Woolwich Dockyard [SEP] founder
Woolwich Dockyard


hammers. Coppersmiths and brass founders were accommodated in a smaller block just to the west (which is still to be seen, immediately north of the old police house at the West Gate). The building which faces the police house across the gateway was built in 1848-9 to serve as the Woolwich Dockyard School for Apprentices: one of a number of such schools set up at the Royal Dockyards under an Admiralty Scheme of 1843, Woolwich specialised in steam engineering, and for a time factory apprentices from all the royal dockyards
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Woolwich Dockyard


Woolwich Dockyard (formally H.M. Dockyard, Woolwich, also known as The King's Yard, Woolwich) was an English naval dockyard along the river Thames at Woolwich in north-west Kent, where a large number of ships were built from the early 16th century until the late 19th century. William Camden called it 'the Mother Dock of all England'. By virtue of the size and quantity of vessels built there, Woolwich Dockyard is described as having been 'among the most important shipyards of seventeenth-century Europe'.
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HMS Dee (1832)


. Her design was by Robert Seppings, as modified by Oliver Lang. Fincham describes her as being built on lines supplied by Lang. She was built at Woolwich dockyard, and cost £27,000. She was initially classified as a "steam vessel"; in 1837 she was reclassified as an "SV Class 2", and reclassified in 1846 as a second-class sloop. She became a troopship in May 1842, and 1855. As a troopship in 1855 she had "a topgallant forecastle for her crew and a
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Woolwich Dockyard


further century). The former dockyard area is now partly residential, partly industrial, with remnants of its historic past having been restored. Woolwich Dockyard was founded by King Henry VIII in 1512 to build his flagship "Henri Grâce à Dieu" ("Great Harry"), the largest ship of its day. The ship was built in Old Woolwich, which is where the dockyard was initially established: past Bell Water Gate, east of the area later known as Woolwich Dockyard. The site consisted of one or more rudimentary
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Woolwich


later development of the Dockyard in the Victorian period is represented by the Steam Factory and the Dockyard chimney, a prominent landmark, and further west by a group of buildings at the site of the Siemens Brothers factory. Between the Arsenal and the Dockyard lies an area that was once Old Woolwich, a part of the town where little of historical interest remains and that, once again, is facing redevelopment. The round entrance building of the Woolwich foot tunnel dates from 1912. Further west, the Thames Barrier is an interesting example
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Woolwich Dockyard


built, containing offices for the various departments of the dockyard, and with it a new main gateway (replacing the old entrance which had been located further to the east). Later, Shipbuilding continued in earnest during the Napoleonic Wars; but, as ships grew still bigger, the Thames continued to silt up. In 1800 Samuel Bentham, the Inspector-General of Naval Works (who had himself served as an apprentice shipwright at Woolwich in the 1770s) proposed replacing Woolwich, Deptford, Chatham and Sheerness dockyards with a single
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Woolwich Dockyard


were educated at the school. Less than half a mile to the south of the site there is a railway station called Woolwich Dockyard. An iron-framed building of 1814 by John Rennie the Elder, removed from Woolwich in the 1970s, was re-erected at Ironbridge where it houses the Blists Hill foundry exhibit; in the dockyard it had housed Rennie's anchor forge, which was notable as the first industrial use of steam power in any naval establishment (other than for pumping water). A number of metal roofs
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Royal Marine Barracks, Woolwich


The Royal Marine Barracks, Woolwich was a military installation occupied by the Royal Marines and located in Frances Street, just south of Woolwich Dockyard. After the Royal Marines' departure from Woolwich it was renamed Cambridge Barracks, while the adjacent Royal Marine Infirmary was renamed Red Barracks. The Woolwich Division of the Royal Marines was established, as part of the response to the threat created by the Napoleonic Wars, in 1805. New barracks for marines, who provided a military presence in the Dockyard, were established east of Frances Street in
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Woolwich Dockyard


and expanded through the 1850s and early 1860s; during that time a new rolling mill and an armour plate shop were built as well as a sizeable new sail loft and rigging store. Ultimately, though, the yard could not keep pace with the emerging needs of the new ironclad warships, and by 1865 it was clear that both Woolwich and Deptford Dockyards were destined for closure. Woolwich Dockyard finally closed in 1869. After closure, much of the land was retained by the War office as storage space for the Ordnance Stores Department
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Siemens Brothers


