Description
Plumstead, so-named for being a good area for fruit growing, grew into a fishing village and later the growing population included workers from the nearby Royal Arsenal. The C12th St Nicholas Church was much added to and restored, having fallen into ruins on 2 occasions in the C17th and C19th. To serve the larger population further land for burial was purchased in 1860 and there were over 40,000 burials here, among them veterans of the Royal Artillery and Engineers. The churchyard was later closed for burials and gravestones cleared largely to the perimeter although one monuments remains near the church. Part of the churchyard was later laid out as the adjacent public garden.
Practical Information
| Previously known as | Plumstead Parish Church |
|---|---|
| Site location | St Nicholas Road/Church Manorway, Plumstead |
| Postcode | SE18 |
| What3Words | ///when.sweep.sums |
| Type of Site | Churchyard |
| Borough | Greenwich |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | unrestricted |
| Public Transport | Rail: Plumstead then bus. Bus: 96, 99, 177, 180 |
| Research Updated | 1 December 2006 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
St Nicholas was a medieval church, and the parish may have dated from as early as 960 AD. The church was much added to and restored over the years, the west and south walls of the south aisle dating from C12th, the transept from the C13th, and the north aisle from the C15th. By 1662 the church had been in a bad state of repair for some 20 years and was rescued from ruin by a wealthy local farmer, John Gossage, who built the tower in 1664. By the beginning of the C19th it was again in ruins, roofless and with trees growing from the aisles. It was later restored in 1867 by Charles Cooke and in 1907 it was enlarged by Greenaway and Newberry. Damaged in WWII, St Nicholas was repaired in 1959. Plumstead had been a good area for fruit growing, and its name comes from 'plume stede', meaning plum tree place. It then grew into a fishing village and later workers from the nearby Royal Arsenal made up a large proportion of the growing population in the C19th.
Among those buried in the churchyard was Thomas Winn (d.1800), who owned land in the area and whose name is recalled in Winn's Common (q.v.), and Daniel Cambridge, VC, who died on 8 September 1855. To serve the larger population further land for burial was purchased in 1860 and by the time the churchyard was closed there had been over 40,000 burials, including veterans of the Royal Artillery and Engineers. When the churchyard was closed for burials the gravestones were largely cleared to the perimeter. The land around the church is largely grassed with a sinuous path sunk below the level of the grass with rose beds either side from the entrance gate. One lonely monument remains in the grass.
The main area of former churchyard is adjacent to the south, laid out as public gardens in 1955 and named St Nicholas Gardens (q.v.).
Among those buried in the churchyard was Thomas Winn (d.1800), who owned land in the area and whose name is recalled in Winn's Common (q.v.), and Daniel Cambridge, VC, who died on 8 September 1855. To serve the larger population further land for burial was purchased in 1860 and by the time the churchyard was closed there had been over 40,000 burials, including veterans of the Royal Artillery and Engineers. When the churchyard was closed for burials the gravestones were largely cleared to the perimeter. The land around the church is largely grassed with a sinuous path sunk below the level of the grass with rose beds either side from the entrance gate. One lonely monument remains in the grass.
The main area of former churchyard is adjacent to the south, laid out as public gardens in 1955 and named St Nicholas Gardens (q.v.).
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ459785 |
|---|---|
| Site Ownership | St Nicholas Church PCC |
| Site Management | LB Greenwich, Parks and Open Space Department |
| Dates | medieval, 1860 |
| Listed Structures | LBII*: St Nicholas Church |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | No |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | Greenwich |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | Not known |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
| Other LA Designation | Community Open Space; Area of Archaeological Potential |
Gallery
Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.
Nearby parks and gardens
This was once part of the former churchyard of the parish church of St Nicholas. Plumstead, so-named for being a good area for fruit growing, became a fishing village and later its growing population included workers from the nearby Royal Arsenal. To serve the larger population further land for burial was purchased in 1860 and there were over 40,000 burials here, among them veterans of the Royal Artillery and Engineers; an unmarked grave is that of Daniel Cambridge, VC. In 1955, following its closure for burial, the churchyard south of the church was laid out as ornamental public gardens and gravestones were cleared largely to the perimeter.
Plumstead Gardens is a small public park created after WWII. It was originally laid out as an ornamental garden with a notable area of formal hard landscaping comprising a raised terrace and central bay on an axis with an ornate sunken formal garden. The formal ponds were later drained and some of the stonework damaged, and this area has now been infilled. The park had a number of facilities, including a paddling pool and roller skating rink in the 1960s, with the BMX track added in the early 1970s.
The site that is now Bostall Gardens was acquired by the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich in 1938. After WWII it was decided to develop the area as a public garden, which was laid out and opened in 1952. In 1960 a bowling green and pavilion were added and the sloping land laid out as a series of terraces. In 2004 the old bowls pavilion was extensively refurbished, and a new children's playground and a young people's basketball court were opened on the site of the old bowling green.