Royal Arsenal

The Royal Arsenal had its origins in a domestic warren at Tower Place in Old Woolwich. Tower Place was a Tudor mansion built in the 1540s for Martin Bowes, a wealthy goldsmith and merchant, later Lord Mayor of London. The house with its octagonal tower stood nearby Gun Wharf (the original site of Woolwich Dockyard where the Henry Grace à Dieu had been built around 1515). After the Dockyard moved west in the 1540s, Gun Wharf was acquired by the Office of Ordnance and mainly used for gun storage. In 1651, the owners of Tower Place gave the board permission to prove its guns on the warren that formed part of their land. That same year the first proof butts were built on the site, under the board's direction (24 years later they were enlarged, to enable more guns to be proved at each firing). Purchase of the site In 1667, in response to the raid on the Medway, a gun battery (known as Prince Rupert's Battery, being under the command of the King's cousin) was built in the grounds of the house, designed to defend London in the event of a similar raid on the Thames. The following year, Tower Place was acquired by Sir William Pritchard who promptly entered into negotiations to sell it to the Board of Ordnance; and in 1671, the estate was given to the board in exchange for the Gun Wharf and a substantial amount of cash. The board at the time declared the site to be "a convenient place for building a storehouse for powder and other stores of war, and for room for the proof of guns". The first Storekeeper, Captain Francis Cheeseman, was appointed in 1670 by Warrant of the Master-General of the Ordnance. Proof and experiment In 1681, King Charles II visited the Warren and observed Richard Leake, Master Gunner of England, conduct an experiment with fire-shot in the proof butts. In 1682 what had till then been the board's main proving ground (in 'Old Artillery Garden' near its headquarters in the Tower of London) was closed and its staff and activities were promptly moved to Tower Place. That year a thousand cannon and ten thousand cannonballs were sent to Woolwich from the Tower, and the proof butts were further expanded. When the constitution of the Board of Ordnance was formalised by Charles II in 1683, two Proof Masters were appointed, under the Surveyor-General of the Ordnance, to ensure that proofs and trials were conducted correctly and the results duly certified. In 1684 the King paid another visit, when Leake conducted a trial of his newly-developed mortar design. Centralisation of ordnance stores In 1688 it was ordered that 'all guns, carriages and stores now at Deptford, be removed to Woolwich, and from henceforth new ordnance and carriages be laid there'. No manufacturing took place at this stage, however, except for the periodical production of fireworks for state celebrations; (between 1681 and 1694 saltpetre, a key ingredient of gunpowder, was regularly refined on the site). In due course, the site as a whole became known as The Warren. ==18th century: The Warren==

The Board of Ordnance was both a civil and a military office of State, independent of the Army, overseen by a high-ranking official, the Master-General of the Ordnance. Both branches, civil and military, were represented at the Warren; indeed there was a great deal of overlap: military officers for the most part headed up the civil departments, and civilians often worked alongside the military personnel. The Royal Laboratory An ammunition laboratory (i.e. workshop) was set up at the Warren in 1695, overseen by the Comptroller of Fireworks. Manufacture of ammunition had previously taken place within a Great Barn on the tilt-yard at Greenwich Palace (an offshoot of the royal armoury there); but in 1695 construction of Greenwich Hospital began on the palace site, so the laboratory was relocated downstream at Woolwich (the barn building itself was even disassembled and rebuilt at the Warren). In 1696 Laboratory Square was built to house its operations, which included manufacture of gunpowder, shell cases, fuses and paper gun cartridges; it consisted of a quadrangle with a gateway at the north end, buildings along either side and a clock tower at the south end, beyond which further buildings were ranged. The manufacturing process was conducted by hand, overseen by a Chief Firemaster; early paintings show artisans at work in the courtyards among pyramid stacks of shells. A pair of pavilions, which once faced each other across the centre of the courtyard, are now the oldest surviving buildings on the Arsenal site; they were being restored for residential use in 2013. The Comptroller, Royal Laboratory, had oversight of the Royal Gunpowder Mills in addition to the Woolwich manufactory. From time to time there were public demonstrations of the work of the Laboratory, often in Hyde Park, and by the mid-18th century it was customary for the Royal Laboratory to provide an official 