Heritage Statement

HERITAGE STATEMENT 122B PLUMSTEAD COMMON ROAD, PLUMSTEAD LONDON, SE18 2UL 20/3964/HD DECEMBER 2020 Executive Summary This report outlines the character and appearance of 122B Plumstead Common road, Greenwich. This Heritage consideration notes the site location which highlights the rich background with historical maps. There is no adverse effect to the proposal to fix a kitchen extract at the rear of No.122B. This minor alteration to the rear of the existing development site would not harm the conservation nature in any way due to its being at the back and secluded position and also not visible to the general public. This report offers a brief glimpse of this site’s/Plumstead road origin, springing from historic maps (courtesy of Digimap and Nimbus Map/Royal Borough of Greenwich conservation area/history). The building has always maintained its original use until its later change into retail use (Kims Fish N Chips) on the ground floor facing the main Plumstead Common road. The continues use of this building will not deviate from the previous however the introduction of a means of extract ventilation will be to reduce condensation and remove smells during operation It will continue to offer the delivery of specialized local and international cuisine which is currently absent from the array of local shop along the main road. 1.0 Background. This part of Plumstead Common Road lies on the edge of the Plumstead Common Conservation Area. This area of Plumstead Common Road is composed mainly of terraced properties with retail at the ground floor and residential (flats) on the upper storeys, consisting of two storeys. While he northern side of the road is lined with attractive, yet modest mid-Victorian terraced houses. 1.1 The Site, Location and Setting. Plumstead Common was first mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 ("Plumstede"). The name refers to a place where plums grow. In the 19th century more and more common land was sold off to build houses for the growing workforce at Royal Arsenal. Plumstead Common Road is an old road which dates back at least to the Georgian era, although the High Street itself emerged from a Medieval settlement, Plumstead Common was landscaped from 1903 and today is a large expanse of heathland and grassland, in addition to more formally laid out areas. Some earlier features, such as the Edwardian bandstand, no longer exist. The emergence of Plumstead Common road date back form 18th century and further in the 19th century historic map of Greenwich in section 1.2 The application building is a two-storey flat roofed residential dwelling (1st floor) and a retail unit on the ground floor. The property is flanked both on the left and right by a row of two storey residential and commercial buildings respectively. The property is also surrounded on the opposite by array of commercial/residential dwellings. The is a local bus stop directly opposite 122B Plumstead Common Road servicing Plumstead and Woolwich communities. The rear of it on Wernbrook Road are also residential properties. 1.2. Historic Maps. The Benedictine ownership of the Common continued until 1539 when the Abbey and its land, including the Common, was seized by Henry VIII and given to the Boughton family. In 1685 the Boughtons' sold the Common to a John Michel of Richmond who, in turn, passed it on to Queens College Oxford by his will of 1736, for the maintenance of eight fellows and four scholars. Winn’s Common is named for Thomas Winn, a local landowner who built almshouses for poor widows on the Common – on the site where the Workhouse was later built. Winn died in 1800 and is buried in St Nicholas’ Church. This property is not Listed however, it lies on the edge of the southern boundary of the Plumstead Common Conservation Area in Greenwich. The 18th century map (01) shows the rural nature at that time. There were once orchards in the area as the land was good for growing fruit as well as grazing and as a consequence the village of Plumstead prospered. The eastern part of Plumstead Common is locally called Winns Common, an area purportedly settled by ancient Britons. Development accelerated in the 19th century and encroachments of the common land took place to the increasing concern of local people. In 1874 the Lord of the Manor gave permission to the military to use the Common and then proposed leasing it on a permanent basis. This was actively opposed and in 1877 Plumstead and Winns Commons were purchased by the MBW to preserve them for public open space. In 1890, historian and local author W.T. Vincent reproduced an early Georgian map c. 1720, in sketch form. The later 1778 colour Hasted map to illustrate the Church and Parsonage of St. Nicholas which was an important local landmark. Vincent wrote that in the 18th century that just seven houses lined Plumstead Common Road