In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Charlton like this:
CHARLTON-NEXT-WOOLWICH, a village and a parish in Lewisham district, Kent. The village lies among the low hills between Blackheath and Woolwich, adjacent to the North Kent railway, near the river Thames, 8 miles E by S of London Bridge; and has a station on the railway, and a post office under London S. ...
E., both of the name of Charlton. It formerly was a market town; and it still has a famous fair on 18 Oct., known as Horn Fair. The parish comprises 1,251 acres of land and 91 of water. Real property, £36,162. Pop., 8,472. Houses, 1,117. The manor was given by William Rufus to Bermondsey Abbey; went, at the dissolution, to the Newtons; passed to the Langhornes, the Ducies, and the Maryons; and belongs now to Sir T. M. Wilson, Bart. Charlton House was built, about 1612, by Sir Adam Newton; forms a fine specimen of the architecture of its age; contains a good portrait of Henry, Prince of Wales, to whom Sir Adam Newton acted as tutor; was the death place, in 1679, of Lord Doune; and is now the seat of Sir T. M. Wilson. The grounds connected with it have some very old cypresses; the "Hanging Wood," adjoining it, affords a charming walk; and some sand pits in the vicinity present great attractions to geologists. A farmhouse in the parish, called Cherry Garden, is said to have been erected by Inigo Jones for his own residence. Several handsome villas have recently been built. The living is a rectory in the diocese of London. Value, £350.* Patron, Sir T. M. Wilson, Bart. The church is a plain brick edifice of 1640. The rectories of St. Thomas and St. Paul, and the chapelries of Blackheath Park and St. GermansBlackheath, are separate charges. Value of St. Thomas, £400;* of St. Paul, £286. Patron of both, Sir J M. Wilson, Bart. St. Thomas' church stands at New Charlton; is a handsome structure; and was built in 1850, at a cost of £5,000. St. Paul's church was built in 1867; is in the second pointed style, cruciform, and highly ornate; and has a SW tower and spire. There are a Wesleyan chapel, the cottages on Woolwich Common, Morden college for decayed merchants, national schools, Langhorne's school and alms-houses, and other charities £80.
Charlton through time
Charlton is now part of Greenwich district. Click here for graphs and data of how Greenwich has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Charlton itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Charlton, in Greenwich and Kent | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/6511
Date accessed: 05th November 2024
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