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western corner of the triangle. Eight of the fourteen streets take origin in the High-street, and extend
northwards into the "Reidhaven-road district," the first to be reached of these eight streets in travelling
eastwards along the High-street is Reidhaven-road, and this road, bending twice at right angles in its
course, extends for a considerable distance, indeed to a point situated just about the centre of the
district. The considerations that it is the longest road in the area and the first to be approached in
travelling from west to east probably led to the name "Reidhaven-road district" being given to the
whole group of streets.
To the north of the district extend Plumstead-marshes, and thus the area may be looked upon
as situated upon the boundary of inhabited Plumstead. The, fact however, that it is within a few
minutes walk of the gates of Woolwich Arsenal causes the houses to be in great demand with Arsenal
employes, and it is noteworthy that not a single house in the district is vacant at the present time.
The population of the area has been recently determined, a census having been taken by the Vestry of
Plumstead, with the result that 3,733 persons were returned as living in 567 houses, or 6.6 persons to a
house. The grouping adopted in the vestry's return shows that of the total number of persons 115
were aged 0-1, 1,951 were between 1 and 21, and 1,667 were 21 years and upwards. The rent paid
for the majority of the houses appears to range between 7s. 6d. and 9s. a week; in a few instances
a house, containing four small rooms and at the end of the district remote from the Arsenal, lets for
6s. 6d., while some of the most recently built houses in the area, which contain six rooms and two
basement rooms, and are comparatively near the Arsenal, are said to command a rent of 15s.
Facility of access from the Arsenal is necessarily a consideration of importance in connection
with the site of a house in this district, and again, partly for this reason, there is manifested a tendency
to prefer a situation near the High-street to one more remote from it. Although the rule is only of
general application, and there are some conspicuous exceptions to it, it will be found that the houses
which present comparatively few defects are those which are most accessible from the main street, and
that it is in some of the more remote parts of the area that the most unsatisfactory conditions obtain.
The subsoil of the greater portion of the area is composed of Thanet sand; in the north-eastern
portion of the district, however, it consists of alluvium. The line of junction of Thanet sand and
alluvium which runs across the area marks the position of a "fault"; north of this line extends the
marsh, the line forming its edge and presumably constituting the ancient river margin; south of the
line of fault comes first the outcrop of the Thanet sand, and then, proceeding in the direction of the
top of Shooter's-hill, follow in succession the superincumbent Woolwich and Reading beds, the London
clay, and ultimately the gravel on the hill summit; while to the north of the area the marsh land,
formerly "drowned land," presents a monotonous level expanse, to the south of it the ground rises rapidly,
reaching an elevation of 179 feet within half a mile of the area on the top of Plumstead-common. On
the slope, which stretches from the common to the area, Woolwich and Reading beds constitute the
subsoil, and the belt of Thanet sand which underlies the area itself is thus seen to be a portion of a strip
extending east and west, bounded on the south by the zone in which the Woolwich and Reading beds
come to the surface, and on the north by the river alluvium which forms the subsoil of the marsh land north
of the railway. High-street, which constitutes the southern boundary of the area, varies somewhat in
elevation, being 14.6 feet above ordnance datum at the entrance to Reidhaven-road, 16 feet opposite
Gavin-street, 18.2 feet opposite Heverham-road, and 31.3 feet opposite White Hart-lane. The general
slope of the ground from High-street towards the railway is downwards. Marmadon-road, which
adjoins the railway at the north-eastern part of the area is only a little more than 7 feet above
ordnance datum, while the level of that part of Reidhaven-road which runs parallel to the railway in
the north-western part of the area is a little higher than that of Marmadon-road. North of the
railway the flat marsh ground, commonly referred to as "the levels," stands some 5 or 6 feet only
above ordnance datum.
The greater part of the now thickly-populated Reidhaven-road district was not built upon fifteen
years ago. The ordnance survey map of 1868 (surveyed in 1864-7) shows a group of 12 houses, and
some smaller groups fronting upon the High-street, the rest of the area being made up of fields and of
what was apparently a market garden. Two pathways, in the situation of White Hart-lane and
Glenside-road, then traversed the area from north to south close to one another, affording, as White
Hart-lane and Glenside-road do at the present time, a means of crossing the railway line and approaching
the levels or marshes. For some years after the date of the ordnance survey there was apparently
little change in the conditions existing, and mainly between 1885 and 1890 the laying out of two
building estates, one on the east and the other on the west of White Hart-lane, was effected.*
Dr. Davies has drawn attention to the fact that "some of the houses in this district, probably a
large proportion, are built on a deposit of house refuse of recent date." Dr. Davies found in the case
of a house in Gavin-street that "the ground under the wooden floor of the basement consisted of
sodden house refuse," and he adds that "there was no layer of concrete below the boards." Information
which I have been able to obtain from a number of persons familiar with the locality in former years
is to the effect that some fifteen or sixteen years ago a large amount of material was deposited with a
view to raising the level of certain parts of the area west of White Hart-lane. This deposit, in the
opinion of those who lived in the neighbourhood at the time, consisted largely of house refuse;
moreover, offensive smells which were attributed to the vapours arising from the deposits were
complained of, and considerable protest appears to have been made concerning the matter. Some of
those whom I have questioned limit the area upon which they remember seeing house refuse to the
low-lying ground near the railway and west of White Hart-lane. Examination of a hole excavated
* Of these the area on the east formed part of the White Hart estate, to which Vincent, in his "Records
of the Woolwich District," page 597, thus refers: "The White Hart estate derived its name from the 'White
Hart' Tavern, which was probably co-existent with the road which ran along the lower ground between the
church and the river. Until 1885 the whole of this estate and the adjacent land on the west side of White Hartlane
were quite unbuilt upon." He states, moreover, that the "White Hart" was burnt down about the year 1810,
and that old inhabitants recollect its remains "standing back in the meadows one hundred yards from the
present road . . . and where we now find the centre of Kentmere-road."