Greenhithe
Encyclopedia
Greenhithe is a town
in Dartford
District of Kent
, England
. It forms part of the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe
.
Greenhithe, as it is spelled today, is located where it was possible to build wharves for transshipping corn, wood and other commodities; its largest cargoes were of chalk
and lime
which were needed for agricultural purposes. This led in turn to the development of the cement
industry at nearby Swanscombe
, although Greenhithe itself enjoyed a brief period of popularity during Victorian
times as a tourist
resort; Greenhithe Pier was built in 1842 but does not survive.
and Watling Street (the London, Dover Road) and it being a suitable landing place for ships. In Roman times known as Gretenrsce, and by 1363 Grenehuth, it appears in the 1778 'History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent' :
"Here there are several wharves for the landing and shipping of corn, wood, and other commodities, but the greatest traffic arises from the chalk and lime, from the chalk pits, the range of which continues with small intermission from Stone to Gravesend
, within a very short distance of the shore. Hence not only the City of London, but the adjacent counties, and even those of Suffolk and Norfolk are supplied with this commodity".
The Ingress Estate was a seat in the hamlet of Greenhithe. In 1363 the manor was endowed upon the Prioress and Abbey of the Dominican Sisters in Dartford by Edward III (1307–1377).
Legend has it that at the time of the Dissolution of the monasteries the Abbess of Dartford put a curse on Henry VIII and all his male descendants, for confiscating their property (the cash was used to finance Henry's wars). This curse was to pass to all future owners of the estate, to the effect that no male heir should ever live to inherit the estate.
Henry VIII
kept the site and rebuilt a country retreat for himself that he used as a stop when travelling to the coast and in 1540 made Sir Richard Long, kt., keeper of the same, with wages of 8d. a day. In 1548 the king, in consideration of the compulsory surrender of certain lands in Surrey, granted to Anne of Cleves
the priory and manor of Dartford.
After Henry's death, seven of the nuns who had already been permitted by Queen Mary
to re-establish the conventual observance at King's Langley, with Elizabeth Cressener as prioress, were permitted to return to Dartford
. However in 1559 visitors from the Privy Council came to Dartford and tendered the oaths of supremacy and uniformity, first to the provincial prior, and then to each of the nuns separately. All refused to take it, whereupon the visitors sold the goods of the convent at a very low rate, paid the debts of the house, divided what little remained among the sisters, and ordered them to leave within twenty-four hours. The band of Dominican exiles, consisting of two priests, the prioress, four choir-nuns, and four lay sisters, and a young girl not yet professed, joined the nuns of Syon House and crossed to the Netherlands. Queen Elizabeth granted the estate to Edward Darbyshire and John Bere, who purchased much of the lands of Dartford Priory made available by the dissolution of the monasteries.
The estate then passed to Jones, then Whaley, Thomas Holloway, Shires; then in 1649 the mansion house, manor, farm, lands belonging to it, chalk cliffs, lime kiln, wharf, salt and fresh marshes passed to Captain Edward Brent of Southwark for £1122. It was sold in 1748 to William Viscount Duncannon, who on his father's death succeeded him as Earl of Besborough and Baron Ponsonby of Sysonby. He lived at Ingress with his wife Carolina, eldest daughter of William Duke of Devonshire. He greatly improved the seat and reputedly commissioned Capability Brown to landscape the grounds (though evidence for this is lacking). In 1760 Carolina died here after losing several children and it was sold to John Calcraft, MP for Rochester.
Whilst under the ownership of William Haverlock, and as a result of the war with Napoleon's France, plans were drawn up for a large dockyard to be built from Northfleet to Greenhithe, including the Ingress estate. The manor house was demolished but then the plan was dropped, leaving the estate without a house.
In 1820, wealthy barrister James Harman purchased the land and in 1833 built his Elizabethan style mansion, Ingress Abbey, on the banks of the Thames. He provided his architect, Charles Moreing, with £120,000 for the construction of follies, grottoes and hermit's caves. In the 1880s the Shah of Persia sailed up the Thames, noting: "The only thing worth mentioning was at Greenhithe where there was a mansion standing amid trees on a green carpet extending down to the water's edge."