Siemens Brothers and Company Limited was an electrical engineering design and manufacturing business in London, England. It was first established as a branch in 1858 by a brother of the founder of the German electrical engineering firm Siemens & Halske. The principal works were at Woolwich where cables and light-current electrical apparatus were produced from 1863 until 1968. The site between the Thames Barrier and Woolwich Dockyard has retained several buildings of historic interest. New works were built at Stafford in 1903 and Dalston in 1908. During World War I Siemens Brothers
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Old Woolwich


with views of the river. A brick wall along Woolwich Church Street forms the southern boundary of Woolwich Dockyard. The development of the Mast Quay Buildings in 2004-06, at the eastern extremity of the Dockyard, was amongst the earliest signs of urban renewal in Woolwich. A few older buildings remain south of the roundabout where the A205 meets the A206. At the eastern slope of Church Hill an unusual cluster is formed by two derelict buildings and a formidable Art Deco cinema. The former Odeon Cinema, now called Gateway House
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Woolwich Dockyard


all Flag Officers of the Royal Navy holding positions of Admiral Superintendents at Royal Dockyards were restyled as Port Admirals. Post holders include: Post holders included: Note: From 1748 to 1806 the yard was managed directly by the Navy Board. Charles Cunningham was also commissioner at Chatham in March 1828. Post holders included: Post holders included: On Woolwich Church Street, a late 18th-century guard house and police office with neoclassical features stand alongside the former dockyard gates. Nearby, the former dockyard administration building now serves as the
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Woolwich Dockyard


the Navy Board after which he became deputy to the resident commissioner. The Commissioner of the Navy at Woolwich Dockyard held a seat and a vote on the Navy Board in London. In 1748 the dockyard was managed directly by the Navy Board. In 1832 the post of commissioner was replaced by the post of captain-superintendent, who was invested with the same power and authority as the former commissioners, "except in matters requiring an Act of Parliament to be submitted by the Commissioner of the Navy". On 5 September 1971
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HMS Discovery (1774)


When Cook was killed in a skirmish with natives of Hawaii, Clerke transferred to the expedition's flagship HMS "Resolution" and John Gore assumed command of "Discovery". She returned to Britain under the command of Lieutenant James King, arriving back on 4 October 1780. After returning to the Nore in 1780, "Discovery" was fitted out as a transport at Woolwich Dockyard, serving as such between December 1780 and May 1781. She then became a dockyard craft at Woolwich, and was broken up at Chatham Dockyard in
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Woolwich Dockyard


that Woolwich Dockyard had been founded in 1512 and the Great Harry was built in 1515; when the dockyard had moved to its new, permanent site in the 1540s, the old wharf, crane and storehouse had been given over to storage of heavy ordnance and other items. Gun carriage repair was also undertaken on site. Later, use of the Gun Wharf was shared with the nearby Royal Ropeyard, which maintained a storehouse there for hemp and other materials. The wharf and its buildings were improved and rebuilt at regular points through
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HMS Northumberland (1705)


HMS "Northumberland" was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard and launched in 1705. She was rebuilt twice during her career, firstly at Woolwich Dockyard, where she was reconstructed according to the 1719 Establishment and relaunched on 13 July 1721. Her second rebuild was also carried out at Woolwich Dockyard, where she was reconstructed as a 64-gun third rate according to the 1741 proposals of the 1719 Establishment, and relaunched on 17 October 1743. "Northumberland" was captured during
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3rd Kent Artillery Volunteers (Royal Arsenal)


formed the 26th (Royal Arsenal) Rifle Volunteer Corps, which eventually became the 20th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Blackheath and Woolwich).) Formally constituted on 28 February 1860, and designated the 10th (Royal Arsenal) Kent AVC, the unit was manned by artisans from the Shot and Shell Factory. The nearby Royal Dockyards at Deptford and Woolwich also raised an AVC, numbered 14th (Royal Dockyard) Kent AVC. However, the dockyards closed in 1869 and the 14th Kent AVC was disbanded
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Woolwich West (UK Parliament constituency)