'fireworks display' on occasions such as coronations, peace treaties, royal jubilees etc. The Royal Brass Foundry A gun foundry, overseen by a Master Founder, was established in 1717. (The decision of the Board of Ordnance to set up and supervise its own foundry operations followed a devastating explosion at the private foundry it had previously used in Moorfields.) In Woolwich, the original Royal Brass Foundry building survives (built on the site of the relocated "Greenwich Barn"). Its handsome exterior encloses a space designed for pure industrial functionality, with height to accommodate a vertical boring machine, and tall doors permitting easy removal of newly made cannons. The military establishment By 1700 the Board of Ordnance had a team of 20 gunners stationed in the Warren, overseen by the Master Gunner of England, who (except in time of war) assisted in the manufacture as well as the proving of cannons. Building, repair and technical work was undertaken by the board's (civil) artificers, who were drafted in from the Tower of London as and when required. In many respects 'there was no distinction between the Ordnance soldier and the Ordnance civilian' at this time, and a close working relationship endured between the two constituencies across subsequent decades. The military constitution of the Board of Ordnance was strengthened when, on 26 May 1716, a Royal Warrant directed that two companies of artillery (of a hundred men each, plus officers) and a separate corps of twenty-six military engineers (all officers) be formed on a permanent basis: this marked the foundation of the Royal Artillery and the Royal Engineers. Both had their headquarters in the Warren for a time and (when not mobilized for war) they were regularly engaged in its work. The regiment of artillery The two companies of artillery (referred to as 'Royal Artillery' by 1720) were quartered and based at the Warren. By 1722 the detachment had grown and was formally named the Royal Regiment of Artillery. These troops (who were not under the command of the Army but of the Board of Ordnance) provided a versatile workforce on site, as well as helping ensure its security. In 1719 they were provided with their own barracks within the compound, close to Dial Arch: a single block was built, housing 200 men in open barracks accommodation across four floors, with a pair of officers' houses incorporated at each end. (This block has since been demolished, but an identical block (now known as Building 11), survives; it was built alongside the first in 1739–1740, the Regiment having been enlarged). After the formation of the Regiment in 1716, the Royal Artillery took on responsibility for conducting proof tests and the (recently renamed) post of Master Gunner of Great Britain was abolished. Proving guns at the Warren became part of routine training for gunners of the Royal Artillery, overseen at first by the Board's proofmaster-general (and then, after 1780, by the Inspector of Artillery). In addition to the proof butts, a range was set up in 1787 for gunnery practice, firing parallel to the river across Plumstead Marshes. Removal of the military to Woolwich Common By the 1770s the number of artillerymen accommodated in the Warren had increased to 900, prompting the construction of a new Royal Artillery Barracks on the north side of Woolwich Common, where they moved in 1777; whereupon their old barracks were converted into terraces of houses (they continued to house artillery officers for some years, and were later used for senior staff of the Royal Laboratory). The Commandant Woolwich Garrison remained quartered in the Arsenal until 1839, when he was provided with a new house on Woolwich Common (Government House). It was a sizeable quadrangle of workshops and other facilities, which served as the Royal Engineers' headquarters until 1856 (when it was converted into a wheel factory for the adjacent Royal Carriage Works). The purchase that year of additional land to the east allowed the proof butts to be relocated, realigned and extended in 1779. This in turn freed up additional land on the old Warren site which would be used for a series of substantial building projects in the early 19th century. In 1777–1778, convict labour was used to construct a (approximately) brick boundary wall, generally high. In 1804 this wall was raised to near the Plumstead road, and to in other parts. (The first boundary wall had been built in 1702, prior to which the Warren had operated on open ground.) Use of convict labour was key to this period of expansion. It was used to construct a huge new wharf, completed in 1813, and then again in 1814–1816 to dig a canal (the Ordnance Canal), which formed the eastern boundary of the site. Guardhouses were built at points on the perimeter, manned by troops of the Royal Artillery; one at the main gate (1787–1788) and a pair by the new wharf (1814–1815) are still in place today. The River Thames was key to the Warren and its operations from the earliest days. A dock was built as part of the rebuilt wharf to facilitate loading and unloading from ships (it was supplemented in 1856 by the first in a series of substantial piers). The canal, as well as forming a boundary, provided access for barges; these were initially used to deliver timber to the heart of the carriage-building department and later provided a transit route for guns and explosives. ==19th century: The Arsenal==

