Shrewsbury Lane (later, Bushmoor Crescent), Shooters Hill,
SE18 3EG

Medical dates:

Medical character:

The original house was built in 1789 for John Talbot, 16th Earl of Shrewsbury, but ten years later was leased to the Prince Regent to accommodate his 3-year-old daughter, Princess Charlotte, under the care of the Dowager Duchess of Elgin, following the breakdown of his marriage.

In 1851 the building became a boarding school.

In 1879  it became the Crole-Wyndham Memorial Convalescent Home for Children with 35 beds.

In 1908 the LCC leased part of the Home's grounds for use as an Open-Air School for 75 'delicate' children.

The Home moved to Herne Bay, Kent, in 1915 and, in the following year, the property was sold to a local dignitary, Frederick Halse.


Present status (May 2012)

 In 1923 Mr Halse built a new mansion, also named Shrewsbury House, a little to the south of the original, which was demolished in 1925.

The northern part of the extensive grounds of the House was purchased by the LCC in 1928 and became a public park - Shrewsbury Park.  The remainder of the land was taken up for housing, in particular the Shrewsbury Park Estate, built by John Laing & Sons in a Garden City style during the 1930s.  The southern part of the grounds was built over as Bushmoor Crescent, Ashbridge Crescent and Mereworth Drive.

In 1929, when the lease on the land expired, the LCC's Open Air School moved to Charlton Park.

In 1933 the new Shrewsbury House was purchased by Woolwich Borough Council for £9,000 for use as a library and a museum (the latter was never realised).

During and after WW2 the House was used as a Civil Defence Control Centre.

In 1968 it became a community centre.