Two hundred years ago, Northumberland Heath or “Heath North of the Humber land” was little more than a rough open area with tracks leading to Erith, Belvedere, Bexley and Crayford.  The name implies that somewhere to the South of the area was a stream, humber being the old name for a waterway. 

In 1769, on the Northern side, William Wheatley Lord of the Manor of Erith built his manor house called Park Spring Place.  It stood between the present Elm Grove and upper end of Park Crescent.   It had an evil reputation for being haunted and was  demolished in 1858.

In 1805, at an appropriate distance away, in Sussex Road, a workhouse was erected for the reception of the poor.  Until this time the poor had been accommodated in the homes of the parishioners. It had space for six families.  It was the presence of the workhouse that gave the area the nickname of Spike Island. The workhouse was demolished in 1836.

The 1843, Tythe Map shows scattered dwellings, the majority of which were owned by William Wheatley and let to tenants mostly engaged in market gardening.  Also shown on this map are the mill and the mill house believed to have been built in 1819.  Towards the end of the 19^th century the sails and upper structure were blown down in a gale and the roundhouse was roofed with slates.  By late 20^th century it was being used as a wood store when disaster struck again and the roundhouse was destroyed by fire.  A curve in the wall behind 46 Mill Road is the only remaining clue to the presence of the mill.

The coming of the railway at Erith encouraged industry to move to the district, which quickly led to a huge rise in population.  The Heath developed rapidly, commencing along the triangle bordered by Brook Street, Mill Road and Bexley Road and then encroaching on what had been the Lime Woods, working down towards Carlton Road.