Poster for the North Woolwich Gardens and Royal Pavilion Hotel

In 1850 William Holland, the proprietor of the Pavilion Hotel in North Woolwich, sought to take advantage of the large number of visitors to the Great Exhibition and made large scale improvements to his hotel and gardens. He opened the Royal Pavilion Pleasure Gardens advertising attractions such as those listed here concerts, fireworks, pony races, dancing as well as hot air ballons, trapeze artists and waterfalls. Holland became known as the ‘Peoples Caterer’ as refreshments at his gardens were cheap and being large wholesome homemade sandwiches and cakes were popular with everyone who visited. By 1884 the gardens began to make a loss and in 1890 after the land was purchased by the Duke of Westminster, they reopened as a public park named the Royal Victoria Gardens.