order to open an M&S food hall at the Royal Arsenal two years later. Similarly, Starbucks closed in Powis Street around 2019 and reopened in the Arsenal in 2023. The west end of the street is still struggling, although both co-op buildings have successfully been restored and been given a new purpose. The longest established retailer is H. Samuel, jewellers since 1904 at 40 Powis Street. The freehold of most of
702-401: A complex of boiler shops, a foundry, fitting shops and erecting shops for the manufacture and assembly of marine steam engines. Additions were made over the next ten years, culminating in the smithery which stands parallel with the original block, to the south; dating from 1847, this originally contained 48 hearths and 5 Nasmyth steam hammers. Coppersmiths and brass founders were accommodated in
819-442: A former doctor's house and surgery (nrs 170–172; originally nr 1). This house of 1898-99 has a double datestone , one from 1798, a relic from the early beginnings of the street. The last building on this side of Powis Street is the former Granada Cinema, Woolwich , now a church of Pentecostalism . The imposing brown-brick building has a curved façade and a slender advertising tower ( Cecil Massey & Reginald Uren , 1936–37). It
936-399: A frontal impact. In such a situation, an adult pedestrian is struck by a car front (for instance, the bumper touches either the leg or knee-joint area), accelerating the lower part of the body forward while "the upper body is rotated and accelerated relative to the car," at which point the pelvis and thorax are hit. Then the head hits the windscreen at the velocity of the striking car. Finally,
1053-485: A further century). The former dockyard area is now partly residential, partly industrial, with remnants of its historic past having been restored. Woolwich Dockyard was founded by King Henry VIII in 1512 to build his flagship Henri Grâce à Dieu ( Great Harry ), the largest ship of its day. The ship was built in Old Woolwich , which is where the dockyard was initially established: past Bell Water Gate, east of
1170-467: A high priority in many large cities in Western Europe, often in conjunction with public transport enhancements. In Copenhagen , the world's longest pedestrian shopping area, Strøget , has been developed over the last 40 years, principally due to the work of Danish architect Jan Gehl , a principle of urban design known as copenhagenisation . Safety is an important issue where cars can cross
1287-526: A late 18th-century guard house and police office with neoclassical features stand alongside the former dockyard gates. Nearby, the former dockyard administration building now serves as the Clockhouse Community Centre; it dates from 1778 to 1784. Closer to the river, a couple of closed off docks have been preserved (and partly rebuilt) as a reminder of the area's marine significance. Two shipbuilding slips have also survived, either side of
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#17327733921281404-428: A new lease of life as a specialist yard for marine steam engineering (a relatively new technology which was being developed commercially at nearby Millwall ). New buildings were constructed on the site for steam manufacturing and maintenance, including a boiler shop for manufacturing boilers, foundries for brass, copper and iron work, and an erecting shop for assembling the steam engines; by 1843 all were integrated into
1521-468: A pavement canopy, similar to the one on the opposite corner. The former Shakespeare public house (nr 12) was established in 1807 and probably took its name from the adjacent theatre. It was rebuilt by H.H. Church in 1890-91 and survived little altered. It is topped by a pediment with a bust of Shakespeare and an imp atop. The site of the former theatre (nrs 14–16) is now occupied by a building from 1958 to 1960. Next door are twin shops (nrs 18–20) built in
1638-412: A perimeter wall topped by watchtowers . Parts of the yard had to be rebuilt after a fire in 1759, and again after another fire in 1813. The ropeyard remained in service until 1832, by which time similar establishments in other Royal Dockyards had begun to come to the fore; the site having been sold in 1833, its buildings were demolished soon afterwards, in 1835. The fortunes of the yard had waned toward
1755-610: A process of removing vehicular traffic from city streets or restricting vehicular access to streets for use by pedestrians, to improve the environment and safety. Efforts are under way by pedestrian advocacy groups to restore pedestrian access to new developments, especially to counteract newer developments, 20% to 30% of which in the United States do not include footpaths. Some activists advocate large pedestrian zones where only pedestrians, or pedestrians and some non-motorised vehicles, are allowed. Many urbanists have extolled
1872-480: A road with no footpath. Indoor pedestrian networks connect the different rooms or spaces of a building. Airports, museums, campuses, hospitals and shopping centres might have tools allowing for the computation of the shortest paths between two destinations. Their increasing availability is due to the complexity of path finding in these facilities. Different mapping tools, such as OpenStreetMap , are extending to indoor spaces. Pedestrianisation might be considered as
1989-417: A road; these include urban short cuts and also rural paths used mainly by ramblers, hikers, or hill-walkers. Footpaths in mountainous or forested areas may also be called trails . Pedestrians share some footpaths with horses and bicycles: these paths may be known as bridleways. Other byways used by walkers are also accessible to vehicles . There are also many roads with no footpath. Some modern towns (such as
2106-456: A single factory complex, with a single large chimney drawing on all the various forges and furnaces by way of underground flues. Integral to the creation of the steam factory was the conversion of two mast ponds (which lay to the north of what is now Ruston Road) into steam basins , where ships could moor alongside the factory while their engines and boilers were fitted. One of these basins was provided with its own dry dock (No. 1 Dock) which, like
2223-498: A single new facility on the Isle of Grain ; but this, (along with other radical proposals) was not pursued. In 1802 a steam-driven bucket dredger was brought into service at Woolwich (prior to this, convicts had been used to dredge the quayside by hand) but still the silting persisted; nevertheless, the yard continued to be developed: in 1814 a large smithery or metal-working factory was added to produce anchors and other iron items. In
