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Westcombe Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Westcombe Park is a largely residential area close to the Blackheath Standard area of Blackheath in the London Borough of Greenwich, south-east London, England.
Its boundaries are broadly defined by the main London-Dartford railway line to the north, the Blackwall Tunnel southern approach to the east, the heath itself to the south and a road, Vanbrugh Hill to the west (named after an architect, John Vanbrugh, with local connections).
Although originally formed in Westcombe Park, Westcombe Park rugby club is no longer based there. Having played on fields in Lee, Shooter's Hill and Sidcup, it operates from a sports ground in Orpington.
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Its most notable landmark is Woodlands House, in Mycenae Road. This attractive, four-storey Georgian villa (architect: George Gibson) still lies in its own grounds and was built between 1774 and 1776 for John Julius Angerstein, a Lloyd's underwriter and merchant whose collection of old master paintings was bought for the nation in 1824, following his death, to form the nucleus of the National Gallery, London.
The Angerstein family continued to live in Woodlands House until about 1870. It was later acquired by Sir Alfred Yarrow, a shipbuilder, in 1896.
From about 1923, the house served as a convent; neighbouring Mycenae House (formerly Kidbrooke House) was built in 1933 to provide dormitory space for the Little Sisters of the Assumption convent. Woodlands was then acquired by the London Borough of Greenwich in 1967 and opened as a Local History Library and Art Gallery (Woodlands Art Gallery) in 1972, while Mycenae House has served as a community centre.
To the west, next-door to Woodlands House, was Westcombe Manor, former family seat of the Ballards,[1] the Lambardes,[2] Sir Theophilus Biddulph (1612-1683; see also Biddulph Baronets), and, later, of shipowner and timber merchant Thomas Brocklebank.[3] The original house was rebuilt in 1723 by Sir Gregory Page, and let to tenants who included Lavinia Fenton, Dowager Duchess of Bolton, who died at the house in 1760.[4] The building was demolished in 1855.
St George's Church (on a steeply sloping site on the corner of Kirkside Road and Glenluce Road) is a Victorian red-brick structure completed in 1892 (architect: Newman & Newman). As well as a place of worship it is also home to a Rudolf Steiner or Waldorf School-style nursery school.
In the early 2000s, Westcombe Park was used as a location by the BBC soap opera Eastenders. The footbridge from which Andy Hunter, played by Michael Higgs, was pushed to his death is easily identifiable as the bridge (over the A102 Blackwall Tunnel southern approach) that runs from Farmdale Road to Westcombe Park railway station.
- Malcolm Hardee, anarchic comedian lived briefly at 33 Glenluce Road, SE3 in the late 1990s.
- Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer lived in the area in the early days of their double act, and performed at the Tramshed in Woolwich.
- Jools Holland, TV personality and musician still lives in Westcombe Park.
- North Greenwich tube station - bus routes 108 and 422 run from Blackheath Standard
Nearby DLR stations:
- Cutty Sark
- Greenwich (The same as the railway station)
(Westcombe Park essentially lies to the south of the railway line between Maze Hill and Westcombe Park stations)
A little further away…
The following buses run through Blackheath Standard and either through or around Westcombe Park:
- 108 between Lewisham station and Stratford station.
- 286 between Greenwich and Sidcup Queen Mary's Hospital.
- 386 between Greenwich and Woolwich shopping centre.
- 422 between Bexleyheath shopping centre and North Greenwich tube station.