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The Progress Estate, Eltham: Built for Workers of the Royal Arsenal

The Progress Estate was built in 1915 to provide homes for munitions workers at the rapidly expanding Royal Arsenal in nearby Woolwich.

Following the outbreak of the war the government acquired nearly 100 acres of land on either side of Well Hall Road.

Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔs were to be built along the lines of Garden City developments.

It was originally known as the Well Hall Estate.

A total of 1,400 houses were built in a period of less than a year. It’s widely thought there are no two houses on the estate that are the same.

The estate did not escape the dangers of World War One. In 1917, one of the houses, on Well Hall Road, was hit by a Zeppelin bomb, killing three residents.

Location: The Progress Estate, Well Hall Road, Eltham SE9
Image: WW1 bomb damage on the Progress Estate, courtesy of IWM

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7 minutes

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