In 1805, at the suggestion of King George III, the entire complex became known as the Royal Arsenal; its constituent elements retained their independence, however. Expansion during the Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars prompted an increase of activity at the Arsenal, which affected all areas of its operation. In 1803–1805 a substantial Royal Carriage Factory was built (on the site of New Carriage Square, which had been destroyed by fire - possibly arson - the previous year). Its outer walls, complete with a contemporary chiming clock, survive; within, where there are now new apartment blocks, there was once a vast engineering and manufacturing complex staffed by wheelwrights, carpenters, blacksmiths and metalworkers. but ten years later Portsmouth's (which had been overtaken by dockyard expansion) was relocated to Priddy's Hard, where manufacture (initially of small arms ammunition, later of shells and fuzes) continued, overseen from Woolwich. Proof work continued at this time. In 1803 a burst gun caused damage to nearby buildings, which prompted construction of a new set of proof butts further to the east; these opened (on what would later be the site of the Arsenal's gasworks) in 1808. He was mostly responsible for bringing guncotton into safe use and for winning a patent dispute brought by Alfred Nobel against the British Government over the patent rights to cordite which Abel had jointly developed with Professor James Dewar. he also had a degree of seniority across the Arsenal as a whole, being responsible for receiving orders from the Director of Artillery and Stores and disseminating them across the departments. The three Ordnance Factories guarded their autonomy and resisted efforts made to place them under a single command (the appointment in 1868 of a Brigadier-General with the title 'Director-General of Ordnance and Commandant of the Royal Arsenal' was an initiative which lasted only two years). Since ammunition, guns and carriages had to function together, this lack of co-ordination and communication between the departments that manufactured them inevitably caused problems, at a time when the Arsenal was in any case facing criticism for high levels of wasteful expenditure. An 1886 committee of enquiry, under the chairmanship of the Earl of Morley, laid bare these shortcomings and made a number of recommendations, leading among other things to the (civilian) appointment of Sir William Anderson as Director-General of Ordnance Factories (the post was retitled Chief Superintendent of Ordnance Factories, following Anderson's death, in 1899). A key recommendation was for clear managerial separation between the manufacturing departments and those responsible for inspection and approval of their products, which resulted in the establishment of a separate Inspection department under a Chief Inspector of Armaments. at the Proof Butts, 1862. In 1887 the Proof Butts were relocated once again (for the last time) further to the east. Four bays were built, to which a further four were added in 1895. Each bay consisted of a concrete box (25 ft wide by 20 ft high and 70 ft deep, two-thirds filled with sand) open towards the gun position, which was around 500 yards away. playing their first game on 11 December (a 6–0 victory over Eastern Wanderers) in the Isle of Dogs. Renamed Royal Arsenal two weeks later (and also known as the 'Woolwich Reds'), the club entered the professional football league as Woolwich Arsenal in 1893 and later became known as Arsenal F.C., having moved to north London in 1913. Royal Ordnance Factories F.C. were another successful team set up by the Royal Arsenal but only lasted until 1896. ==20th century: The Royal Ordnance Factories==

