A HISTORY OF BALLAST QUAY
Detail of Ballast Quay 1705 (possibly commissioned by Nicholas Hawksmoor)
From the book Greenwich Revealed by Neil Rhind and Julian Watson
Courtesy of the authors and the Pembroke Archive, Wilton House
From the book Greenwich Revealed by Neil Rhind and Julian Watson
Courtesy of the authors and the Pembroke Archive, Wilton House
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Click on images to enlarge
Rocque’s Map of London 1741-1745
This detail shows a largely undeveloped riverside between Anchor Iron Wharf and a building on the Marsh marked as the Gunpowder Magazine 
A view of Greenwich Hospital c.1828 by H.Gastineau
Ballast Quay, little more than a shingle beach, can be seen in the middle ground. © The British Museum, London 
Greenwich Hospital by J. D. Harding 1836
A view of the Royal Hospital at Greenwich from the marshes. Cranes on Anchor Iron Wharf and houses on Ballast Quay are visible in the middle ground. © The British Museum, London |
Before it was drained and became the lucrative industrialised river frontage of the 19th century, the Greenwich Peninsula was marshland and was leased to farmers as meadowland for grazing cattle and horses and for the growing of small willows or osiers for basket making and lobster cages.
Cottage on Greenwich Marsh c.1840 Greenwich Hospital beyond
watercolour by Ralph Willet Lucas © Royal Borough of Greenwich 
View of Ballast Quay c.1662
A gate, described as "a wicket with lock and key", marked the western boundary of the Greenwich Marsh and Ballast Quay and is shown on plans attached to Morden College leases. 
Darton’s map 1817
A detail showing that the substantial area of the Greenwich Marshes on the Peninsula had hardly changed since Rocque's survey in the mid-18th century . The recognisable shape of Anchor Iron Wharf is clearly identifiable, as are buildings on Ballast Quay. © Mapco Historian Julian Watson recounts the history of Ballast Quay in East Greenwich, from the 10th century ownership of the land by the Abbey of St Peter in Ghent, Flanders, to the 19th century industrialisation of the marshland and the post-industrial regeneration of the former wharves which formed the backdrop to the Georgian and Victorian houses of Ballast Quay.
Etching of Union Wharf Garden Courtesy of Annette Johnson |
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See also
Historian Mary Mills describes the history of the East Greenwich Peninsula from rural marshland to its industrialisation in the 19th century. Her book on the Greenwich Peninsula Greenwich Marsh - 300 Years before the Dome is available to read online, as is a comprehensive Greenwich Peninsula History. See also the excellent Greenwich Industrial History site: http://greenwichindustrialhistory.blogspot.co.uk/ |
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