Woolwich pub The Bull Tavern awaits demolition
Demolition work is due to start any day on a pub in Woolwich town centre.
The Bull Tavern will come down as part of a housing development behind the recently opened Woolwich Waves leisure centre.
Initially the pub frontgae was to be retained as part of the development but a revised plan saw that idea dropped and the whole thing is coming down.
According to earlier submitted plans works should have started in spring on site so now we’re in summer it could be a pile of rubble any day.
Well, unless yet another delay hits a Woolwich site. Many have been on the drawing board with approved plans seen for decades.
I’ve taken a few photos of the Bull Tavern over the years but with the end in sight – apparently – I managed to take a few more including the pub’s sign still hanging out front.
Note the Charrington brewery, established in 1766 and now long gone. Will it simply end up in a skip and another bit of Woolwich’s history lost?
Past experience
This past week I was thinking about the old Post Office which was demolished and parts were supposed to be kept in storage. Little has been heard on that front since demolition around 20 years ago.
In most towns a Victorian pub and adjacent shop parade coming down would bring feelings of regreat, bit it hits harder in Woolwich.
Few towns – or rather those in charge of it – have done so much to destory their own heritage than Woolwich.
The town being badky managed goes back many decades as those in charge scrabbled around, admittedley in times of hardship such as the long-winded winding down of the Royal Arsenal. Still, Greenwich Council have never covered themselves in glory with many mistakes.
Though improvements have been seen in the recent past, including when much of the town gained conservation area status.
New housing
That isn’t to say the forthcoming development isn’t welcome.
New homes in the town centre will boost the area – but it’s a shame that all traces of buildings on site are now to go rather than embraced and integrated as once planned.
This is very sad to see. Why don’t we ever learn from past mistakes?
This has been here for years and it’s part of our history and should be classed as a listed building and part of our history save this historical site
I agree the pub should have been listed as is a part of Woolwich’s history.
We are seeing so much of Woolwich and the Borough of Greenwich heritage destroyed.
Now we have to wait and see what will happen with a large part of the Woolwich Barracks site. This should also remain has it it as also forms part of Woolwich’s heritage as a Garrison Town..
I agree with Levi, Kevin and Graham comments.
We need to preserve the history of Woolwich’s and maintain our heritage around the Borough of Greenwich.
That is what made our Borough stand out from others in thd past.
Sadly over the 10 to 20 years the current Labour administration of Gteenwich Council seems happy for us to lose our history and heritage. Which is a real shame. We need to safe and preserve our Borough rich Heritage and Historical Buildings.
With regard to your comment on the retention of historic fabric on the former Post Office building, the Council imposed a condition when approving the original application stating that elements of the facade fronting Thomas Street should either be retained for incorporation in any new development or, failing that, a replica of the Victorian pediment, should be provided.
The condition has continued to remain in place through subsequent iterations of the development and is therefore still the responsibility of the current developer.
It is to be hoped that, between them, the Council and the developer along with the involvement of local heritage interests work collectively to achieve a successful outcome.
Sad. As a child in the 70s I played in there, upstairs, with the owners son as my mum and dad had a drink downstairs.
Such a shame. As a child my Mum & I would get the 51 bus to go shopping there, off the bus straight into the covered market. I worked for Morgan Grampian for a decade. I thought I knew Woolwich well until a trip back a few years ago – I recognised nothing .
Woolwich had such a long history, lost now to high rises & ” improved ” roads.
Very poor from the Council. They accepted the only proposal that retained the pub – and then changed their minds to demolish it. The Bull was a good community boozer, especially for the historically Irish community around there. All the old pubs are going, while the gastropubs – which are not community pubs in the same way as those old school pubs were – are prioritised in the Arsenal.