indicates the one-time extent of the site over what is now Thamesmead Further enlargement was to follow, and on an unprecedented scale; by the 20th century, though, there was little room for further development on site, so the Arsenal had to expand its area eastwards outside its brick boundary wall onto the Plumstead Marshes. The eastern portion of the Arsenal site had long been used for the more dangerous manufacturing processes, as well as for proof testing. This pattern continued, with the Composition Establishment (where assembly of cartridges, fuzes and other items took place) being moved east of the canal and a lyddite factory being established by the river. Later, much of the area of Plumstead and Erith Marshes was scattered with storage magazines for explosive materials, each in its own walled, moated and earth-traversed enclosure. Manufacture of Whitehead torpedoes, begun in the Arsenal in 1871 (with the canal used as a testing run for a time) was moved to Greenock in 1911. at the turn of the century Scientific research played an increasing role across the Arsenal from the early years of the 20th century: in 1902 an Experimental Establishment was set up to carry out research and investigations into explosives; (co-located with the Proof Butts, the two operations later combined to form the Proof and Experimental Establishment). At the same the staff of the War Department Chemist was expanded to strengthen its research capability; and over the next few years other small research departments emerged, focused on areas such as metallurgy, materials and mechanical technology. The latter was renamed the Army Department Constabulary in 1964 and then merged into the Ministry of Defence Police in 1971, with these two bodies continuing to police the site until its closure. In 1935, the Ballistics branch of the Research Department began work on developing rockets for use as anti-aircraft weapons. To provide a more remote testing location, Fort Halstead in Kent was acquired by the War Office in 1937, initially serving as an outstation of the Arsenal. This went on to become the Projectile Development Establishment (it later relocated to Aberporth in Wales for the duration of the war). Explosive filling work ceased on the site, but the production of guns, shells, cartridge cases and bombs continued. The staff of the Chemical Inspectorate, working with explosives, were evacuated in early September 1940. Shortly afterwards one of the Frog Island buildings was destroyed by bombing and another damaged. The laboratories were partially re-occupied in 1945 and fully re-occupied by 1949. The final run-down During the quiet period after the end of the Second World War, the Royal Arsenal built railway wagons, between 1945 and 1949, and constructed knitting frames for the silk stockings industry, up to 1952. Armament production then increased during the Korean War. From 1947, the British atomic weapons programme, called HER or High Explosive Research, was based at Fort Halstead in Kent (ARDE), and also at Woolwich. The first British atomic device was tested in 1952; Operation Hurricane. In 1951 the AWRE moved to RAF Aldermaston in Berkshire. ARDE, which had its origin in the Research and Design Departments of the Arsenal, retained its Woolwich outstation there until the 1980s. In 1953, a body called Royal Arsenal Estate was set up to dispose of areas of land deemed surplus to requirements. An approximately area of the site, around what is now Griffin Manor Way, was used for an industrial estate; the Ford Motor Company becoming its first tenant in 1955. Two of the roads on this estate Nathan Way and Kellner Road appear to have links with people connected with the Royal Arsenal: a Col. Nathan, at the Royal Gunpowder Factory; and, W. Kellner being the second War Office Chemist. In 1957 a merger took place which created ROF Woolwich: thus, for the first time, the various manufacturing operations on the site were united into a single Royal Ordnance Factory. Its area of operation was henceforward restricted to the western part of the Arsenal site, with everything to the east being earmarked for eventual disposal. In this guise, the factory continued to operate (with upgraded facilities) for a further ten years. Parts of the older (western) section of the site were leased as storage or office space to assorted public bodies (including HM Customs and Excise, the British Museum Library, the National Maritime Museum, the Property Services Agency); alongside these tenants, a variety of smaller MOD departments were accommodated, some on a temporary but others on a longer-term basis. Shortly after the closure of the Woolwich Royal Ordnance Factories, the Frog Island chemical laboratories were moved into a new building erected in 1971, in what was to become the Royal Arsenal East. The old Frog Island area was then sold off and a relocated Plumstead Bus Garage was built on part of this site. This action separated what remained of the Royal Arsenal, some , into two sites: Royal Arsenal West, at Woolwich; and, Royal Arsenal East, at Plumstead, approached via Griffin Manor Way. It also led to breaking down of parts of the 1804 brick boundary wall. Part of it near Plumstead Bus station was replaced by iron railings and chain link fencing; later the public roadway (now the A206) was also changed at the Woolwich market area and the Royal Arsenal's boundary was moved inwards so that the Beresford Gate (which had served as the main entrance to the Arsenal since 1829) became separated from the site by the A206. Its mid-1980s replacement, north of