Enderby Wharf is on the Greenwich Peninsula – and this has been a very
special place. It has has a number of names, one of them was ‘Greenwich Level’ and that is becuase it was flat. It is a
piece of marshland around which the River Thames loops and where the river is
kept off the land by an embankment – called a wall. . Its most usual name in the past was ‘Greenwich Marsh’.
The river wall is easily the oldest structure in Greenwich – although it
has been patched, renewed and rebuilt over the centuries. We know almost
nothing about it – how old it is or who built it.
There have often been rumours of
Roman settlement on the peninsula – and claims of Roman relics in private hands
which have been found there. The truth of these statements is anyone’s guess. Surveys
undertaken by professional archaeologists did not substantiate this but such
surveys have frequently been patchy and even known structures have not been
recorded. other stories concern a
possible Tudor defence structure at the tip of the Peninsula.
This is based on a map of 1588 by Robert Adams but whether this ever existed in
a permanent or temporary form can only be guessed at.
The earliest known records of
Greenwich relate to holdings by St.Peters’ Abbey in Ghent 964 -1414. Since a
great deal of land improvement was undertaken by religious houses it might be
conjectured that this was also the case in Greenwich and that this body drained and managed the marsh.
The discovery of a tide mill slightly to the north of The
discovery of a tide mill dated to 1194 slightly to the south of Enderby's
boundary might indicate that such management was in progress by the 12th
century and it could be conjectured that this was by St.Peter's.'
The main source for information about
marshland drainage is William Dugdale, The
History of Embanking and Draining. – and the fact that this was written in 1662
should not be a deterrenT. Dugdale noted the appointment of commissioners to
oversee works to the river walls from the mid 13th century –but it
is such commissioners dealt with large areas of riverbank and it is rarely
possible to look at a specific section, and also, of course, such commissioners
were important men and not those actually designing or working on the river
walls. It does however highlight the
legal pecularities of these marshland areas whcih worked “according to the customs
of Romney Marsh’.
It seems likely that work was
undertaken after 1528 when there was an apparent panic and Coombe Marshes were
specifically mentioned as a problem. It is probable therefore that work on
embanking and draining was carried out in the mid 16th century. Wothout going into a lot of detail here it is possible the work may have been
overseen by a John Baptista Castilion
Drainage was facilitated through
sluices – channels to run the water away from the land and into the river. One such sluice goes through the Enderby site
– Bendish Sluice.
depute John Baptista Castilion, one of the grooms of
the said queen’s privy chamber
By 1625 the most important work had been done towards establishing a
drainage system,
(this date is made clear in the earliest records of the Court of Sewers).in order to allow the land to be used for farming and similar pursuits.
Bendish Sluice emerged by Enderby’s
Wharf; Arnold’s Sluice entered the Thames
to the north east of Blackwall Point; King’s Sluice was near Horn Lane and
there was another to the south west of Blackwall Point. These sluices were a
major civil engineering project carried out by experts whose names may never be
discovered. It is thought that they were Dutch. Without them the Peninsula
would not exist in the form it does today. (The various sluices are a
matter of conjecture. A.L.Rowse in ‘The England of Elizabeth’ Macmillan, 1950,
says that the draining of Plumstead and Erith marshes was done in the Tudor
period by workmen from the Low Countries He cites Ernle, English Farming Past
and Present, and, notes an Essay by Bernard Palissay, which talks about Dutch
drainage of Erith marshes. Of the Greenwich sewers the more unusual name of
‘Bendish’ should be the easiest to trace. Barton Bendish, Cambridgeshire, in the
Fens may give a lead – but not one that is easily apparent. My guess that there
is some connection with Sir Thomas Bendish, a Tudor dignitary one of whose
descendents was to marry Oliver Cromwell’s granddaughter).
Bendish Sluice emerges between the two jetties at Enderby’s
Wharf. It dates from before 1622 – the
date at which the Commissioner’s Minutes start. It seems likely that it is
named after someone who was involved – perhaps paid for – the drainage of
Greenwich Marsh and therefore, if Bendish could be traced, might give some
clues about the actual drainage work. (note October 2014 – the sluice
appears to have been removed by developers)
Dugdale cites an Act of 1546 which, while
empowering the levy of a rate for the maintance of ‘New or Combe Marsh’
comments on the neglect of the walls and banks ‘anciently’ made for their
protection. Thus in the mid-sixteenth century the government was only able to
say that the marshland had been claimed an extremely long time ago – and to
make provisions for upkeep. It is a matter of speculation that previous
arrangements for maintenance might have broken down following the reformation.
I
It is also a matter of speculation that the name ‘Bendish’ dates from
the Tudor period and not from an earlier period. Members of the Bendish family
were certainly prominent in Tudor times – one was an ambassador, who endowed
Queen’s College Cambridge, and a later Bendish was to marry Cromwell’s
granddaughter. However, it has not been possible to pin down any one member
with an interest in either drainage or in Greenwich. It should be noted one
field is known as Bendish Marsh and it may be that, if the ownership of this
plot could be traced, that a Bendish could be identified.
The sluice emerges from under the steps
In the mid-seventeenth century Sir William Hooker, of Crooms Hill,
married Susannah Bendish, daughter of Thomas Bendish of Steeple Bumstead,
Essex.
