Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Royal Arsenal at Woolwich was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proofing of guns, and explosives research for the British armed forces. At its peak during the First World War it covered more than 1,285 acres and employed close to 80,000 people.
The Woolwich Royal Ordnance Factories closed in 1967. The Ministry of Defence vacated the site completely in 1994, ending its use as a military establishment.
The Royal Arsenal originated as a domestic warren on the grounds of Tower Place, a Tudor mansion built in the 1540s for Martin Bowes. In 1671 the 31-acre estate was transferred to the Board of Ordnance in exchange for the adjacent Gun Wharf and a substantial cash payment, following a gun battery built on the site in 1667 after the Dutch raid on the Medway.
Arsenal F.C. was founded by workers at the Royal Arsenal in 1886 under the name Dial Square, after workshops in the heart of the complex. They won their first game 6-0 against Eastern Wanderers on the 11th of December 1886. The club was renamed Royal Arsenal shortly after, entered the professional league as Woolwich Arsenal in 1893, and moved to north London in 1913.
The Royal Arsenal was struck on the 7th of September 1940 during the Blitz. The fuze factory was destroyed and the filling factory and a light gun factory were badly damaged. Across 25 raids, 103 people were killed and 770 were injured. The workforce dropped from 32,500 before the first raid to 19,000 immediately after.
Notable figures include Henry Maudslay, who worked at the Royal Brass Foundry from 1783 and developed improvements to the lathe inspired by the foundry's boring machine. Marc Isambard Brunel erected the steam sawmills. William Congreve designed and manufactured the Congreve Rocket there from 1805. Frederick Abel, the first War Department Chemist, brought guncotton into safe use and co-developed cordite with Professor James Dewar.