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 Town Hall
The Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich was abolished in 1965 and largely merged with Greenwich (a small section north of the Thames went to the London Borough of Newham). Woolwich Town Hall became the seat of local government of the new London Borough of Greenwich, from 2012 the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Greenwich Town Hall, only 25 years old and much more spaceous, was given up in compensation for the fact that the new borough took its name from the smaller but more prestigious town.