Woolwich West was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until 1983. It centred on Eltham, now in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in south-east London. The constituency was formed for the 1918 general election, when the constituency of Woolwich was divided into Woolwich West and Woolwich East, and abolished in 1983. Although the boundaries changed, Woolwich West in effect became the new Eltham constituency. 1918-1950: The Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich wards of Dockyard, Eltham
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Woolwich


flagship "Henry Grace à Dieu" ("The Great Harry"). Many great ships were built here, such as the "Prince Royal", the "Sovereign of the Seas", the "Royal Charles", the "Dolphin" and the "Beagle". The dockyard went through many ups and downs but survived for three and a half centuries, closing down in 1869. Following the establishment of the dockyard, Martin Bowes who had gathered a fortune at the Royal Mint, bought riverside holdings in Woolwich
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Woolwich


, the Main Guard House, two small guardhouses near the Thames, the Shell Foundry Gatehouse, Verbruggen House and two twin pavilions in Laboratory Square, the oldest structures on the site (1696). At Woolwich Dockyard relatively little of historic interest remains. The main monumental building complex comprises a small cluster of 18th-century buildings: the entrance gate, the guardhouse and the so-called Clock House (Dockyard offices). A pair of 19th-century docks remain on the site of their 16th-century predecessors. The
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Woolwich Dockyard


Office withdrew from Gun Wharf in 1671, but the Ropeyard continued to make use of the wharf and its associated storehouses into the 19th century. In the 1570s the Crown established a naval Ropeyard in Woolwich, one of the largest in the world at the time. Too long to fit within the confines of the Dockyard, its parallel sheds lay along the line of present-day Beresford Street. As first built it consisted of a 600ft 'cable house' along with a series of sheds accommodating different parts of the ropemaking
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Woolwich Dockyard


, where ships could moor alongside the factory while their engines and boilers were fitted. One of these basins was provided with its own dry dock (No. 1 Dock) which, like the basins, was filled in and built over in the 20th century. The factory was part of the dockyard, but had a high degree of independence: it was accessed by its own gate (known as the West Gate or Steam Factory Gate) and overseen by its own official, the Chief Engineer. Woolwich retained its primacy as
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English ship Mary (1650)


Speaker was a 50-gun third-rate frigate and the name ship of the , built for the navy of the Commonwealth of England by Christopher Pett at Woolwich Dockyard and launched in 1650. At the Restoration she was renamed HMS "Mary". By 1677 her armament had been increased to 62 guns. In 1688 "Mary" was rebuilt by Thomas Shish at Woolwich Dockyard as a 62-gun third-rate ship of the line. "Mary" was wrecked on the Goodwin Sands in the Great Storm of 1703. Of her 275
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Henry Grace à Dieu


having a complement of 700–1,000 men. It is said that she was ordered by Henry VIII in response to construction of the Scottish ship "Michael", launched in 1511. The ship was built from 1512 to 1514 at the purpose-built Gun Wharf in Old Woolwich. This wharf became the origin of Woolwich Dockyard, although in the 1540s the dockyard moved further west to an area known as "The King's Yard", where it would remain for more than 300 years. "Henry Grace à Dieu" was one
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Woolwich


reliefs from the 19th and early 20th century, and a number of modern sculptures. One of the Woolwich Arsenal DLR station entrances features a large mural in tiles by Michael Craig Martin. The nearest stations are Woolwich Arsenal and Woolwich Dockyard for Southeastern services towards Barnehurst, Dartford, Gravesend, London Cannon Street and London Charing Cross. The nearest station is Woolwich Arsenal for Docklands Light Railway services towards London City Airport, Bank and Stratford International. The new Woolwich Crossrail Station is scheduled to open in 2020 for Elizabeth line services towards Abbey
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Woolwich Dockyard


During the Age of Sail, the yard continued to be used for shipbuilding and repair work more or less consistently; in the 1830s a specialist factory within the dockyard oversaw the introduction of steam power for ships of the Royal Navy. At its largest extent it filled a 56-acre site north of Woolwich Church Street, between Warspite Road and New Ferry Approach; 19th-century naval vessels were fast outgrowing the yard, however, and it eventually closed in 1869 (though a large part of the site remained in military hands for a
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Woolwich Dockyard


dry docks, a long storehouse (for canvas, rigging and other materials) and a small assortment of other buildings. Like its counterpart Deptford Dockyard, Woolwich was probably chosen for its position - on the south bank of the tidal River Thames conveniently close to Henry's palace at Greenwich - and for its proximity to deep water. Several other ships were built here after "Great Harry", but in the 1520s shipbuilding appears to have ceased (the site may have been prone to flooding, a problem that caused the closure
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Woolwich Dockyard