By the early 20th century, Harman's descendants had sold off a large part of the grounds for development into the sprawling Empire Paper Mills. The rest of the gardens was left to go to seed and the house was allowed to fall into decay.
In the middle of the last century the need for pre-sea training was recognised for potential officers in the Royal and Merchant Navy. This led a group of London shipowners to found the 'Thames Nautical Training College' in 1862. The Admiralty was approached for a ship and allocated the 'two-decker' HMS Worcester
. At the time the Royal Navy was starting to replace their fleet of 'wooden walls' with iron clad vessels and they had a surplus of such vessels, including the 1473 ton 50 gun 'Worcester'. She had various berths before finally moving in 1871 to what became a base forever associated with the 'Worcester' - the village of Greenhithe where successive ships remained until the 1970s.
The clipper 'Cutty Sark
' was given to the College in 1938, and was used as a 'boating station' moored off the Greenhithe estate coupled with thoughts of a possible shore building to house the College. However during the war years, the College was evacuated to nearby Foots Cray Place. The 'Worcester' was used as a training base by the Royal Navy and by 1945 was in a very poor condition, had lost most of her masts and was only kept afloat by a large salvage pump. Happily, after the war, a replacement ship was found in the form of the 'Exmouth', which became the third and last 'Worcester'. She was an unusual vessel, since she was built in 1904 of steel and iron especially for nautical training and had many improvements over the converted hulks previously used.
As a result of the acquisition of the fine new ship, the role of the 'Cutty Sark' diminished, and with the approval of the original donor, Mrs Dowman, she was given to the nation through the National Maritime Museum
. After restoration, she was moved to a permanent dry-dock at Greenwich.
The College closed in 1968 and the last 'Worcester' was broken up a few years later. The village of Greenhithe has many 'Worcester' memories such as the sign at the waterside pub, and the streets named after 'Worcester' personalities.
At the end of the 20th century a new life was breathed into the area and with the agreement to build new properties on the estate Crest passed the challenge for repairing the house to PJ Livesey Group. After a £6m investment a great house sits again amidst the splendour
Greenhithe's position on the river is now of less importance: its proximity to the M25 motorway
, the new High Speed 1 Ebbsfleet International
and the Bluewater complex has altered that. The whole area is being redeveloped as part of the Thames Gateway
regeneration. It is anticipated that Greenhithe will attract more affluent and upwardly mobile residents because of the proximity to the enormous shopping complex. This is reflected in increased property valuations, and an increasingly "gentrified" feel to the immediate area.
However, many current residents deride Greenhithe for its lack of amenities - Bluewater, the supermarket, and Greenhithe railway station
aside, there is little in the area apart from housing and it is hoped that the Thames Gateway project will address this (large housing developments - particularly Ingress Park, Waterstone Park - and industrial estates almost completely surround the former hamlet).
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in Dartford
Dartford (borough)
Dartford is the name given to a local government district and borough in north west Kent, England, which takes its name from its administrative capital. It borders Thurrock, to the north across the River Thames; to the west lies the London Borough of Bexley; to the south Sevenoaks district; and the...
District of Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It forms part of the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe
Swanscombe and Greenhithe
Swanscombe and Greenhithe is a civil parish in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England. The two villages which give the parish its name are both located on the south bank of the River Thames, approximately midway between Dartford town and Gravesend....
.
Greenhithe, as it is spelled today, is located where it was possible to build wharves for transshipping corn, wood and other commodities; its largest cargoes were of chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
and lime
Lime (mineral)
Lime is a general term for calcium-containing inorganic materials, in which carbonates, oxides and hydroxides predominate. Strictly speaking, lime is calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide. It is also the name for a single mineral of the CaO composition, occurring very rarely...
which were needed for agricultural purposes. This led in turn to the development of the cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
industry at nearby Swanscombe
Swanscombe
Swanscombe is a small town, part of the Borough of Dartford on the north Kent coast in England. It is part of the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe.-Prehistory:...
, although Greenhithe itself enjoyed a brief period of popularity during Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
times as a tourist
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
resort; Greenhithe Pier was built in 1842 but does not survive.