2340-552: A sizeable new sail loft and rigging store. Ultimately, though, the yard could not keep pace with the emerging needs of the new ironclad warships , and by 1865 it was clear that both Woolwich and Deptford Dockyards were destined for closure. From 1630 until 1688 the Master Shipwright was the key official at the dockyard until the introduction of resident commissioners by the Navy Board after which he became deputy to
2457-608: A smaller block just to the west (which is still to be seen, immediately north of the old police house at the West Gate). The building which faces the police house across the gateway was built in 1848–49 to serve as the Woolwich Dockyard School for Apprentices: one of a number of such schools set up at the Royal Dockyards under an Admiralty Scheme of 1843, Woolwich specialised in steam engineering, and for
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#17327733921282574-543: A time factory apprentices from all the royal dockyards were educated at the school. Less than half a mile to the south of the site there is a railway station called Woolwich Dockyard . An iron-framed building of 1814 by John Rennie the Elder , removed from Woolwich in the 1970s, was re-erected at Ironbridge where it houses the Blists Hill foundry exhibit; in the dockyard it had housed Rennie's anchor forge, which
2691-425: A vehicle. The Traffic Injury Research Foundation describes pedestrians as vulnerable road users because they are not protected in the same way as occupants of motor vehicles. There is an increasing focus on pedestrians versus motor vehicles in many countries. Most pedestrian injuries occur while they are crossing a street. Most crashes involving a pedestrian occur at night. Most pedestrian fatalities are killed by
2808-562: Is a footbridge . In Britain, regardless of whether there is a footpath, pedestrians have the legal right to use most public roads, excluding motorways and some toll tunnels and bridges such as the Blackwall Tunnel and the Dartford Crossing — although sometimes it may endanger the pedestrian and other road users. The UK Highway Code advises that pedestrians should walk in the opposite direction to oncoming traffic on
2925-441: Is a classically proportioned building which has kept its cream-coloured faience façade and bronze window frames on the upper storeys, as well as some of the interior decorations. Adjacent are two almost identical modernist buildings of 1959-60 (nrs 50–60) and three smaller shops (nrs 62–66). More or less half-way in Powis Street, the two great rivals Garretts and Cuffs occupied imposing buildings on either side of Macbean Street. On
3042-413: Is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement (US: sidewalk), but this was not the case historically. Pedestrians may also be wheelchair users or other disabled people who use mobility aids . The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with the morphemes ped- ('foot') and -ian ('characteristic of'). This word
3159-516: Is also where Woolwich Arsenal railway and DLR stations are situated, not far from the Elizabeth line station . Since the pedestrianisation of the street, busses are only allowed to pass through a small section of the street but there are many bus-stops in the vicinity, mostly around the stations. A multi-storey carpark exists in Monk Street / Calderwood Street. Other car parks are available at
3276-631: Is derived from the Latin term pedester ('going on foot') and was first used (in the English language) during the 18th century. It was originally used, and can still be used today, as an adjective meaning plain or dull. However, in this article it takes on its noun form and refers to someone who walks. The word pedestrian may have been used in middle French in the Recueil des Croniques et Anchiennes Istories de la Grant Bretaigne . Walking has always been
3393-572: Is greater than 40 km/h. Among the factors which reduce road safety for pedestrians are wider lanes, roadway widening, and roadways designed for higher speeds and with increased numbers of traffic lanes. For this reason, some European cities such as Freiburg (Germany) have lowered the speed limit to 30 km/h on 90% of its streets, to reduce risk for its 15 000 people. With such policy, 24% of daily trips are performed by foot, against 28% by bicycles, 20% by public transport and 28% by car. (See Zone 30 .) A similar set of policies to discourage
3510-583: Is important both for human health and for the natural environment . Frequent exercise such as walking tends to reduce the chance of obesity and related medical problems. In contrast, using a car for short trips tends to contribute both to obesity and via vehicle emissions to climate change: internal combustion engines are more inefficient and highly polluting during their first minutes of operation (engine cold start). General availability of public transportation encourages walking, as it will not, in most cases, take one directly to one's destination. In Unicode ,
3627-468: Is the late- or rather Neo-Victorian Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society Central Stores (nrs 125–153). With its 82 m long façade it is the largest building in the street. It was designed by the Society's architect, Frank Bethell, and built in three phases, replacing a number of existing RACS shops and adjacent buildings. The easternmost part, including the central tower, was built in 1902–03. The second range
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3744-794: The Commissariat and Transport Corps had its Regimental Headquarters in the Dockyard, but the following year the corps became the Army Service Corps with its headquarters in Aldershot. In 1889 an Inspectorate of Royal Engineer Stores (IRES) was established at Woolwich Dockyard (an early example of independent quality assurance ), which had 'custody of a complete set of sealed patterns for all items of Royal Engineer equipment' and responsibility for 'the preparation of detailed specifications to govern manufacture'. It remained based in
3861-576: The Galápagos Islands in 2023. The area was last used for boat repair work in the 1990s. After closure, much of the retained land went on to be used as storage space for the Ordnance Stores Department , based at the nearby Royal Arsenal; general items (including barrack stores, accoutrements and harness ) were moved to the Dockyard, while 'warlike stores' remained in the Arsenal. Warehouses were built across much of
