Greenhithe History
Ingress Abbey I
Ingress Abbey II
HMS Worcester
A Victorian Resort

Ingress Abbey II

In 1737 the estate was sold to John Carmichael, Earl of Hyndford, who was later made a Knight of the Thistle and appointed envoy extraordinary to Prussia and Russia.
It was sold in 1748 to William Viscount Duncannon, who on his fathers death succeeded him as Earl of Besborough and Baron Ponsonby of Sysonby. He lived at Ingress with his wife Carolina eldest daughter of William Duke of Devonshire. He greatly improved the seat and   commissioned Capability Brown to landscape the grounds. In 1760
Caroline died here and after losing several children like wise became disgusted with the place and sold it to John Calcraft, MP for Rochester who continued the improvements. On his death in 1772 it passed to his son John, who sold it in 1788 to John Disney Roebuck, and on his death in 1796 to
his son Henry Roebuck.
Ownership then passed  to William Haverlock (1757-1837) shipbuilder and shipowner , father of Sir Henry Haverlock (1795-1857) famous army officer, who spent his early childhood here and attended Dartford Grammar School. Unfortunately William Haverlock lost his money through solicitors' fraud and the loss of uninsured ships. Ingress Park estate was sold to the Crown, and with the international situation with France, plans were drawn up for a large dockyard to be built from Northfleet to Greenhithe. The house was demolished (transcript of advert from the Times)and the site cleared then the plan dropped.
The land was then purchased in 1831(transcript of advert from the Times) by Alderman James Harmer who commissioned the Architect Charles Moreing to design the present Abbey. The cost of the house was £120,000 and use reclaimed stone from the old London Bridge.
When the Shah of Persia sailed up the Thames to London, he commented that "The only thing worth mentioning was at Greenhithe where there was a mansion standing amid trees on a green carpet extending down to the waters edge."

 

Original Artworks