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| St Mary's Garden |
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A public garden made from churchyard of St Mary Magdalene and opened in 1894. There has been a church since the time of the Domesday Book in 1086. It was rebuilt in 1727-39 when the 12th century church was in danger of falling into the Thames. Woolwich became a riverside fishing village in the Middle Ages, the name coming from 'wul wic', a wool landing place, and became prominent when the Royal Dockyard was established nearby by Henry VIII. Industry developed from the early 17th century with glassworks and then the Arsenal from the late 17th century. It began to develop up the hill after the military were established at Woolwich Common in the late 18th century. Closure of the Dockyard in 1869 led to unemployment in the area. Monuments in the church show the parish connections with the army and navy.. Monuments in the churchyard include a plain sarcophagus for Mrs Maudslay, wife of an inventor and manufacturer, and also a memorial north-east of the church to Thomas Cribb (d.1848) a famous bare knuckle boxer once Champion of England, his memorial has a lion with its paw on an urn inscribed with the words 'Respect the ashes of the dead'. |