mould loft for drawing up full-scale ship designs) and in 1698 a palatial Great Storehouse was erected. Apart from the brick-built mast house and Great Storehouse, the buildings were almost entirely of timber construction. As at other Royal Dockyards, the Ordnance Office maintained a Gun Wharf at Woolwich for storage and provision of guns and ammunition for the ships based there. The Gun Wharf was sited east of Bell Water Gate (where there is now a car park next to the Waterfront Leisure Centre). It was here
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Woolwich Dockyard


the Navy's steam engineering yard through the 1840s, but following the establishment of large-scale steam yards at Portsmouth (1848) and Devonport (1853) it became increasingly redundant, especially as its basins were no longer large enough for the size of ships now being built. Older ships still came to Woolwich for engine repairs and maintenance, but by the end of the Crimean War the steam factory's days were numbered. Surprisingly though, the dockyard had managed to remain active in shipbuilding and its facilities continued to be upgraded
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Woolwich Dockyard


, based at the nearby Royal Arsenal; general items (including barrack stores, accoutrements and harness) were moved to the Dockyard, while 'warlike stores' remained in the Arsenal. Warehouses were built across much of the site and existing buildings were converted to provide storage space. A narrow-gauge railway system served the complex, linked by way of a tunnel under Woolwich Church Street to the North Kent Line (which itself was linked into the Royal Arsenal Railway); the tunnel remains "in situ" for use by
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HMS Basilisk (1848)


HMS "Basilisk" was a first-class paddle sloop of the Royal Navy, built at the Woolwich Dockyard and launched on 22 August 1848. "Basilisk" was designed by Oliver Lang to the same lines as the screw sloop "Niger" and ordered on 23 March 1846 from Woolwich Dockyard. She was laid down in November of the same year and launched on 22 August 1848. She was fitted with paddlewheels driven by a Miller, Ravenhill & Salkeld two-cylinder oscillating steam engine rated at 400 nominal horsepower and developing
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HMS Bonaventure (1650)


"Bonaventure" was rebuilt a second time in 1699 at Woolwich Dockyard, relaunching as a fourth rate of between 46 and 54 guns. Her third rebuild took place at Chatham Dockyard, where she was rebuilt as a 50-gun fourth rate to the 1706 Establishment, relaunching on 19 September 1711. She was renamed HMS "Argyll prior to the Jacobite rising of 1715, and on 27 January 1720 she was ordered to be taken to pieces at Woolwich for what was to be her final rebuild. She was relaunched as a 50-gun fourth
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Royal Army Ordnance Corps


site, which was later named the Royal Arsenal. The first modern purpose-built depot to store weapons was constructed alongside the Grand Union Canal at Weedon in 1808. In 1813 a new Grand Storehouse was opened in the Royal Arsenal, containing multiple warehouses for all kinds of military stores. After the Crimean War the regimental depot, and home of the RAOC and its predecessors, became the Red Fort at Woolwich. This had been built as an Infirmary for the Royal Marine Barracks linked to the nearby Royal Dockyard. Woolwich Dockyard
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Royal Arsenal


community use. 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 Board of Ordnance and mainly used for
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HMS Rattler (1843)


"Rattler" was launched on 13 April 1843 at Sheerness Dockyard and towed to Maudslay's yard to have her machinery installed. She received a four-cylinder vertical single-expansion steam engine with double cylinders, rated at 200 nhp and developing . She was coppered at Woolwich Dockyard and spent two years on trials, with her first day at sea on 30 October 1843. Her armament consisted of a single 8-inch (60 cwt) pivot gun and eight 32-pounder (25cwt) broadside guns. She was commissioned at Woolwich on 30
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HMS Brisk (1851)