which was called “Dishwasher Lane” Map 1 - Plumstead Common & Village in 1800 - extract Map 2 - 1799 Ordnance Survey Department drawings from 1778 Hasted map of Little and Lesnes Hundred preparatory to first edition 1801 one-inch map. The 1801 Census shows the population of Plumstead numbered 1,166, most of whom lived in or close to the village. The original Ordnance Survey mapping of England commenced with the Kent survey in 1891 – which was the area the Woolwich Ordnance factory was situated in. The first one-inch map published was of Kent and was published in 1801. The following map extract is copied from the 1799 larger-scale preparatory drawings for this map. Plumstead Common has a shape and boundaries remarkably similar to today, with several later encroachments such as St Johns Terrace un-built but already enclosed. There are numerous orchards and fields and three named buildings: Old Park Farm, St Nicholas’ Church and the 1793 Brambleberry House (later to become St Margaret’s Vicarage). Other buildings marked include the Manor House (on Wickham Lane), the 1764 Old Mill, two buildings near the Links, the Plume of Feathers, and a sprinkling of houses along Plumstead High Street. 2.0 The 18th Century Historic Relevance. This London Borough of Woolwich 1st Edition historic map above shows how rural Plumstead Common was at this date (c.1867). Large tracts of land, fields and treed open green spaces abound. Plum Lane is evident on the western edge of the Common and the only real housing noticeable lines Plumstead Common Road. The Royal Borough of Greenwich Conservation Area Appraisal (CAA) notes that: “A visitor arriving at the Common in the 18th century or the early 19th century could not have avoided seeing the Common in its historic relationship with St Nicholas Church or the emerging developments on the Plum Lane, and around the Vicarage.” The following areas and structures relate to the Common spatially and/or historically [including] i “Plum Lane Area, the attractive old Victorian cottages on the lower and older part of the historic winding lane rising steeply toward Shooters Hill.” Map 3 – 18TH Century Plumstead map Map 4 – 18th Century Plumstead map 2.1 - A Victorian Outgrowth This place where the plum trees grew was first recorded around 970 as Plumstede. It is possible that the Romans planted orchards here on an agricultural scale. The present St Nicholas’ Church was built in the 12th century and given an incongruous tower in the early 1660s. The village was of little consequence at this time and remained so until the early 19th century, with scattered farms and minor country houses and a high street that stretched thinly towards Woolwich. The largest landowner was the Pattison family of Burrage House, which lay on the western slope of Plumstead Common. The Pattisons sold a sandpit as the site for Woolwich Arsenal station, which opened in 1849 and brought the first growth to west Plumstead. Keen to profit further from their property, the family sold Burrage House too, which was demolished so that the railway could be extended onwards into Kent. To the south of the railway, Burrage Road was laid out and the first terraces of Burrage Town were built on Sandy Hill Road for workers at Woolwich Arsenal. Superior houses meanwhile began to appear on Plumstead Common Road. Almost all the rest of the district was covered with housing and attendant amenities before the end of the 19th century. Former chalk mines west of Wickham Lane were built over in the early By the early 20th-century, there had been 20th century, but some properties later intensive urban development all around the collapsed and the London County Council had boundary of the Common, so that it entirely lost to fill the mines with fly ash to prevent its rural appearance, except for this iconic open further subsidence. green space itself. 3.0 – Conservation Belt and the early 20th Century Map 5 – Plumstead Conservation Map The R.B. Greenwich Plumstead Common Conservation Area Appraisal states: [pg. 1] “The Plumstead Common Conservation Area was designated to protect and enhance an area of ancient Common Land together with those Victorian houses and other buildings on its rim which contribute to its setting. This area has substantial historic interest.” [page 4] “...in the 20th century development pressures have continued and resulted in some visually unfortunate housing … This Conservation Area has seen a large number of undesirable changes to buildings, especially rendering and painting of front elevations and replacement UPVc windows. Most of these changes have taken place without the need for planning control because of permitted development rights.” [CAA pg.17] The R.B. Greenwich Conservation Area map above shows that the application site lies between the Admaston road and Plum Lane facing the Plumstead Common road.

Load more