3978-729: The Royal Ordnance Factory in 1967 and the Siemens factory in 1968 proved to be a turning-point for Woolwich and decline set in. In Powis Street the effects became notable in the 1970s and 80s. Garrets closed in 1972; Cuffs in 1983; the RACS stores in 1985. Their buildings remained empty or were occupied by discount retailers and charity shops. Amidst the decline, the United Kingdom's first branch of McDonald's opened in Powis Street in 1974. Partial pedestrianisation came in
4095-405: The hexadecimal code for "pedestrian" is 1F6B6 . In XML and HTML, the string 🚶 produces 🚶. Woolwich Dockyard Woolwich Dockyard (formally H.M. Dockyard, Woolwich , also known as The King's Yard, Woolwich ) was an English naval dockyard along the river Thames at Woolwich - originally in north-west Kent , now in southeast London - where many ships were built from
4212-463: The royal arms above. Further west is a short row of Neo-Georgian shops built in 1937-38 after the road-widening. The corner of Parson's Hill, originally the name of this whole area, is occupied by the Castle Tavern (nrs 179), a famous Woolwich hostelry in the 19th century, rebuilt in 1937. The large TK Maxx store (nrs 120–130) with its mirrored-glass façade is a new development on the site of
4329-601: The 1000 hours. Since the 20th century, interest in walking as a sport has dropped. Racewalking is still an Olympic sport, but fails to catch public attention as it did. However major walking feats are still performed, such as the Land's End to John o' Groats walk in the United Kingdom, and the traversal of North America from coast to coast. The first person to walk around the world was Dave Kunst who started his walk traveling east from Waseca, Minnesota on 20 June 1970 and completed his journey on 5 October 1974, when he re-entered
4446-491: The 1520s shipbuilding appears to have ceased (the site may have been prone to flooding, a problem that caused the closure of another Royal Dockyard further downstream in Erith at around this time). By 1540, however, the royal shipwrights had begun operating on higher ground further to the west at what was to become the permanent site of the Dockyard, where a pair of dry docks (already in situ and known as "Boughton's Docks") formed
4563-545: The 16th and 17th centuries; as late as 1664 a large new brick storehouse was provided "to lodge ships' carriages in". The wharf was still subject to frequent flooding, however, and from the 1650s the Board of Ordnance began to make use of open land at Tower Place, to the east of the Gun Wharf, as a site for proving and storing cannons and other large guns. Known as 'The Warren', this was the beginning of what would later become
4680-441: The 1820s two new covered slips were added (No.1 and No.2 Slips) large enough to accommodate the latest ship designs. The following decade a substantial part of the river wall was rebuilt in brick and the two dry docks were reconstructed in granite in the 1830s–40s. Alongside the docks a steam-powered saw-mill was provided, a new workshop with steam hammers and a hydraulic chain and cable testing facility. From 1831, Woolwich found
4797-470: The 1830s a specialist factory within the dockyard oversaw the introduction of steam power for ships of the Royal Navy. At its largest extent it filled a 56-acre site north of Woolwich Church Street, between Warspite Road and New Ferry Approach; 19th-century naval vessels were fast outgrowing the yard, however, and it eventually closed in 1869 (though a large part of the site remained in military hands for
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4914-588: The 1890s (nrs 103–109). The last block (nrs 111–113, on the corner of Barnard Close) was the head office of the Woolwich Equitable Building Society from 1896 until 1935, when they moved to Equitable House in General Gordon Square. The north side of the street has an equally eclectic appearance. On the corner with Beresford Square (nrs 2-10) is a modern development of 1959–60, featuring stone-clad concrete frames and
5031-522: The Central Stores closed and were used by Greenwich Council. In 1989 the building was listed. In 2011-13 it was converted into a hotel with 120 rooms and shop units. A vacant lot with a large car park separates the hotel from Woolwich County Court, built by the Office of Works in 1935–36, shortly after the road was widened here. It is a simple red brick building with a Portland stone entrance and
5148-541: The Commissioner of the Navy". On 5 September 1971 all Flag Officers of the Royal Navy holding positions of Admiral Superintendents at Royal Dockyards were restyled as Port Admirals. Post holders included: Post holders included: Post holders included: Woolwich Dockyard finally closed in 1869; however, although the easternmost part of the site was sold, everything west of No. 5 Slip (i.e. over 90% of
5265-559: The Dockyard, and was later renamed the Inspectorate of Engineers and Signal Stores (IESS) in 1936, and the Inspectorate of Electrical and Mechanical Equipment (IEME) in 1941. The Chief Inspector of General Stores (later styled Chief Inspector of Equipment and Stores) was also based there from the 1890s, as was the Superintending Engineer and Constructor of Shipping (who supervised, across various different shipyards,
5382-595: The Dog Yard brewery on the High Street, or a lavoir . A laundress lived there in 1841. In 1853 it was demolished. As the lease that the Powis brothers took out was only for 22 years, the land was not profitable for development and, apart from the road, very little happened until 1799, when a 99-year development lease was signed. Plans were made to fill in the entire area of 43 acres with streets and houses. In fact, work had already started in 1798. In less than 30 years
5499-533: The Great Harry was built in 1515; when the dockyard had moved to its new, permanent site in the 1540s, the old wharf, crane and storehouse had been given over to storage of heavy ordnance and other items. Gun carriage repair was also undertaken on site. Later, use of the Gun Wharf was shared with the nearby Royal Ropeyard, which maintained a storehouse there for hemp and other materials. The wharf and its buildings were improved and rebuilt at regular points through
