View report page

11
SOCIAL CONDITIONS
The Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich comprises three
districts viz., Greenwich, Charlton and Kidbrooke and St. Nicholas,
Deptford, all of which are now united into one civil parish.
There is evidence that Greenwich has been an inhabited place
for perhaps 2,000 years. In Latin it was described as Grenovicum
viridis sinus a viridariis and in Saxon Grenawic, i.e., the Green
Town or dwelling upon the bank of the river. Saxon burial mounds
and barrows dating from the 6th century are still to be seen in
Greenwich Park and recovered coins and fragments of pottery show
an almost continuous Roman settlement from 41 B.C. to 423 A.D.
However, as late as the reign of Henry V, Greenwich was mainly a
fishing town but nevertheless the river here afforded an excellent
safe road for shipping. So much so that, in the time of King
Ethelred (1011 A.D.) the whole Danish Fleet lay off Greenwich for
three or four years whilst the army was for the most part encamped
on Blackheath. This army ravaged the whole country and sacked
the City of Canterbury from whence they brought Archbishop
Alfege to his martyrdom at Greenwich.
In 1738, in a road book of the British Isles, this description was
given : " Greenwich on the Thames, 4 miles east of London Bridge,
a very delightful place." It can still lay claim to that title.
Greenwich lies mainly on a natural slope from the Thames to
Blackheath and it thereby affords extensive views of London and
the river and it is to this fact, coupled with its historical connection
with royalty, that it owes its fascination.
The sub-soil of the greater portion of the Borough consists of
gravel and sand, the exception being in the Kidbrooke area which
is mainly clay.
The altitude varies from a few feet below high-water mark on
the Marshes up to 249 ft. above sea level on the Shooter's Hill
Road by the Borough boundary.
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
forms the southern boundary, 89 acres of which are within the
Borough, providing unsurpassed facilities for games, sports and
amusements. In all, public open spaces amount to 11% of the
total area of the Borough, equivalent to approximately 5 acres per
1,000 of its population.