It should be noted however that the name Bendish, in connection with
marsh drainage, can also be seen at Barton Bendish in Cambridgeshire – a
village surrounded by sluices and drainage ditches
From
the early seventeenth century management of the area was undertaken by the ‘Court of Sewers’ and the minutes of their meetings, dating from 1625, are held in a
local library. (London Metropolitan Archive,
Greenwich Commission of Sewers Records. Also referred to as “Wallscot’ Records
– since they are in effect a record of management and rating administration). This
body was made up of representatives of landowners and their tenants. Every year
they would walk round the area and note what work was needed – ditches to be
cleaned, brambles to be cut back and repairs to be made. Work was paid for
through the Wallscot tax and non-payers were fined. A bailiff
was employed to get the work done. The Court continued with its work for over
200 years until its duties were taken over by Greenwich Board of Works and the
London County Council.
Until the late nineteenth century Greenwich was part of the county of
Kent – so its inclusion in London is, in terms of its long history
comparatively recent. Proximity to the capital helped determine how the land
was used.be
guessed).
Through the mediaeval period Greenwich marsh was within ‘The Manor of Old Court’. (Bartlett, Trans. Greenwich and Lewisham
Antiquarians, Vol.7, No.2, 1964-5, pp. 68-84., which gives a reasonable summary
of the manorial history of the area) .By the sixteenth century most of which was owned by the Crown and
within the next hundred years, with some small exceptions, it had passed into
the hands of charities, which leased land out to whoever wanted to use it. They are the bodies
who have shaped the present.
THE SEA WALL
The other major work done before records began was the building of the
seawall. It was called the ‘sea wall’ not the ‘river wall’ because of the power
of the tidal river and the strength needed to hold it back. So important was –
and is – care and maintenance of the wall that local taxes were called the
‘wallscot’.
. Bartlett points out that the watch house
itself is shown on the Travers’ plan of 1695 and is shown at K9). It is possible, but unlikely, that
this might have something to do with Tudor defences. There has been some
speculation about some sort of Tudor defence structure at
Greenwich. For instance, Elizabeth Martin (The Armada Beacon in the Parish of
Stone, Newsletter, Dartford Historical and Antiquarian Society, No.26, 1989) describes a ‘boom’ built across the
river at Blackwall. No archaeological evidence has yet emerged although there
is the possibility of an uninvestigated underground structure at the end of
Riverway. At one time there a watchman was employed and in any case a depot of
some sort would have been needed by the marsh bailiff and his staff – somewhere
to keep their tools, and provide some shelter for meal breaks and during bad
weather.
The one major building was the Gunpowder
Depot. The military guard on it probably
deterred much trespass – although the Court of Sewers complained bitterly about
the behaviour of soldiers posted there.
After 1700, although some plots of land were in private hands, most of
the area was owned by large charities. They could afford to take a long term
and detached view and, as we shall see, they were very important in determining
how the marsh developed.
The Boreman Charity
At the Restoration of Charles II, after the English Civil War, a large
parcel of land was granted to a Sir William Boreman by the King. Some of it was
sold by his widow but the remainder went to help pay for a charity school which
Boreman had founded in Greenwich.
This charity was, and is still, administered by the Worshipful Company
of Drapers in the City of London. The remaining marshland was sold in the 1870s
– but decisions taken by the Drapers Company’s on land management still have an
effect. (The
best source of information on Greenwich Charities is Julian Watson, Some
Greenwich Charities. Greenwich and Lewisham Antiquarian Society, Vol. VIII,
No.3. 1975. Pp. 90-102. Bartlett gives some details of Boreman’s work on the
marsh. There is a small archive held by the Worshipful Company of Drapers,
Drapers Hall, Throgmorton Avenue, EC2, which includes a map of the marsh dated
1734 and some other information. The charity still administers some land in
West Greenwich. Drapers also administer the remains of Lambarde’s Charity –
which before the early sixteenth century held land ‘Thistlecroft’ on Greenwich
Marsh. ‘Lambarde’s wall’ provided the boundary to both parish and marsh.)
Trinity Hospital (Norfolk College)
The Poor
of Farningham & Hatcliffe‘s Charity
The land which Boreman’s widow sold in 1698 was bought by a merchant,
Sir John Morden. He used it to endow Morden
College, one of the most important, but
least known, institutions in Greenwich.
The land has been used for the economic benefit of those who did not
live there. The area has been shaped by people, many of whom were bankers in
the City of London – had probably never seen it
Bendish marsh is a field behind the area used by the Enderbys – MC5 on
the Skinner map and 264 on the tithe map. 1612 a field called ‘Short Bendish’ was in the occupation of Innocent
Lanyer with a tenement, yard and wharf.
Lanyer was one of a family of court musicians resident in Greenwich
In the 1770s it had been leased by a Thomas and John Jee and in 1843 it
was marshland in use by a John Field. Its southern boundary is that of Bendish
Sluice and eventually formed the ropewalk. Coles Child began negotiations to lease it in
1855 but in 1856 it was leased to a Mr. MacKenzie. In 1864 it became part of
the Telegraph Construction Works.
Salution House
Salution House shown on Morden College deed
Salution House is shown on a number of plans – and remains a complete
mystery. It is marked on a Morden
College Survey plan of c. 1800 and, while not
marked, can be seen on the 1843 tithe map. It is marked as such on a
Morden College deed of 1858 and can still be seen on the 1880s Ordnance Map.
‘Salutation House’ was a common name for a public house at the time –
but this building is isolated, inland with no obvious road or footpath access.
Clearly the spelling is also different.
An alternative is that this is actually ‘Solution House’ and that it has
some relation to the bleach
works, or vitriol works which was
nearby.
On plans of the 1840s – 1860s, however, a clear pathway is shown from
the riverside going to the building. After 1870 as the Telegraph Works became built up the site becomes unidentifiable among a jumble of
factory buildings – but an aeriel photograph of the 1951s shows a building on
site with the same layout as that shown on the plan. A building on the
site has been demolished since 2010
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