HMS "Brisk" was a 14-gun wooden-hulled screw sloop of the Royal Navy, launched on 2 June 1851 from Woolwich Dockyard. She served in the Crimean War and as part of the West African anti-piracy patrol, as well as during the New Zealand Wars. She was sold in 1870. Ordered from Woolwich Dockyard on 17 February 1847 to the same design as , she was re-ordered as an enlarged version on 25 April 1847. She was laid down in January 1849 and launched on 2 June 1851
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History of the Royal Marines


meant he suffered only very minor injuries. When first permanently established (1755), the Marines were formed into three Divisions based in the three principal Royal Navy Dockyards: Portsmouth, Chatham and Plymouth. The Royal Marines was the first complete British corps to be provided with its own barracks - one for each Division: In 1805 a fourth division was established, based at Woolwich (site of another Royal Dockyard). The Royal Marine Barracks, Woolwich and Infirmary were built there (in Frances Street) between 1842 and 1848;
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Woolwich


the plans for Spray Street quarter and the Island site. The town was used as a location for the 2006 film "Children of Men". Woolwich has one museum, the Greenwich Heritage Centre at the Royal Arsenal (Firepower – The Royal Artillery Museum closed in 2016 after having been based in Woolwich for almost two centuries). Second Floor Studios in the Woolwich Dockyard area is one of London's largest concentrations of artists' studios. The town has a number of public sculptures: one of Roman origin, several statues and
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Woolwich


, earning about a quarter of dockyard labourers' wages. At the height of the Napoleonic Wars, there were more soldiers (3,000) than dockyard and ropeyard workers (2,000), while the arsenal employed as many as 5,000. After the end of the wars, thousands were discharged, causing great distress. In the 1840s, a steam factory gave a new lease of life to the dockyard and the 1850s saw a huge expansion of the arsenal during and after the Crimean War. The presence of the dockyard, the arsenal
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Deptford Dockyard


had been used to build royal ships since the early fifteenth century, during the reign of Henry V. Moves were made to improve the administration and operation of the Royal Navy during the Tudor period, and Henry VII founded the first royal dockyard at Portsmouth in 1496. Henry's son, Henry VIII furthered his father's expansion plans, but preferred locations along the Thames to south coast ports, and established Woolwich Dockyard, followed by a dockyard at Deptford in 1513. The dockyard initially consisted of little more than a dry dock and
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Woolwich


15th century. A windmill was mentioned around 1450. Several pottery kilns have been discovered north of Woolwich High Street and Beresford Street, testifying of a perhaps unbroken tradition of pottery production from at least the 14th century until the 17th century. Woolwich remained a relatively small Kentish settlement until the beginning of the 16th century, when it began to develop into a maritime, military and industrial centre. In 1512 it became home to Woolwich Dockyard, originally known as "The King's Yard", founded by Henry VIII to built his
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Woolwich Common


west as far as Charlton (Charlton cemetery was laid out in 1855) and continuing east in what is now Shrewsbury Park, Plumstead Common and Winn's Common. The actual common was only about 80 acres and was used for grazing cattle and sheep, as well as digging peat and gathering wood and gorse for fuel. Ownership rested with the Crown; Woolwich Common being attached to the manor of Eltham. Unlike most of Woolwich, it never became part of the Bowater estate. Because of the rapid growth of both Woolwich Dockyard
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Old Woolwich


Dockyard, and to the east by the Royal Arsenal. Old Woolwich is located north of the present-day commercial heart of Woolwich, which is centred around Beresford Square and Powis Street. Woolwich Central Riverside has been inhabited at least since the 1st century BCE. Remains of Iron Age, probably Celtic fortifications were found at the current Waterfront development site between Beresford Street and the Thames. This was reused as a castrum or castellum in the late-Roman period. According to the Survey of London, ""this defensive earthwork
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Old Woolwich


St Mary's Gardens. The park formed an oasis between the densely populated streets south of Woolwich Church Street, and the Dockyard north of it. An attempt was made to move the market from Market Hill to Market Street in the Bathway Quarter but this proved to be unpopular. In 1888 the market was officially established at Beresford Square. Powis Street became a successful commercial street and replaced Woolwich High Street as the town's main shopping area. Horse-drawn trams arrived in Woolwich Church Street, High Street and Beresford Street in
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Charlton, London


of the same name. Charlton's riverside areas are part of the Woolwich Riverside ward, which also includes Woolwich Dockyard and Arsenal. Charlton has had only Labour councillors since 1971, while Woolwich Riverside has been Labour-controlled since its creation in 2002. In the Westminster parliament, Charlton is covered by the Greenwich and Woolwich constituency, which has been represented by Matthew Pennycook since 2015. In the London Assembly, Charlton falls within the Greenwich and Lewisham constituency, which has been represented by Labour's Len Duvall since its creation in
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Thomas Slade


