Woolwich
The civil parish of Woolwich, roughly the area of the present-day wards Woolwich Riverside and Woolwich Common, was formerly known as Woolwich Saint Mary. Until 1842, when the Old Town Hall was built, the vestry met in a room in the parish church of St Mary Magdalene. Woolwich became part of the London metropolitan area in the mid-19th century, although was officially still in Kent at the time. In 1889, with the formation of London County Council, Woolwich became officially part of London. In 1900 the parishes of Woolwich, Eltham and Plumstead formed the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich. In 1906 the new Woolwich Town Hall was inaugurated. In April 1965, following implementation of the London Government Act 1963, Woolwich was merged into the London Borough of Greenwich, since 2012 the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The administrative buildings of the borough are in Woolwich.
Woolwich
The town is a river crossing point, with the Woolwich Ferry and the Woolwich foot tunnel crossing to North Woolwich in the London Docklands. Throughout the 17th, 18th, 19th and most of the 20th century, Woolwich was an important naval, military and industrial town. After several decades of economic hardship and social deprivation, large-scale urban renewal projects have turned its fortunes around. It is expected that the town, identified in the London Plan as "opportunity area", will evolve from "major centre" to "metropolitan centre" within Greater London in the next few decades.