Bathway Quarter
Bathway Quarter is an area of historic interest in the centre of Woolwich, South East London.
Several were designed by local architect Henry Hudson Church, their civic use reflected in their grand elevations formed of red brick with stone detailing.
Concerted development of the area did not begin until after 1799, when the Powis brothers, Greenwich brewers, took a 99-year lease of the land from the Bowater estate.
Around the same time, the Board of Ordnance formed Wellington Street to improve road links between the military developments at Woolwich Common and the Royal Arsenal.
[3][4] The most ambitious private development in this area was the Grand Theatre, built after a design by Bertie Crewe and opened by Sir Henry Irving in 1900 .
Between 1898 and 1965 the institute went through a period of expansion, gradually occupying virtually the eastern half of the Bathway Quarter, with major building campaigns in the 1930s and 1960s.
The Polytechnic buildings were acquired by Powis Street Estates Ltd. in 2003 and renamed Island Business Centre with mixed commercial and educational use.
[9] In order to achieve this, Greenwich Council aims to strengthen Woolwich' historic town function as a major employment, shopping and leisure centre, as well as improving the design of its buildings, streets and open spaces.
[12] In May 2019, the Bathway Quarter became part of the Woolwich Conservation Area, including also Beresford Square, Greens End, General Gordon Square, parts of Woolwich New Road (including St Peter's Roman Catholic Church), Powis Street, Hare Street, Mortgramit Square, parts of Woolwich High Street (south) and St Mary's Church and Gardens.
[13] Most of the civic buildings in the area are no longer in use as such, with the exception of the town hall which has spilled over across the road (The Woolwich Centre, 2013).
In 2016, a plan was presented for the redevelopment of the so-called Island Site, the eastern section of the Bathway Quarter.
The south side of Wellington Street, with the new Public Library and council offices, is not part of the Bathway Quarter.
The south side of this street is dominated by the Victorian brick and Portland stone façade of the Woolwich Public Baths (H.H.
The library closed in 2011 and was relocated consequently at The Woolwich Centre, opposite the town hall on Wellington Street.
The plinth of red Aberdeen granite contains a commemoration stone with a dedication and the names of the Woolwich Board of Health, which helped establishing the library.
Further east and slightly set back, a large detached house from 1808 was owned by the architect Henry Hudson Church who enlarged it in 1860.
The Italianate clock tower near the Wellington Street corner rises up 40 meters and has rich ornaments in white stone.
The façade of the former Magistrates' Court (John Dixon Butler, 1911–12, now a residential building) takes up the northwestern section of the street.
Butler, 1909–10) and a row of early Victorian houses are included in the Bathway Quarter conservation area.
[17] A tapering square brick chimney (25 m tall) towers over the former wash house and laundry of the Woolwich Public Baths.
Church, 1898), and the Brutalist L-shaped building that continues on Wellington Street (various architects, led by George Trevett, 1962–63).
The latter building will be demolished in the Island Site plans, while the Art and Science School is to be adapted for residential use; its entrance opposite Bathway will give access to the future entertainment area inside the block.
The Earl of Chatham public house was begun around 1805 by the Powis brothers, who were brewers themselves, but rebuilt in 1898, probably after a design by Church.
The grand building in Portland stone with a full-height circular hall lit by a domical lantern, was ceremonially opened in June 1917, in the middle of war.