the rerouted A206, stands not far from where the original (1720s) main gateway once stood; it is graced by a pair of 18th-century gatepiers and urns saved from The Paragon on the New Kent Road (itself demolished for road-widening in the 1960s). The Royal Arsenal site retained its links to ordnance production for almost another thirty years as a number of the Ministry of Defence Procurement Executive's Quality Assurance Directorates had their headquarters offices located there. These included the Materials Quality Assurance Directorate (MQAD), which looked after materiel, including explosives and pyrotechnics; and the Quality Assurance Directorate (Ordnance) (QAD (Ord)), which looked after ordnance for the Army. MQAD was the successor of the old War Department Chemist and the Chemical Inspectorate; QAD(Ord) was the successor of the Chief Inspector of Armaments department. There was a separate Naval Ordnance Inspection Department (based in Middlegate House from 1922) that looked after the Royal Navy's interests. QAD (Ord) was based at Royal Arsenal West together with a Ministry of Defence Publications section and part of the British Library's secure storage accommodation. MQAD was based, until closure of the site at Royal Arsenal East; and all the buildings on this site were given E numbers, such as E135. Belmarsh high-security prison was built on part of Royal Arsenal East, becoming operational in 1991. The Royal Arsenal ceased to be a military establishment in 1994. ==Present day==

The sprawling Arsenal site is now one of the focal points for redevelopment in the Thames Gateway zone. Parts of the Royal Arsenal have been used to build residential and commercial buildings. Some links to its historic past have been kept, with many notable buildings in the historic original (West) site being retained in the redevelopment. Attempts to put the history of the site into context were, however, short-lived: Firepower - The Royal Artillery Museum (direct successor of the Arsenal's Repository museum), which had presented the history of artillery alongside that of the regiment, closed in 2016; and Greenwich Heritage Centre, which told the story of Woolwich including the Royal Arsenal, closed in 2018. Residential developments The western part of the Royal Arsenal has now been transformed into a mixed-use development by Berkeley Homes. It comprises one of the biggest concentrations of Grade I and Grade II listed buildings converted for residential use, with more than 3,000 residents. One of the earliest developments was Royal Artillery Quays, a series of glass towers rising along the riverside built by Barratt Homes in 2003. The first phase of homes at Royal Arsenal, "The Armouries", consisted of 455 new-build apartments in a six-storey building. This was followed by "The Warehouse, No.1 Street". The development has a residents' gym, a Thames Clippers stop on site, a Streetcar car club and a 24-hour concierge facility for residents. Wellington Park provides open space and a public house, the Dial Arch, opened in June 2010 Plans have now been submitted for a new masterplan encompassing further land along the river. More than 1,700 homes already exist at Royal Arsenal Riverside, with an additional 3,700 new homes planned, along with of commercial, retail, leisure space and a 120-bedroom hotel by Holiday-Inn Express. The plans also include Woolwich Crossrail station, opened in 2022, which was part-funded by Berkeley Homes. ventilation shaft can be seen in Royal Arsenal Cultural district In October 2018, planning permission was granted for the first phase of a multi-million pound restoration of historic buildings near the new Woolwich Crossrail station, to create a 15,000sqm complex of theatres, dance studios and places to eat. Originally this development was known as 'Woolwich Creative District' but names of the district and buildings were later put to the public vote and in July 2019 the name 'Woolwich Works' was announced Historic architecture Several early 18th-century buildings on the site have been attributed to the architects Sir John Vanbrugh or Nicholas Hawksmoor (both of whom are known to have designed buildings for the Board of Ordnance), including the Royal Brass Foundry, Dial Arch and the Royal Military Academy; but whilst acknowledging their influence (direct or indirect), the Survey of London credits Brigadier-General Michael Richards (Surveyor-general for the Ordnance board at the time) as having played the leading part in their design. In the late-18th and early-19th centuries James Wyatt, as Architect of the Ordnance, was responsible for several buildings on the site, including the Main Guardhouse (1787), the Grand Store (1805) and Middlegate House (1807). More often than not, though, it was the on-site Engineers and Clerks of the Works who were responsible for the design of buildings and other structures within the working Arsenal. ==See also==