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20
famous firm, Yarrow's, removed to Scotland for similar reasons.
These movements of industry only tended to aggravate the unemployment
problem.
The 1914-18 War brought a return of many industries to
Greenwich although the post-war period saw the closing of the
Foreign Animals' Wharf (commonly known as the Deptford Cattle
Market), the area being acquired by the Government for a Supply
Reserve Depot. Still later a compensating movement began when
some of the larger buildings and dwelling houses were utilised as
new factories and commercial undertakings.
With the advance of time many old buildings and houses were
demolished and improvements effected. The breaking up of large
estates, especially in the Wostcombe Park area, has led, in the case
of the houses concerned, to many new units of accommodation in
the shape of flats and, in the case of the extensive grounds, to
spacious areas for the erection of houses of the villa type.
In 1925 Charlton House, formerly the seat of the Maryon
Wilsons, was purchased by the Council. This mansion—a splendid
example of Jacobean architecture and now a museum—houses a
Branch Library and forms an integral part of the Community
Council's organisation. The extensive grounds have been used
partly for the development of playing fields but mainly for the
establishment of housing estates.
As a result of the recent War, housing problems have been
accentuated, but in certain instances some benefits have been
derived from the fact that many properties which have been
demolished by enemy action would by now have been unsightly and
particularly difficult problems for the Health Department.
Generally speaking, war-damage was more extensive in the more
densely populated areas situated near the River Thames and
occupied in the main by the industrial classes. It follows, therefore,
that the housing problem tended to be more acute in these districts
than in the upper parts of the Borough. However, the housing
conditions in this congested area, although certainly not solved,
have been somewhat ameliorated in recent years through the transfer
of overcrowded families, under the auspices of the L.C.C. and
the Borough Council, to the Charlton and Kidbrooke districts.
The Greenwich area has always been well furnished with
Schools and Hospitals and in the last 50 years there has been a
general improvement. Latterly, under the new Health, Housing
and Education Acts, there has been extensive reorganisation in
order to provide even better services.
To-day the Borough is well catered for in the way of Parks and
open spaces, the largest being the famous Greenwich Park with its
historical surroundings covering an area of 185 acres. Blackheath