Sir Thomas Slade (1703/4–1771) was an English naval architect, most famous for designing HMS "Victory", Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Like many who rose to the pinnacle of the design of British sailing warships, Thomas Slade began as a shipwright in the Royal Dockyards. His uncle Benjamin Slade was Master Shipwright at Plymouth Dockyard (a master shipwright was responsible for all ship construction and repair at the dockyard in which he served). In 1744 Thomas became Deputy Master Shipwright at Woolwich Dockyard
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Kings Arms, Woolwich


The Kings Arms is a public house, now (as of 2018) closed, in Woolwich in southeast London that was bombed by the IRA in 1974, killing two people. Standing at 1 Frances Street to the south of Woolwich Dockyard and the Royal Marine Barracks, and northwest of the Royal Artillery Barracks, it was built in the 19th century. In the 1881 census it is listed as the "Kings Arms Hotel". Echoing similar attacks in Guildford the previous month, a bomb made of 6 lb of gelignite with
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Woolwich Dockyard


of another Royal Dockyard further downstream in Erith at around this time). By 1540, however, the royal shipwrights had begun operating on higher ground further to the west at what was to become the permanent site of the Dockyard, where a pair of dry docks (already "in situ" and known as "Boughton's Docks") formed the centre of operations. The site was purchased by the Crown in 1546 and in the second half of the century several sizeable ships were built there. The yard was also used
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Woolwich


the present-day A206 road has been dominated by docks, warehouses and factories, starting with the Royal Dockyard early in the 16th century, later eclipsed by the Royal Arsenal in scale and grandeur. In the 18th century the Royal Regiment of Artillery and the Corps of Royal Engineers were established in Woolwich, followed by the Royal Military Academy. Other military institutions completed the picture of the garrison town that Woolwich had become in the early 19th century. The town has a distinctive housing history and in the Bathway Quarter it has an
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Woolwich


, of which the gatehouse still stands) and Red Barracks (1858, only the boundary wall and entrance gate remain). The latter two, on Frances Street, were originally built as the Royal Marine Barracks, Woolwich for the Woolwich Division of the Royal Marines, and each was considered an innovative and influential design. The Marines departed with the closure of the Dockyard, whereupon the buildings were converted into barracks accommodation for various military corps. Rushgrove House (1806) housed the Colonel Commandant of the Marine Barracks (later Cambridge
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Old Woolwich


97 by the surveyor and naval engineer Edmund Dummer, adding a double ropewalk to the existing one. The yard was extended to 324 m, stretching all the way to Green's End. At its north end stood a brick warehouse with a clock tower. It employed as many as 400 men. This, and the shipbuilding at Woolwich Dockyard, attracted ever more workers to Woolwich, which due to the malarial marshland was not a popular posting. However, the town's population grew rapidly, to about 6,500 in 1720.
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Woolwich East (UK Parliament constituency)


then transferred to Newham South. Throughout its 65-year existence, the constituency elected Labour MPs with the sole exception of a Conservative elected in a 1921 by-election. 1918-1950: The Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich wards of Burrage, Central, Glyndon, St Margaret's, and St Nicholas. 1950-1955: The Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich wards of Abbey Wood, Burrage, Central, Dockyard, Glyndon, River, St Margaret's, St Mary's, and St Nicholas. 1955-1974: The Metropolitan Borough of
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Royal Artillery Barracks


Byzantine detailing, it was largely destroyed by a V1 flying bomb on 14 July 1944, but the ruins have been preserved as a memorial. Woolwich Dockyard was one of the principal Royal Dockyards during the Tudor and Stuart periods; it closed in 1869 as the Thames was by then too difficult to navigate for the naval vessels of the time, and most of the site then served as an overflow depot for the Arsenal's ordnance stores. The Royal Marines, who had provided a military presence in the Dockyard, were housed in
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Woolwich Dockyard


in service until 1832, by which time similar establishments in other Royal Dockyards had begun to come to the fore; the site having been sold in 1833, its buildings were demolished soon afterwards, in 1835. The fortunes of the yard had waned toward the end of the seventeenth century; in 1688 its work was valued at £9,669, in contrast to nearby Deptford (£15,760), not to mention the (by now much larger) Royal Dockyards at Portsmouth (£35,045), and Chatham (£44,940)
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Royal Navy Dockyard


