The Westminster Estate, the area between the Thames Barrier and Warspite Road, has at times been referred to as part of New Charlton.

[1] Industrial development on the flat land adjoining the Thames at Charlton Riverside began in the middle of the 19th century, especially after the opening of a private railway branch line to Angerstein Wharf in 1852.

A notable establishment was the Siemens Brothers Telegraph Works opened in 1863 (although the factory was largely in Woolwich).

The company manufactured two new transatlantic cables in the 1880s,[3] and contributed to the PLUTO project in World War II.

Regeneration of the area is now focused on the Charlton Riverside Masterplan agreed by the Royal Borough of Greenwich in April 2012 and updated in February 2017.

The masterplan envisages a series of new neighbourhoods with medium-rise housing and a significant proportion of family homes.

Sainsbury's also has a large distribution centre in New Charlton; it was rebuilt and expanded in 2012 and re-opened by deputy prime minister Nick Clegg in 2013.

There is only one functioning public house in the area, the Anchor & Hope, with an outdoor café overlooking the Thames.