Royal Arsenal

• 1. Origins And Early Expansion

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  In 1651, the owners of Tower Place gave permission to prove guns on a domestic warren that formed part of their land. That same year, the first proof butts were built under the board's direction. The site began as a Tudor warren at Tower Place in Old Woolwich, where Martin Bowes had built his mansion in the 1540s. By 1671, the estate was given to the Board of Ordnance in exchange for Gun Wharf and cash. Captain Francis Cheeseman became the first Storekeeper in 1670. King Charles II visited the Warren in 1681 to observe Richard Leake conduct experiments with fire-shot. In 1682, activities from the Tower of London moved to Tower Place, sending a thousand cannon and ten thousand cannonballs to Woolwich. The Board formalized its constitution in 1683, appointing two Proof Masters under the Surveyor-General. By 1688, all ordnance stores from Deptford were ordered to move to Woolwich.

• 2. Industrial Departments And Engineering

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  An ammunition laboratory was set up at the Warren in 1695, overseen by the Comptroller of Fireworks. Laboratory Square was built in 1696 to house operations including gunpowder manufacture and shell cases. A pair of pavilions facing each other across the courtyard are now the oldest surviving buildings on the site. In 1717, Andrew Schalch became the first Master Founder of the Royal Brass Foundry, serving for 54 years until his retirement in 1769. Jan Verbruggen installed a revolutionary horse-powered horizontal boring machine in 1770, which remained in use until 1843. Henry Maudslay worked at the foundry from 1783, inspired by this machinery to improve the lathe. Joseph Bramah installed his patented planing machine in 1805, marking the first use of steam power in the Arsenal. Samuel Bentham and Marc Isambard Brunel were notable engineers employed there during the Napoleonic Wars. William Congreve designed and manufactured rockets on site starting in 1805, making rocket manufacture a key activity.

• 3. Military Establishment And Education

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  On the 26th of May 1716, a Royal Warrant directed that two companies of artillery and a separate corps of twenty-six military engineers be formed permanently. The Regiment of Artillery was quartered at the Warren, with barracks built in 1719 housing 200 men across four floors. An identical block known as Building 11 survives today. In 1720, the Board sought to establish an on-site military academy for its officers. Tower Place had been largely demolished, replaced by a new building erected in its place. The Royal Military Academy was set up on firm footing in 1741, occupying rooms in the new building. Cadets received their own purpose-built barracks dating from 1751, which were entirely demolished in the 1980s. Captain William Congreve built a Repository for Military Machines between New Carriage Square and open ground in the 1770s. This housed an educative display of cannons and mortars while serving as a training ground. By 1777, 900 artillerymen were accommodated in the Warren before moving to Woolwich Common.

• 4. Social Fabric And Community Life

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  In 1868, twenty workers at the Arsenal formed a food-buying association operating from a house in Plumstead named the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society. Over the next 115 years, this enterprise grew to half a million members across London and beyond. They provided services including funerals, housing, libraries, and insurance. Workers also formed a football club initially known as Dial Square after the workshops in the heart of the complex. Their first game took place on the 11th of December with a 6, 0 victory over Eastern Wanderers. Renamed Royal Arsenal two weeks later, the club entered the professional league as Woolwich Arsenal in 1893. The team moved to north London in 1913 and became known as Arsenal F.C. In 1915, the Government built an estate of 1,298 homes at Eltham to accommodate the workforce during World War I. This area was later known as the Progress Estate. The site employed around 80,000 people at its peak during that conflict.

• 5. War Time Production And Expansion

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  At its peak during the First World War, the Royal Arsenal extended over some 470 acres and employed around 80,000 people. The Arsenal comprised the Royal Gun & Carriage Factory which had amalgamated under Colonel Capel Lofft Holden in 1907. Other divisions included the Research and Development Department and various Inspection departments set up following the Morley Report. During the Second World War, the Arsenal was caught up in the Blitz on the 7th of September 1940. After several attacks, the fuze factory was destroyed while the filling factory and light gun factory were badly damaged. Explosive filling work ceased on the site but production of guns, shells, cartridge cases, and bombs continued. In September 1940, prior to the raid, some 32,500 people worked there; after the raid this dropped to 19,000. Numbers increased by February 1943 with 23,000 employed before dropping to 15,000 by August 1945. One hundred three people were killed and 770 injured during 25 raids involving bombs, V-1 flying bombs, and V-2 rockets.

• 6. Post-War Decline And Closure

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  During the quiet period after the end of the Second World War, the Royal Arsenal built railway wagons between 1945 and 1949. It also constructed knitting frames for the silk stockings industry up to 1952. Armament production increased again during the Korean War. From 1947, the British atomic weapons programme called HER or High Explosive Research was based at Fort Halstead in Kent and also at Woolwich. The first British atomic device was tested in 1952 under Operation Hurricane. In 1953, a body called Royal Arsenal Estate was set up to dispose of areas deemed surplus to requirements. An approximately 60-acre area around what is now Griffin Manor Way was used for an industrial estate with Ford Motor Company becoming its first tenant in 1955. A merger took place in 1957 creating ROF Woolwich, uniting various manufacturing operations into a single factory for the first time. The Proof and Experimental Establishment closed in 1957 though RARDE continued using the proof butts until September 1969. The Woolwich Royal Ordnance Factories finally closed in 1967.

• 7. Modern Redevelopment And Legacy

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  The Royal Arsenal ceased to be a military establishment in 1994 when the Ministry of Defence moved out completely. Parts of the site have been transformed into residential and commercial buildings by Berkeley Homes. More than 3,000 residents now live in one of the biggest concentrations of Grade I and Grade II listed buildings converted for residential use. One of the earliest developments was Royal Artillery Quays, a series of glass towers rising along the riverside built by Barratt Homes in 2003. Plans include more than 1,700 homes already existing at Royal Arsenal Riverside with an additional 3,700 new homes planned. A 120-bedroom hotel by Holiday-Inn Express is also part of the masterplan. In October 2018, planning permission was granted for the first phase of a multi-million pound restoration near the new Woolwich Crossrail station. This created a 15,000sqm complex of theatres, dance studios, and places to eat known as Woolwich Works. The development includes a Thames Clippers stop on site and a Streetcar car club. Belmarsh high-security prison was built on part of Royal Arsenal East becoming operational in 1991.