DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1213#0125
102 TALLIS'S ILLUSTRATED LONDON J
But Woolwich, military and civil, would probably hold
out little inducements to the visitor were it not for the
noble and extensive common lying between the town and
Charlton and Shooters-hill. Its fine promenade and
health-breathing atmosphere render it a place of great
resort, and the circumstance that it is one of the few open
spaces near London, sacred from the destructive inno-
vations of the builder; that its green sward is not
to be obliterated by narrow streets and ungainly-looking
houses, only tends to increase its popularity.
Shooters-hill, on the main road to Dover, joins Wool-
wich-common on the south-east. From the summit of
this eminence there are fine views of London, Essex,
Surrey, and even part of Sussex. Here, too, the panoramic
course of the Thames is seen to great advantage. Upon
this spot the London archers performed their exercises on
grand occasions, and from this display the name of
Shooters-hill is said to be derived. It is seated on a
chalky soil, abounding with coppice-wood, which formerly
was cut in great quantities for faggots, and sent by water
to London, till coal fires began to be made in the upper
rooms of taverns. To this hill came Henry VIII. and his
Queen, Catherine of Arragon, in great splendour, one
May-day from Greenwich. They were received by 200
archers attired in Lincoln green, with a captain repre-
senting Robin Hood. After witnessing the exploits of
the bowmen, the King and his court partook of a mag-
nificent banquet in the wood, and a pageant was performed
for the gratification of the royal visitors. Before the road
was widened on the east side of this hill in 1739, it was a
notorious place for highway robberies. Notwithstanding
this improvement, Shooters-hill continued for many years
to yield a harvest to daring footpads; but the increase of
houses, the removal of coaches from the road, and the
establishment of a police-station, gave silent, but satis-
factory evidence that the highwayman's "occupation's
gone" in this locality. The robberies committed here
were of such remote origin that Philipott> in the reign of
But Woolwich, military and civil, would probably hold
out little inducements to the visitor were it not for the
noble and extensive common lying between the town and
Charlton and Shooters-hill. Its fine promenade and
health-breathing atmosphere render it a place of great
resort, and the circumstance that it is one of the few open
spaces near London, sacred from the destructive inno-
vations of the builder; that its green sward is not
to be obliterated by narrow streets and ungainly-looking
houses, only tends to increase its popularity.
Shooters-hill, on the main road to Dover, joins Wool-
wich-common on the south-east. From the summit of
this eminence there are fine views of London, Essex,
Surrey, and even part of Sussex. Here, too, the panoramic
course of the Thames is seen to great advantage. Upon
this spot the London archers performed their exercises on
grand occasions, and from this display the name of
Shooters-hill is said to be derived. It is seated on a
chalky soil, abounding with coppice-wood, which formerly
was cut in great quantities for faggots, and sent by water
to London, till coal fires began to be made in the upper
rooms of taverns. To this hill came Henry VIII. and his
Queen, Catherine of Arragon, in great splendour, one
May-day from Greenwich. They were received by 200
archers attired in Lincoln green, with a captain repre-
senting Robin Hood. After witnessing the exploits of
the bowmen, the King and his court partook of a mag-
nificent banquet in the wood, and a pageant was performed
for the gratification of the royal visitors. Before the road
was widened on the east side of this hill in 1739, it was a
notorious place for highway robberies. Notwithstanding
this improvement, Shooters-hill continued for many years
to yield a harvest to daring footpads; but the increase of
houses, the removal of coaches from the road, and the
establishment of a police-station, gave silent, but satis-
factory evidence that the highwayman's "occupation's
gone" in this locality. The robberies committed here
were of such remote origin that Philipott> in the reign of