History
The history of Greenhithe owes a great deal to its situation between the River ThamesRiver Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
and Watling Street (the London, Dover Road) and it being a suitable landing place for ships. In Roman times known as Gretenrsce, and by 1363 Grenehuth, it appears in the 1778 'History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent' :
"Here there are several wharves for the landing and shipping of corn, wood, and other commodities, but the greatest traffic arises from the chalk and lime, from the chalk pits, the range of which continues with small intermission from Stone to Gravesend
Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...
, within a very short distance of the shore. Hence not only the City of London, but the adjacent counties, and even those of Suffolk and Norfolk are supplied with this commodity".
The Ingress Estate was a seat in the hamlet of Greenhithe. In 1363 the manor was endowed upon the Prioress and Abbey of the Dominican Sisters in Dartford by Edward III (1307–1377).
Legend has it that at the time of the Dissolution of the monasteries the Abbess of Dartford put a curse on Henry VIII and all his male descendants, for confiscating their property (the cash was used to finance Henry's wars). This curse was to pass to all future owners of the estate, to the effect that no male heir should ever live to inherit the estate.
Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
kept the site and rebuilt a country retreat for himself that he used as a stop when travelling to the coast and in 1540 made Sir Richard Long, kt., keeper of the same, with wages of 8d. a day. In 1548 the king, in consideration of the compulsory surrender of certain lands in Surrey, granted to Anne of Cleves
Anne of Cleves
Anne of Cleves was a German noblewoman and the fourth wife of Henry VIII of England and as such she was Queen of England from 6 January 1540 to 9 July 1540. The marriage was never consummated, and she was not crowned queen consort...
the priory and manor of Dartford.
After Henry's death, seven of the nuns who had already been permitted by Queen Mary
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
to re-establish the conventual observance at King's Langley, with Elizabeth Cressener as prioress, were permitted to return to Dartford
Dartford
Dartford is the principal town in the borough of Dartford. It is situated in the northwest corner of Kent, England, east south-east of central London....
. However in 1559 visitors from the Privy Council came to Dartford and tendered the oaths of supremacy and uniformity, first to the provincial prior, and then to each of the nuns separately. All refused to take it, whereupon the visitors sold the goods of the convent at a very low rate, paid the debts of the house, divided what little remained among the sisters, and ordered them to leave within twenty-four hours. The band of Dominican exiles, consisting of two priests, the prioress, four choir-nuns, and four lay sisters, and a young girl not yet professed, joined the nuns of Syon House and crossed to the Netherlands. Queen Elizabeth granted the estate to Edward Darbyshire and John Bere, who purchased much of the lands of Dartford Priory made available by the dissolution of the monasteries.
The estate then passed to Jones, then Whaley, Thomas Holloway, Shires; then in 1649 the mansion house, manor, farm, lands belonging to it, chalk cliffs, lime kiln, wharf, salt and fresh marshes passed to Captain Edward Brent of Southwark for £1122. It was sold in 1748 to William Viscount Duncannon, who on his father's death succeeded him as Earl of Besborough and Baron Ponsonby of Sysonby. He lived at Ingress with his wife Carolina, eldest daughter of William Duke of Devonshire. He greatly improved the seat and reputedly commissioned Capability Brown to landscape the grounds (though evidence for this is lacking). In 1760 Carolina died here after losing several children and it was sold to John Calcraft, MP for Rochester.
Whilst under the ownership of William Haverlock, and as a result of the war with Napoleon's France, plans were drawn up for a large dockyard to be built from Northfleet to Greenhithe, including the Ingress estate. The manor house was demolished but then the plan was dropped, leaving the estate without a house.
In 1820, wealthy barrister James Harman purchased the land and in 1833 built his Elizabethan style mansion, Ingress Abbey, on the banks of the Thames. He provided his architect, Charles Moreing, with £120,000 for the construction of follies, grottoes and hermit's caves. In the 1880s the Shah of Persia sailed up the Thames, noting: "The only thing worth mentioning was at Greenhithe where there was a mansion standing amid trees on a green carpet extending down to the water's edge."
By the early 20th century, Harman's descendants had sold off a large part of the grounds for development into the sprawling Empire Paper Mills. The rest of the gardens was left to go to seed and the house was allowed to fall into decay.