5616-1204: The Netherlands, 4.3 in Sweden, 4.5 in Wales, 5.3 in New Zealand, 6.0 in Germany; 7.1 in the whole United Kingdom, 7.5 in Australia, 8.4 in France, 8.4 in Spain, 9.4 in Italy, 11.1 in Israel, 13 in Japan, 13.8 in Greece, 18.5 in the United States, 22.9 in Poland, and 36.3 in Romania. It is well documented that a minor increase in speed might greatly increase the likelihood of a crash, and exacerbate resulting casualties. For this reason,
5733-570: The Powis estate, since 1812 in the hands of the Ogilby family, passed on to Chesterfield Properties Ltd. in 1964. Many of the leases given out in 1898 had been for sixty years and so another round of redevelopment took place in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Cuffs was in 1956 the first to rebuild in a modernist style. Others followed and more and more ornate Victorian shops were replaced by unadorned modern blocks with cantilevered canopies and glass curtain walls . Some smaller shops were not able to pay
5850-402: The Powis family: Monk Street, Clara Place and Eleanor Road (now Barnard Close). In the 1890s Church was responsible for the rebuilding of most of the commercial buildings in Powis Street. His style has been characterized as "conservative but eclectic, clumsy but lively." The redevelopment of Powis street was stimulated, strangely enough, by the impending end of the Powis lease in 1898. The owner of
5967-497: The Premier Electric Theatre, which was hit by a bomb in 1940. This development on the corner of Hare Street was a spear point in the 2012 Woolwich Town Centre Masterplan. The two smaller buildings further west (nrs 132–136) were once part of the RACS emporium. One was built in red brick by H.H. Church in 1901 and was used as a chemist's and optician's. The other one, a slender four-storey structure with bay windows,
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#17327733921286084-758: The Second World War, stores and facilities were removed from Woolwich Dockyard in an attempt to protect them from aerial bombardment . Later on, military activity resumed in the Dockyard: from 1942 it served as a Central Repair Depot of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, and at the same time the Royal Army Service Corps established its main Boat Stores Depot there. In time, the repair function of these corps
6201-672: The US, some pedestrians have just 40 seconds to cross a street 10 lanes wide. Pedestrian fatalities are much more common in accident situations in the European Union than in the United States. In the European Union countries, more than 200,000 pedestrians and cyclists are injured annually. Also, each year, more than 270 000 pedestrians lose their lives on the world's roads. At a global level pedestrians constitute 22% of all road deaths, but might be two-thirds in some countries. Pedestrian fatalities, in 2016, were 2.6 per million population in
6318-696: The Woolwich Royal Arsenal . The Ordnance Office withdrew from Gun Wharf in 1671, but the Ropeyard continued to make use of the wharf and its associated storehouses into the 19th century. In the 1570s the Crown established a naval Ropeyard in Woolwich, one of the largest in the world at the time. Too long to fit within the confines of the Dockyard, its parallel sheds lay along the line of present-day Beresford Street. As first built it consisted of
6435-495: The area later known as Woolwich Dockyard. The site consisted of one or more rudimentary dry docks , a long storehouse (for canvas, rigging and other materials) and a small assortment of other buildings. Like its counterpart Deptford Dockyard , Woolwich was probably chosen for its position – on the south bank of the tidal River Thames conveniently close to Henry's palace at Greenwich – and for its proximity to deep water. Several other ships were built here after Great Harry , but in
6552-519: The area) was retained by the War Office (which continued to refer to it as 'Woolwich Dockyard' and 'Royal Dockyard, Woolwich' until relinquishing ownership of the site a century later). The eastern area today known as Mast Quay was sold by auction in 1872. Royal Dockard Wharf was used by a timber and slate merchant, E. Arnold & Co, in the 1870s. By 1919, the site was occupied by W.R. Cunis Ltd, owners of dredgers , tugs and barges , which used
6669-676: The basins, was filled in and built over in the 20th century. The factory was part of the dockyard, but had a high degree of independence: it was accessed by its own gate (known as the West Gate or Steam Factory Gate) and overseen by its own official, the Chief Engineer. Woolwich retained its primacy as the Navy's steam engineering yard through the 1840s, but following the establishment of large-scale steam yards at Portsmouth (1848) and Devonport (1853) it became increasingly redundant, especially as its basins were no longer large enough for
6786-413: The beginning of the new century. From the early 1880s until 1908 trams ran along Powis Street. By 1902, Powis Street had been more or less rebuilt, unified to some extent by the prominent role of H.H. Church. Most buildings were now three or more storeys high with shops on the ground floor and tenants living above. There were still 830 people living in the street in 1901. Some new buildings had offices over
6903-549: The buildings were almost entirely of timber construction. As at other Royal Dockyards, the Ordnance Office maintained a Gun Wharf at Woolwich for storage and provision of guns and ammunition for the ships based there. The Gun Wharf was sited east of Bell Water Gate (where there is now a car park next to the Waterfront Leisure Centre). It was here that Woolwich Dockyard had been founded in 1512 and
7020-494: The busy High Street. The artist Paul Sandby , who lived in Woolwich, painted the road in its earliest appearance. A watercolour of 1783 shows the road from Green's End as no more than a dirt track. Another watercolour by Sandby shows the same area from the west with the ropeyard clearly visible to the north of the road. An octagonal house stood at its west end (where the Art Deco co-op building stands now), perhaps an outbuilding of
7137-402: The centre of operations. The site was purchased by the Crown in 1546 and in the second half of the century several sizeable ships were built there. The yard was also used for heavy repair work. The two dry docks were rebuilt in the early 17th century (the first of several rebuildings) and the western dock was expanded, enabling it to accommodate two ships, end to end. In the years that followed,
