Progress Estate

The Progress Estate is a housing estate located in Eltham, Greenwich, south east London.

Location

The Progress Estate is located adjacent to Well Hall Road, south of Woolwich, north of Eltham railway station and Rochester Way and to the northeast of Horn Park.

Construction

The Progress Estate was built in its entirety in 1915 by Woolwich Borough Council and was completed by December by London County Council. It was not known as The Progress Estate until 1925, when it was sold on to the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society for more development. It was built on the then populous tram route along the newly created Well Hall Road, which linked the area to Woolwich, to house the workers and their families of the nearby Woolwich Arsenal munitions factory which was in use during the First World War.^[1] The estate was planned to comprise both town houses and low-rise tower blocks, with a total 1298 homes constructed. 500 more homes built by the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society were sold to Hyde Housing Association in 1980.

Design

The estate was designed by four architects, Messrs. A Pitcher, G E Phillips, J A Bowden and G Parker, who intended for the estate to be like a 'garden city'. The design of the estate reflects this, with homes having a distinct cottage style design. Roofs are L-shaped and look similar to homes from the 17th Century. The estate comprises both town houses and low-rise blocks. The uniqueness of the design of the estate made and still make the area popular today.^[2] Some roads on the estate were named after historic connections with Woolwich; Congreve, Sharpnel and Arsenal are examples of this, being named after weapon production at the munitions factory. In 1975, the design of the estate meant it was granted Conservation Area status,^[3] and visited by Queen Mary in 1916.^[4]

Culture

The murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993 on Well Hall Road impacted the estate greatly with beliefs of widespread racism in Eltham to this day. As well as this along with gaining Conservation Area status and affirming historic connections to Woolwich, the estate can be said to have many time defining cultural connections. The estate celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2015.^[5]

References