What is "woolwich"

Woolwich ( or )) is a town in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, south east London, England, which became part of the London metropolitan area in the mid 19th century, although remaining part of Kent until 1889. In 1965, most of the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich became part of Greenwich Borough, of which it is the administrative centre.

Throughout the 18th, 19th and most of the 20th century, Woolwich was an important military and industrial town. It is a river crossing point, with the Woolwich Ferry and the Woolwich foot tunnel crossing to North Woolwich.

Woolwich is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London, with a potential to become a metropolitan centre.

Woolwich was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1918 and from 1983 to 1997. It centred on Woolwich, now in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in south-east London.

Will Crooks, Member of Parliament for Woolwich 1903–10 and 1910–18, was one of the first Labour MPs in the United Kingdom.

Woolwich can refer to:

• Several places:
  • Woolwich, London, England, and its local features or administrative areas:
    • Woolwich Common
    • Woolwich Dockyard, former English naval dockyard
    • Woolwich Ferry
    • Woolwich foot tunnel, under the River Thames
    • Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich, former London borough 1899-1965
    • Woolwich (UK Parliament constituency), now incorporated in Greenwich and Woolwich
  • Woolwich, Ontario, Canada
  • Woolwich, Maine, United States of America
  • Woolwich, New South Wales, Australia
  • Woolwich Township, New Jersey, United States of America
  • North Woolwich, London, England
• Woolwich-and-Reading Beds, geological deposits
• Madlyn-Ann C. Woolwich (b. 1937), American pastel painter and author
• The Woolwich, a former British bank, previously a building society
• The Woolwich Steam Packet Company
• HMS Woolwich, the name of nine ships of the Royal Navy

Woolwich, also known as Woolwich St Mary, was an ancient parish containing the town of Woolwich on the south bank of the Thames and North Woolwich on the north bank. The parish was governed by its vestry from the 16th century to 1852, based in the Church of St Mary until 1842, after which in the purpose-built Woolwich Town Hall. The parish adopted the Public Health Act 1848 and was governed by the Woolwich Local Board of Health from 1852. When the parish became part of the district of the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1855 the local board was treated as if it were an incorporated vestry. It was in the county of Kent until it was transferred to London in 1889. In 1900 it was amalgamated with other parishes to form the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich and had only nominal existence until it was abolished as a civil parish in 1930. Since 1965 it has been split between the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Newham.