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#17327733921287254-526: The commercial heart of Woolwich - south of Old Woolwich, around Powis Street, Beresford Square and General Gordon Square - was still largely rural, with a small cluster of cottages around Green's End and the so-called New Road (Woolwich New Road). To the north and east of the future Powis Street were the Royal Ropeyard and some gardens; to the south and west lay virgin land. As the town was growing rapidly - from 6,500 in 1720 to almost 17,000 in 1811 -
7371-841: The construction of vessels for the War Department Fleet ). During the First World War the dockyard remained operational as an Army Ordnance Depot and ASC Supply Reserve Depot. It also accommodated the country's largest Army Pay Office , the headquarters of the War Office Inspection Department, and the Records Offices of the Army Service Corps and the Army Ordnance Corps. Following the outbreak of
7488-418: The corner of Calderwood Street (nrs 55–69) was started in the 1930s and extended in a similar style in the 1960s. Its façade is clad with artificial-stone tiles, which was the company's uniform style at the time. The building on the opposite corner of Calderwood Street (nrs 71–77) was part of an ambitious plan of 1958 for a shopping mall and an office tower block on the south side of Powis Street, extending over
7605-570: The design in December 2022 when construction was nearly finished. However, the build-to-rent development had "26 main deviations to the original planning permission" granted in 2012, and in September 2023, Greenwich Council ordered Comer Homes to demolish the blocks. Comer said it would appeal against the enforcement notice. A planning inquiry was opened in July 2024. On Woolwich Church Street,
7722-443: The dockyard was expanded; its facilities included slipways for shipbuilding, timber yards, saw pits , cranes, forges , a mast house and several storehouses . There were also houses on site for the senior officers of the yard. A clock house was built in 1670 (containing a mould loft for drawing up full-scale ship designs) and in 1698 a palatial Great Storehouse was erected. Apart from the brick-built mast house and Great Storehouse,
7839-514: The early 16th century until the late 19th century. William Camden called it 'the Mother Dock of all England'. By virtue of the size and quantity of vessels built there, Woolwich Dockyard is described as having been 'among the most important shipyards of seventeenth-century Europe'. During the Age of Sail , the yard continued to be used for shipbuilding and repair work more or less consistently; in
7956-578: The early 1970s. In the 1980s and 90s the Thames Path was extended to the area. Various housing projects have encroached on the historic character of the area. Two towers with luxury apartments were built at Mast Quay around 2005, with even taller towers being projected in 2015. The second phase of Mast Quay, east of phase 1 (and adjacent to the Woolwich ferry carpark), was completed in late 2022 and comprised towers of 23, 11, nine and six storeys, but differed markedly from what had originally been proposed. The developer, Comer Homes Group , proposed revisions to
8073-582: The early 1980s, but by then the street had lost its appeal to shoppers who preferred modern shopping malls in Lewisham , Bexleyheath and Bromley . During the 2011 riots , several shops were looted and one was destroyed by arson. With the regeneration of the Royal Arsenal and other parts of the town, the street has seen some improvement in the new millennium, with the arrival of multiples like Starbucks (2008), Nando's (2010), Travelodge (2012), T.K. Maxx (2013) and Dunkin' Donuts (2014). However, Marks & Spencer left Powis Street in 2014 (after more than
8190-413: The east, three new slips were built and a new mast pond was created, along with adjacent mast houses and boat sheds; a sizeable rigging house was also built here. Alongside the Great Storehouse an equally large building, housing both a sail loft and a mould loft, was constructed in 1740. Meanwhile, land acquired to the west enabled a new terrace of officers' houses to be built in the early 1750s. The yard
8307-590: The end of the seventeenth century; in 1688 its work was valued at £9,669, in contrast to nearby Deptford (£15,760), not to mention the (by now much larger) Royal Dockyards at Portsmouth (£35,045), and Chatham (£44,940). In the first half of the eighteenth century, however, it gained a renewed momentum: the site doubled in size, as did the workforce, and even in the first decade of the 1700s there were more ships launched from Woolwich than from any other English yard. Many buildings were built (or rebuilt) at this time, now mostly in brick. On newly acquired and reclaimed land to
8424-410: The faience-tiled gable, set between two end towers. The elegant east tower contains an open stairwell with wrought-iron railings with the letters 'co op' integrated in the design. The west tower is less pronounced and stands over an access road to Mortgramit Square. Early plans for the so-called Triangle between Powis Street and Hare Street comprised demolition of the locally listed building. In 2013-16 it
8541-572: The first Mast Quay apartment blocks, and a pair of antique guns have been mounted on the quayside where a Royal Marines gun battery formerly stood. Surviving industrial buildings include parts of the old factory wall along Woolwich Church Street and remnants of the Steam Factory with its prominent chimney nearby. The original factory building of 1838 still stands on the south side of Ruston Road, although only at around two-thirds of its original length of 444 feet (135 m). When built, it housed
8658-520: The first decade of the 21st century. This is followed by what was originally a uniform row of seven shops by H.H. Church, built in 1899–1900, of which three have survived (nrs 23–27). Further west are a three-bay shop from 1925 (nrs 33–35), some unassuming brick buildings of 1956-58 (nrs 37–45), another brick building of 2013-14 that replaced a shop by H.H. Church destroyed in the 2011 London riots (nrs 47–49), and two shops by local builder W. Harris of 1866-68 (nrs 51–53). The Marks & Spencer building on
8775-595: The freehold, Maj. Robert Alexander Ogilby, encouraged rebuilding by granting favourable new leases to those who did. Around 1890, 75% of the buildings in Powis Street were commercial, although rarely exclusively so. There were 39 drapers' and milliners' shops in central Woolwich, most of them in Powis Street. The west end of the street had remained largely residential but that changed when the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society (RACS, established in 1868) started its formidable expansion here at
