St Mary's Gardens

St Mary's Gardens were laid out on the former churchyard of the Woolwich parish church of St Mary Magdalene. The churchyard was closed for burials in 1865, having become full, and became overgrown and neglected. In 1894 it was laid out by the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association and was opened as Woolwich Gardens by the Duchess of Fife in May 1895. A drinking fountain was erected in 1900 and funds for its maintenance were provided by John Passmore Edwards, an important benefactor and philanthropist. A church here is recorded from the time of the Domesday Book in 1086. The C12th church, which was dedicated to St Lawrence, was rebuilt in 1727-39 under the Fifty New Churches Act of 1711 after a petition presented by parishioners when the old church, which was nearer to the river, was in danger of falling into the Thames, the church spire having collapsed. Building of the new church, a large stock brick structure, commenced in 1727 but money had run out by 1731 and a second petition was then made to the Commissioners to cover the additional costs. St Lawrence's Church was completed in 1739 costing £6,328. The church was rededicated to St Mary Magdalene on 25 June 1825 by the Bishop of Oxford. The church was enlarged in 1884 and the chancel was added in 1893/4. Further restoration took place in 1961 when the daughter church of Holy Trinity in Beresford Square was sold to the local authority, providing funds to the restoration of St Mary. At that time the large crucifix was re-located outside the west door. Interior galleries and an aisle were also closed in 1961 for offices and a café, so that the church could be used for community activities as well as for services.

Woolwich became a riverside fishing village in the Middle Ages, the name coming from 'wul wic', a wool landing place, and it became prominent when the Royal Dockyard was established nearby by Henry VIII in 1512. Industry developed here from the early C17th with glassworks and then the Royal Arsenal from the late C17th. The town began to develop up the hill after the military were established at Woolwich Common (q.v.) in the late C18th, with New Road laid out in 1790 and Powis Street in 1800. Closure of the Dockyard in 1869 led to unemployment in the area. Monuments in the church show the parish connections with the army and navy, and at one time a semaphore was on top of the church tower. Due to its past importance as a navigation aid, St Mary's is still entitled to fly the Red Ensign from its flagpole on ceremonial occasions. Monuments include a plain sarcophagus for Mrs Maudslay, wife of an inventor and manufacturer, and also a memorial north-east of the church erected by public subscription to Greenwich resident Thomas Cribb (d.1848). He was a famous bare knuckle boxer, once Champion of England, and his memorial has a lion with its paw on an urn inscribed with the words 'Respect the ashes of the dead'. Inside the church is a stained glass window that commemorates those who died in the 'Princess Alice' disaster of 3 September 1878, when the pleasure steamer collided with the collier steamer 'Bywell Castle'. Of the 700 people on board only 69 survived, poisoned rather than drowned due to the polluted state of the Thames. As a result of the disaster improvements were brought in for both rules of navigation and for sewage treatment.

When the churchyard was laid out as a public garden, the gravestones were cleared and largely moved to the perimeter. The retaining wall and slopes between Woolwich High Street and the gardens date from 1966 when new terminals were built for the Woolwich Ferry; during these works a plaque pit was discovered as well as lead coffins. Further landscaping took place in the gardens around this time when most of the remaining memorials were moved apart from a few, such as that to Tom Crib. Until the late 1980s bedding plants were grown in a glasshouse in the staff yard and on what is now lawn behind the New Wine Church. The landscaping in the garden today includes a lime walk, shrubbery beds and floral displays and one of the flowerbeds is designed with a nautical theme. Trees in the gardens include silver birch, lime, maple and London plane trees, and also an Indian bean tree (Catalpa bignonioides), and a weeping willow, the latter unusual given that the site is on a hill. The sloping site has winding paths and there are good views over the river, with a small separate landscaped area, divided from the main garden by a path, with mature trees and seating overlooking the river.