In the middle of the last century the need for pre-sea training was recognised for potential officers in the Royal and Merchant Navy. This led a group of London shipowners to found the 'Thames Nautical Training College' in 1862. The Admiralty was approached for a ship and allocated the 'two-decker' HMS Worcester
HMS Worcester
The Thames Nautical Training College, as it is now called, was, for over a hundred years, situated aboard ships named HMS Worcester.London shipowners, marine insurance underwriters and merchants subscribed to its founding as an institution which would provide trained officers for a sea-going career...
. At the time the Royal Navy was starting to replace their fleet of 'wooden walls' with iron clad vessels and they had a surplus of such vessels, including the 1473 ton 50 gun 'Worcester'. She had various berths before finally moving in 1871 to what became a base forever associated with the 'Worcester' - the village of Greenhithe where successive ships remained until the 1970s.
The clipper 'Cutty Sark
Cutty Sark
The Cutty Sark is a clipper ship. Built in 1869, she served as a merchant vessel , and then as a training ship until being put on public display in 1954...
' was given to the College in 1938, and was used as a 'boating station' moored off the Greenhithe estate coupled with thoughts of a possible shore building to house the College. However during the war years, the College was evacuated to nearby Foots Cray Place. The 'Worcester' was used as a training base by the Royal Navy and by 1945 was in a very poor condition, had lost most of her masts and was only kept afloat by a large salvage pump. Happily, after the war, a replacement ship was found in the form of the 'Exmouth', which became the third and last 'Worcester'. She was an unusual vessel, since she was built in 1904 of steel and iron especially for nautical training and had many improvements over the converted hulks previously used.
As a result of the acquisition of the fine new ship, the role of the 'Cutty Sark' diminished, and with the approval of the original donor, Mrs Dowman, she was given to the nation through the National Maritime Museum
National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,...
. After restoration, she was moved to a permanent dry-dock at Greenwich.
The College closed in 1968 and the last 'Worcester' was broken up a few years later. The village of Greenhithe has many 'Worcester' memories such as the sign at the waterside pub, and the streets named after 'Worcester' personalities.
At the end of the 20th century a new life was breathed into the area and with the agreement to build new properties on the estate Crest passed the challenge for repairing the house to PJ Livesey Group. After a £6m investment a great house sits again amidst the splendour
Greenhithe's position on the river is now of less importance: its proximity to the M25 motorway
M25 motorway
The M25 motorway, or London Orbital, is a orbital motorway that almost encircles Greater London, England, in the United Kingdom. The motorway was first mooted early in the 20th century. A few sections, based on the now abandoned London Ringways plan, were constructed in the early 1970s and it ...
, the new High Speed 1 Ebbsfleet International
Ebbsfleet International railway station
Ebbsfleet International railway station is a railway station in Ebbsfleet Valley, in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, 10 miles outside the eastern boundary of Greater London, England. It is near Dartford and the Bluewater shopping centre to the west and Gravesend to the east. Ebbsfleet International...
and the Bluewater complex has altered that. The whole area is being redeveloped as part of the Thames Gateway
Thames Gateway
The Thames Gateway is an area of land stretching east from inner east London on both sides of the River Thames and the Thames Estuary. The area, which includes much brownfield land, has been designated a national priority for urban regeneration, taking advantage of the development opportunities...
regeneration. It is anticipated that Greenhithe will attract more affluent and upwardly mobile residents because of the proximity to the enormous shopping complex. This is reflected in increased property valuations, and an increasingly "gentrified" feel to the immediate area.
Greenhithe railway station
Greenhithe railway station serves the village of Greenhithe in north Kent and Bluewater Shopping Centre. Train services are operated by Southeastern.-Design:...
aside, there is little in the area apart from housing and it is hoped that the Thames Gateway project will address this (large housing developments - particularly Ingress Park, Waterstone Park - and industrial estates almost completely surround the former hamlet).
External links
- Ingress Park residents forum Local residents forum with information about local services, images, schools, neighbourhood watch, etc.
- The Ingressor Greenhithe Community site and portal with history, local links, forum and galleries
- Greenhithe history includes notes on Ingress Abbey and HMS Worcester
- Ingress Park
- Greenhithe in New Zealand
- History of Ingress Abbey commissioned by the current owner
- Ingress Abbey Photo Album