Beresford Square upgrade in Woolwich shows major progress

Time for another little update looking at major works being undertaken on Beresford Square in Woolwich as the area’s final layout appears ever clearer.

It was covered on the site a few weeks back but things have moved quite quickly since. Areas destined for landscaping can clearly be seen alongside additional seating and street furniture as well as a number of newly planted trees.

There’s also two things of note in the above image are a forthcoming 299-room student block with its concrete core up to the 13th floor as well as the forthcoming water feature and fountain. Click and zoom to see.

The warmer tone of paving colour used across the square is looking good particularly when compared to the bright, cold surfaces prone to staining and now seen along a lot of Powis Street.

The above image looking towards the Royal Arsenal Gatehouse from near the market arch shows positions of recently installed street furniture, landscaping and planters. The Royal Arsenal Gatehouse will see its gated-off central section permanently opened up.

It’s a similar story when approaching from Powis Street with the intention being a straight link through the space without obstacles.

Note the newly planted trees on the left terraces.

Market

To facilitate these changes market stalls are being shifted to a section along the west of the square in front of Poundstretcher and other retail units.

This section is labelled “High Pavement” below which gives a general overview of the square post-completion.

That does reduce space for Woolwich’s outdoor market currently moved to the water fountains on nearby General Gordon Square.

A market has existed in the area for around 200 years until a formal charter was issued in 1879. An excellent video from 1918 shows the area with tram lines through the square.

Ask many older generations and they’ll often regale with stories of a lively and buzzing large market seeing thousands of people passing to-and-fro into the Royal Arsenal for work.

That hasn’t been the case for some time now and my earliest memories are of a struggling place, with the market limping along having seen a failed major project in the early 2010s though some good food stalls did appear in recent years.

Hopefully shifting to one side doesn’t hurt traders – and plans did show stalls staying along Green’s End in front of what is now the DLR station entrance which is an area of high footfall.

With rapid progress seen in the square in recent weeks it shouldn’t be too long into 2025 until work completes.

Adjacent changes

Work on the Royal Arsenal Gatehouse – once the main entrance into the sprawling Arsenal site – should also complete in 2025 before the next major projects kick off nearby.

And there’s two of those, with the first being road changes including a new crossing as part of cycle lane works.

Note the new crossing close to the Royal Arsenal Gatehouse.

Following that – or perhaps the same time – work is due on a £23 million express bus other known as the Bus Rapid Transit scheme from Thamesmead set to terminate in Woolwich near the Elizabeth line station.

Oddly TfL’s consultation into the cycle lane and street changes made no mention of the £23m BRT project which has a 2026 deadline for spending government funds.

A budget of £23 million appears far too much for a simple bus route and being a Bus Rapid Transit comes with connotations. Normally that’s at least bespoke bus stops and infrastructure work. Often guided sections but that’s expensive and simply not needed from Thamesmead to Woolwich with dual carriageways the entire route.

What it does entail in Woolwich should become clear in early 2025 according to a recent Bexley Council document given the route will also head to Abbey Wood and into their borough by a matter of metres.

Woolwich continues its evolution and providing ample things to see and cover. As we head into 2025 they’ll be plenty more.