8892-470: The higher rents and were replaced by chain stores . In 1957, Christmas lights were introduced, just three years after Regent Street , two years before Oxford Street . The introduction of parking meters on 11 May 1961 (also the opening day of the notorious Auto Stacker ) was among the first in London. Various plans for pedestrianisation and covered walkways from the 1960s never materialised. The closure of
9009-436: The last military units on site, moved out in 1966, taking with them the muster -bell and mast that had stood inside the main gate; it was re-erected at their depot at Arborfield , where it was rung for church services; in 2016 it was scheduled to move with the corps to their new headquarters at MoD Lyneham .) Thereafter the older part of the dockyard was turned into a housing estate by Greenwich London Borough Council in
9126-514: The need arose for a new town centre and the obvious location was the area south of the ropeyard, more or less between the old town and the main entrance of the Arsenal. In 1782, the Powis brothers, Greenwich brewers, took a lease of 43 acres of these fields which were then part of the Bowater Estate. Shortly afterwards a road was laid out here. It connected Green's End and the parish church of St Mary Magdalene , providing an alternative to
9243-669: The new suburbs of Peterborough in England) are designed with the network of footpaths and cycle paths almost entirely separate from the road network. The term trail is also used by the authorities in some countries to mean any footpath that is not attached to a road or street. If such footpaths are in urban environments and are meant for both pedestrians and pedal cyclists, they can be called shared use paths or multi-use paths in general and official usage. нуПЬ Some shopping streets are for pedestrians only. Some roads have special pedestrian crossings . A bridge solely for pedestrians
9360-399: The north east corner is Kent House (nrs 68–86), named after an earlier development on this site. It was rebuilt by Garretts in the 1890s. The architect was, again, H.H. Church, who this time used yellow brick and a more classical style. Although nowadays divided into smaller shop units, with unharmonious storefronts, Kent House is still considered Church's best surviving work in Powis Street. On
9477-613: The old entrance which had been located further to the east). Later, Shipbuilding continued in earnest during the Napoleonic Wars ; but, as ships grew still bigger, the Thames continued to silt up. In 1800 Samuel Bentham , the Inspector-General of Naval Works (who had himself served as an apprentice shipwright at Woolwich in the 1770s) proposed replacing Woolwich, Deptford , Chatham and Sheerness dockyards with
9594-456: The other corner of Macbean Street stood Cuffs (nrs 88-104), moderner but equally grand. After its closure in 1983, it was demolished and replaced by a fortress-like block occupied by a supermarket and some smaller shops. Its neighbour further west (nrs 106–112), built in 1959–61, has the same proportions but has a more lively façade through the use of Ancaster stone panels set against a Portland stone background, as well as having apartments above
9711-481: The pedestrian way. Drivers and pedestrians share some responsibility for improving safety of road users. Road traffic crashes are not inevitable; they are both predictable and preventable. Key risks for pedestrians are well known. Among the well-documented factors are driver behaviour (including speeding and drunk driving); infrastructure missing facilities (including pavements, crossings and islands ); and vehicle designs which are not forgiving to pedestrians struck by
9828-620: The primary means of human locomotion. The first humans to migrate from Africa, about 60,000 years ago, walked. They walked along the coast of India to reach Australia. They walked across Asia to reach the Americas, and from Central Asia into Europe. With the advent of the cars at the beginning of the 20th century, the main story is that the cars took over, and "people chose the car", but there were many groups and movements that held on to walking as their preferred means of daily transport and some who organised to promote walking, and to counterbalance
9945-573: The project would be completed, presenting Woolwich with a municipal precinct, the area now known as Bathway Quarter , and a new shopping precinct, the Powis and Hare Street area. The development of the Powis estate went smoothly during the Napoleonic Wars , because in Woolwich wartime brought prosperity. In 1810 there were already 141 houses in Powis Street. The long period of peace after the Battle of Waterloo brought hardship and population decline. Powis Street (along with Hare Street, then Richard Street)
10062-414: The public space both in Powis Street and Beresford Square was begun in 2023, The section between Green's End/ Beresford Square and Barnard Close/Hare Street has always been the most dynamic part of the street. It went through various rebuilding campaigns. About half of the shops here have Victorian or Edwardian façades, although storefronts are almost exclusively modern. The corner of Green's End with
10179-484: The railway. The original plan was redesigned in 1966, but only partly realised in the early 1970s. To the west of this development are pairs of shops of 1867 (nrs 79–81) and the late 1890s (nrs 83–95). The last pair is the sole survivor of a larger block that was demolished to create the entrance for the intended shopping mall. In 2016 plans were submitted to build apartments above the one-storey shop units on this site (nrs 97-101). Further west are two more pairs of shops from
10296-781: The recommended maximum speed is 30 km/h (20 mph) or 40 km/h (25 mph) in residential and high pedestrian traffic areas, with enforced traffic rules on speed limits and traffic-calming measures. The design of road and streets plays a key role in pedestrian safety. Roads are too often designed for motorized vehicles, without taking into account pedestrian and bicycle needs. The non-existence of sidewalk and signals increases risk for pedestrians. This defect might more easily be observed on arterial roadways, intersections and fast-speed lanes without adequate attention to pedestrian facilities. For instance, an assessment of roads in countries from many continents shows that 84% of roads are without pedestrian footpaths, while maximum limited speed
