Bear Fighting on Blackheath?
Rebecca says:
I am an American who is living in Blackheath Standard and I love walking down to Greenwich on Sat and Sunday afternoons. My question is this, I have been told that the green dug out areas before you get to Blackheath Green in front of the Blackheath entrance to Greenwich Park were originally dug by Elisabeth I to hold bear fights in and I was wondering if you knew if that was true or not?
Hmmm. The Phantom is unconvinced.
I've heard many tales about the bumps and dips that cover Blackheath but never that one before. Blackheath is honeycombed with holes and is really quite unstable. There have been collapses throughout history - some bigger than others - and the last one was very recent indeed - 2002, when the A2 disappeared into a big old chalk pit. I intend to get onto Black (heath) Holes soon, but for now, if there was a bear pit there, I can't think that it would have been anything other than temporary - perhaps for one of the fairs that were held there. Neil Rhind doesn't appear to mention it in his seminal work The Heath - though I could have missed it, I guess.
It could even be a dried-up pond, if it's right next to the gate. I think there was more than one there.
More research needed, I think, but for now I'm not buying that there was a bear pit there.
I am an American who is living in Blackheath Standard and I love walking down to Greenwich on Sat and Sunday afternoons. My question is this, I have been told that the green dug out areas before you get to Blackheath Green in front of the Blackheath entrance to Greenwich Park were originally dug by Elisabeth I to hold bear fights in and I was wondering if you knew if that was true or not?
Hmmm. The Phantom is unconvinced.
I've heard many tales about the bumps and dips that cover Blackheath but never that one before. Blackheath is honeycombed with holes and is really quite unstable. There have been collapses throughout history - some bigger than others - and the last one was very recent indeed - 2002, when the A2 disappeared into a big old chalk pit. I intend to get onto Black (heath) Holes soon, but for now, if there was a bear pit there, I can't think that it would have been anything other than temporary - perhaps for one of the fairs that were held there. Neil Rhind doesn't appear to mention it in his seminal work The Heath - though I could have missed it, I guess.
It could even be a dried-up pond, if it's right next to the gate. I think there was more than one there.
More research needed, I think, but for now I'm not buying that there was a bear pit there.
Labels: Ask The Phantom, Regional Greenwich
posted by The Greenwich Phantom at
08:51
9 Comments:
Have a look at the wickedpedia entry on Blackheath and it says it was dug up for chalk and rubble to act as ballast for the ships. As we all know wickedpedia is 100% correct, but it may explain big holes/caves/tunnels in the area. It also says the name has nothing to do with the Black death or plague, which means I will have to find somthing else to frighten my foreign guests with. I was pretty much set on the idea of it being an old plague pit.
I've always thought it was the 'ships ballast' reason too.
The 'black' referred to the colour of the sand didn't it....?
I've just been reading in some ancient tome that a fair amount of the lime that was dug out was for housebuilding - especially after the Great Fire. Apparently Blackheath lime isn't much cop for mortar-uses which is one of the reasons why not many immediately-post-fire houses survive in the city...
My Dad told me that Blackheath pre-war had a lot more hills and dales and much of it was filled in and levelled out with rubble from the Blitz. Have a look at the following
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/74/a1997274.shtml
Bill - that's fascinating. And a veritable time capsule for future archaeologists...
Blackheath had long been a source of open-cast agregate mininng going back possibly to the early 1800s. On the Deptford side of the heath there is a sizeable, sealed cavern and indeed another cavity opened up on Blackheath Hill about seven years back, almost taking a public house and a block of flats with it.
Only two small sections of the heath bear testimony to this history, they being the 'corners', so to speak, on Vanbrugh Hill and Lewisham Hills (by the TA Centre).
As with Bill47 I've also heard that the uniform appearance of the expanse that we know now was down to post war reparations. Though I also believe levelling of the heath may have taken place during the war to enable the planting of vegetables.
This was certainly what happened on the flat plain of Greenwich Park before the Queens House.
Blackheathen
ps. and the black in Blackheath is believe down to the dark hue of the local soil.
Yes I thought it was a mine/digging den rather than a bear pit. I think if bears had been baiting in it I would see their ghostly shadows from my window - no such sights as yet! Actually I'm fairly sure about the quarry theory as I think it is listed on my house deeds - as a warning that we are close to unstable ground!
I thought most people would know that the local bear pit was adjacent to where the Blackwall Tunnel still is.
From 1984 to 1988 Malcolm Hardee's 'Tunnel Club', noted for sharp, often very destructive heckling got as close to bear baiting as I would ever want to get. Not for wilting violets or those of tender disposition- but often so funny that today's safe and sanitised comedy and clubs make me come over all nostalgic.
Performers were, apparently, paid a bonus for braving the rowdy pit and more than a few died on their feet including some who later became names in more discerning households. I'll never forget a poor creature who introduced himself as a magician and was instantly encouraged to 'F'in well disappear then'. He was out through the front door within five minutes.
Tee hee. Thanks for that Gwladys. I was never sure whether the Tunnel CLub was at the Blackwall or Rotherhithe Tunnels. Thanks for putting me straight. From what I can tell from a stand-up comic friend of mine, Up The Creek is a bit of a bear pit to play as well...
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