Hawke Tower
Day of Completion
The Woodpecker Estate (also known as the Milton Court Estate and Ghetto Estate) is a large post-war housing estate on the border of the New Cross and Deptford areas of Lewisham, London. The site was previously terraced housing that was completely cleared. Some cottage housing was built immediately post-war, on sites damaged by bombing (Chubworthy and Knoyle Streets in the west, Alexandra Street, Bowerman Avenue, Desmond Street, Milton Court Road, and Vansittart Street in the east). Pockets of housing was constructed during the 1960s (Granville Court in the west, and 1-56 Milton Court in the south east of the estate).
After the completion of phase 3 of construction, in the 1970s, the estate also included 8 tower blocks of varying heights, numerous 3 storey blocks of flats and blocks of maisonettes. In the centre of the estate was the main local shopping centre, named the Woodpecker Centre, plus two churches, a library and a pub named The Spanish Steps. Around the north and eastern edge of the estate were three multi-storey car parks (demolished in the 1980s, and replaced by three small new-build blocks, now managed by Peabody). The maisonette blocks were grouped in clusters and each block within a cluster would be connected by footbridge to another so that residents need not go down to road level to visit another block.
The estate became synonymous with gang culture in Lewisham from the 1970s onwards. In 1992, an Estate Action Plan was drawn up for the regeneration of the estate. The plan lasted 10 years with limited funds and resulted in all but one of its tower blocks being demolished and replaced with three storey blocks of flats. Maisonette blocks were also demolished or refurbished.
It's worth noting that part of the estate, since 1994, has been managed by Five Ways, a tenant management organisation (TMO). This includes 1-56 Milton Court Road and the cottage properties on the east side of the estate.
Tower blocks[]
The three 23 storey tower blocks originally constructed were:
- Hawke Tower
- Druid Tower
- Naseby Tower
The five 14 storey tower blocks constructed were:
* - tower block not demolished.
Other blocks on the estate which did not form part of the original project:
- Milton Court - a pair of 9 storey tower blocks
- Granville Court - a five storey b