10413-483: The resident commissioner. The Commissioner of the Navy at Woolwich Dockyard held a seat and a vote on the Navy Board in London. In 1748 the dockyard was managed directly by the Navy Board,. In 1832 the post of commissioner was replaced by the post of captain-superintendent, who was invested with the same power and authority as the former commissioners, "except in matters requiring an Act of Parliament to be submitted by
10530-584: The shops and apartments was held by Powis Street Estates Ltd. until 2014, then part of the portfolio was sold to Mansford LLP, and sold again to British Land in 2018. In May 2019 the street became part of a conservation area . The Woolwich Conservation Area comprises the Bathway Quarter , Beresford Square , Greens End, General Gordon Square, parts of Woolwich New Road, Powis Street, Hare Street, Mortgramit Square, parts of Woolwich High Street (south) and St Mary's Church and Gardens . A refurbishment of
10647-434: The shops. The west end of Powis Street is not pedestrianised although vehicle access is restricted here. Big buildings dominate this part of the street. On the south west corner with Barnard Close (nrs 115–123, opposite Hare Street) five late-Victorian shops were replaced by a building designed by Rodney Gordon (of Owen Luder Partnership) in 1964–65. Its style has been characterized as "blowsy forcefulness". Its neighbour
10764-574: The shops. The Woolwich Equitable Building Society had built itself a grand new head office on the corner of Eleanor Road. Further west, the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society moved into an imposing new building with shops and offices in 1902. Marks & Spencer arrived around 1912 but was relatively small until they rebuilt in the early 1930s and late 1950s. Burton opened its first shop in Powis Street in 1922, followed by two more. Together with Cuffs and Garretts, RACS
10881-599: The site and existing buildings were converted to provide storage space; there were also workshops on site for manufacturing harnesses, saddlery and the like. A railway system served the complex, part narrow-gauge, part standard-gauge, the latter linked (by way of a tunnel under Woolwich Church Street) to the North Kent Line (which was in turn linked into the Royal Arsenal Railway ). The tunnel remains in situ for use by pedestrians. The dockyard church
10998-409: The site of 46% of all pedestrian deaths in the country. The advent of SUVs is considered a leading cause; speculation of other factors includes population growth, driver distraction with mobile phones, poor street lighting, alcohol and drugs and speeding. Cities have had mixed results in addressing pedestrian safety with Vision zero plan: Los Angeles fails while NYC has had success. Nonetheless, in
11115-498: The size of ships now being built. Older ships still came to Woolwich for engine repairs and maintenance, but by the end of the Crimean War the steam factory's days were numbered. Surprisingly though, the dockyard had managed to remain active in shipbuilding and its facilities continued to be upgraded and expanded through the 1850s and early 1860s; during that time a new rolling mill and an armour plate shop were built as well as
11232-401: The south side of Powis Street (nrs 1–7) was redeveloped in 1958–60, after a design by British-American architect Hector Hamilton . It features glass curtain walls with artificial-stone mullions, a pavement canopy and a set-back corner with diamond-patterned ornament. The next two buildings on the south side (nrs 9-21) are of the same proportions and from the same period but were both refronted in
11349-560: The street is part of a conservation area . Powis Street is situated in central Woolwich, to the south of, and more or less parallel to the main thoroughfare, the A206 dual carriageway, locally known as Woolwich High Street and Beresford Street. The western end of the street meets the South Circular Road (A205) at Parson's Hill. At its eastern end are the town's two main squares, Beresford Square and General Gordon Square. This
11466-475: The surrounding towns and villages." Compared to the High Street, Powis Street shops were smart and fashionable. In 1827 Henry Hudson Church was born in Powis Street. Church became a prominent architect and surveyor in Woolwich. In the early 1860s he laid out new streets in the area between Powis Street and the Bathway Quarter, where the railway had cut through. The streets were all named after members of
11583-634: The town from the west. These feats are often tied to charitable fundraising and are undertaken, among others, by celebrities such as Sir Jimmy Savile and Ian Botham . Roads often have a designated footpath for pedestrian traffic , called the sidewalk in North American English , the pavement in British English , and the footpath in Australian and New Zealand English . There are also footpaths not associated with
11700-549: The use of cars and increase safety for pedestrians has been implemented by the Northern European capitals of Oslo and Helsinki. In 2019, this resulted in both cities counting zero pedestrian deaths for the first time. In Europe, pedestrian fatalities have a seasonal factor, with 6% of annual fatalities occurring in April but 13% (twice more) in December. The rationale for such a change might be complex. Regular walking
11817-438: The victim falls to the ground. Research has shown that urban crimes, or the mere perception of crimes, severely affect the mental and physical health of pedestrians. Inter-pedestrian behaviour, without the involvement of vehicles, is also a key factor to pedestrian safety. Some special interest groups consider pedestrian fatalities on American roads a carnage. Five states – Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia and Texas – are
11934-533: The virtues of pedestrian streets in urban areas. In the US the proportion of households without a car is 8%, but a notable exception is New York City , the only locality in the United States where more than half of all households do not own a car (the figure is even higher in Manhattan, over 75%). The use of cars for short journeys is officially discouraged in many parts of the world, and construction or separation of dedicated walking routes in city centres receives
12051-674: The west end of Powis Street and in Macbean Street. Up to the late 18th century, the military and naval town of Woolwich was largely situated along the High Street, and to the north of that street along the banks of the river Thames , crammed in between Woolwich Dockyard and The Warren (later the Royal Arsenal ). Most shops in Old Woolwich would have been along the High Street, with a market at Market Hill (near Bell Water Gate). After numerous redevelopments, very little of historic value remains here. The area that presently forms
12168-585: The wharves and slips for repairing their vessels. Cunis later (1971) formed Cubow Ltd, a joint venture with Hay's Wharf Ltd , to build boats, including substantial sailing vessels of up to 1,000 tons, a 1973 fishing trawler later chartered by the Ministry of Defence for use as a minesweeper (HMS David ), a cargo vessel ( Ambience ), the Naticia (a London leisure cruise boat) and the Beagle , still in use around
12285-548: The widely-held view that often favoured cars, e.g. as related by Peter Norton . During the 18th and 19th centuries, pedestrianism (walking) was non a popular spectator sport, just as equestrianism (riding) still is in places. One of the most famous pedestrians of that period was Captain Robert Barclay Allardice , known as "The Celebrated Pedestrian", of Stonehaven in Scotland. His most impressive feat
12402-416: Was built in 1930-31 as the Society's funeral furnishers. Planning permission was granted in 2016 to convert both buildings into a pub. The RACS department store (nrs 138–152) was built in 1938–40 in a streamlined Art Deco style. The store had an open arcade with glass display islands at ground floor and a stylish restaurant on the third floor. The large, metal-framed windows emphasise the horizontal lines in
12519-463: Was built in a modified modern architecture style, mindful of the Dutch architect Willem Marinus Dudok . Its magnificent Gothic and eclectic interior, originally seating 3,000, was designed by Theodore Komisarjevsky . Sources Notes References 51°29′31″N 0°03′54″E / 51.491890°N 0.064918°E / 51.491890; 0.064918 Pedestrian A pedestrian
12636-470: Was converted into apartments ("The Emporium"), adding three recessed storeys on top of the restored building. Next to the Mortgramit Square entrance is a row of eight two-storey shops, partly in a dilapidated state. Halfway is a tiled building that used to be the showroom of Furlongs Garage. The gate still provides access to the garage and petrol station on Woolwich High Street. The row ends with
12753-496: Was finished in 1912 and the last section in 1926. Above its main entrance is a large statue by Alfred Drury of the RACS' founder, Alexander McLeod (1832–1902). Its 32 m high copper-domed clock tower made it look grander than any other shop in Woolwich. With its red brick and moulded terracotta façade, the architectural critic Ian Nairn thought it would look more at home in the Midlands . After RACS lost its independence in 1985,
12870-431: Was further expanded westwards in the 1780s, again almost doubling in size. Much of the area of the expanded dockyard was preserved as open ground for storage of timber, with rows of wooden seasoning sheds; as the Navy's ships were growing in size and number, more raw materials were needed across the Royal Dockyards. Two new mast ponds were constructed, replacing a pond at the eastern end of the site which dated from 1720 but
12987-427: Was in 1821 the first street to be finished, with a total of 158 houses built. Most houses were two storeys high, occasionally three. The narrowest frontages measured 4.3 m. Some were put up by shipwrights from Woolwich Dockyard , and then sub-leased. From the beginning there were shops in Powis Street. After rebuilding Kent House in the 1830s, Garrett's, a draper 's, was the largest shop. There were also several chapels,
13104-482: Was notable as the first industrial use of steam power in any naval establishment (other than for pumping water). A number of metal roofs, built over shipbuilding slips at Woolwich in the 1840s and 1850s, were dismantled after the Yard closed and rebuilt at Chatham to house various manufacturing processes: The Dockyard Church, designed by George Gilbert Scott and dating from 1856 to 1858, had formerly stood just inside
13221-424: Was now considered too small (the new ponds and mast houses could accommodate mast lengths of up to 120 feet (37 m)); the old pond, together with its associated buildings, was now given over to the construction and storage of ship's boats . Centrally positioned in the expanded yard, a new clock house was built, containing offices for the various departments of the dockyard, and with it a new main gateway (replacing
13338-569: Was taken over by the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers . In 1926 the western part of the site was sold to the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society ; the Co-Op still occupies a number of buildings on the site. The older, eastern portion of the site remained in Ministry of Defence hands, used for storage, workshops and offices, until the closure of the Royal Arsenal in the 1960s. (The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers , one of
13455-405: Was the biggest retailer throughout the first half of the century. It became even bigger in 1940, when it opened an ultra modern department store across the road from its existing Central Stores. This part of the street had always lagged behind a bit, but became a lot busier after two huge cinemas were built at its western extremity, but not before the road had been widened (1933–34). The freehold of
13572-410: Was to walk 1 mile (1.6 km) every hour for 1000 hours, which he achieved between 1 June and 12 July 1809. This feat captured many people's imagination, and around 10,000 people came to watch over the course of the event. During the rest of the 19th century, many people tried to repeat this feat, including Ada Anderson who developed it further and walked a half-mile (800 m) each quarter-hour over
13689-684: Was used as a garrison chapel by the infantry quartered nearby in Cambridge Barracks . From 1878 part of the Dockyard was given over for the Commissariat Reserve Stores; over the next decade it became the main supply depot providing food and forage for overseas garrisons and expeditionary forces . During the Sudan Campaign a very large forage store was built on the site, with hydraulic equipment for compressing and bailing hay. Briefly, from September 1888,
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