yard had already been established at Portsmouth with the building of a dry dock in 1496; but it was on the Thames in the reign of Henry VIII that the Royal Dockyards really began to flourish. Woolwich and Deptford dockyards were both established in the early 1510s (a third yard followed at Erith but this was short-lived as it proved to be vulnerable to flooding). The Thames yards were pre-eminent in the sixteenth century, being conveniently close to the merchants and artisans of London (for shipbuilding and supply purposes
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Woolwich Town Hall


seating 750 people. The hall has a large dome that provides daylight. Stained-glass windows throughout the building depict historic events in the parishes of Woolwich, Plumstead and Eltham, for example the entertaining of three foreign kings in Eltham Palace in 1374, the launching of the ship "Henry Grace à Dieu" at Woolwich Dockyard in 1514, and portraits of Thomas More, Margaret Roper and Samuel Pepys. The windows date from 1904 and are the work of Geoffrey Webb. Elsewhere in the building fine woodcarving and plasterwork can be
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Powis Street


vicinity, mostly around the stations. A large multi-storey carpark exists in Monk Street / Calderwood Street. Other car parks are available at the west end of Powis Street and in Macbean Street. Up to the late 18th century, the military and naval town of Woolwich was largely situated along the High Street, and to the north of that street along the banks of the river Thames, crammed in between Woolwich Dockyard and The Warren (later the Royal Arsenal). Most shops in Old Woolwich would have been along the
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HMS Woolwich (1675)


HMS "Woolwich" was a 54-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Phineas Pett III at Woolwich Dockyard and launched in 1675. She underwent a rebuild in 1702. In 1705, when Thomas Ekines was in command, she was involved in the seizure of a Dutch ship which Ekines claimed was trading with Britains enemies of the War of the Spanish Succession. Although Ekines right to seize the ship was upheld, his further seizure of the bulk of the cargo for his personal gain caused major problems
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St Mary Magdalene Woolwich


the "Great Harry" at Woolwich Dockyard. Rectors of Woolwich in the late 17th century included Thomas Lindsay (1686-1694) and Philip Stubbs (1694-1699). By the 18th century the Elizabethan spire had collapsed and the foundations were showing signs of strain. Thus a new church (the present one) was built from 1732 to 1739, close to the medieval church's site. An architect's name is not known; there probably was none. Plain brick churches with round-headed windows had been built
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Deptford Dockyard


seldom at home a whole day, very often in the King's Yard or by water, dressed in several dresses." Peter studied shipbuilding techniques and practices at the dockyard. With the increasing specialisation among the royal dockyards, Deptford concentrated on building smaller warships and was the headquarters of the naval transport service. Throughout the various wars of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the navy sought to relieve pressure on the main fleet bases by concentrating shipbuilding and fitting out at riverine docks like Chatham, Woolwich and Deptford, leaving the front
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Convoys Wharf


the dockyard's use was restricted to ship building and distributing stores to other yards and fleets abroad. It was shut down from 1830 to 1844 and in 1864 a Parliamentary Committee recommended that the dockyards at Deptford (and Woolwich) should be closed. Their recommendation was accepted and the Deptford dockyard was closed in May 1869, by which time it employed 800 people. It had produced some 450 ships, the last being the wooden screw corvette HMS "Druid" launched in 1869. Before refrigeration cattle had to be imported alive,
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Sheerness Dockyard


the Thames. By the early nineteenth century, the old hulks underpinning the reclaimed land of the Dockyard were seriously decaying and the site was becoming increasingly unstable. The Dockyard, however, was getting busier, since it (unlike the nearby Chatham, Woolwich and Deptford yards) was not prone to silting. By 1810, designs had been submitted to the Controller of the Navy by both Samuel Bentham and John Rennie the Elder for a relatively modest rebuilding of the yard. Over the next three years, both Bentham and Rennie produced
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Sympson the Joiner


Thomas Simpson, or Sympson the Joiner (fl. 1660s) was a Master-Joiner at the Deptford Dockyard and the Royal Naval Dockyard at Woolwich in London. Samuel Pepys mentions his name several times in his diary. Pepys' job as a naval administrator brought him into daily contact with the naval dockyards and he was responsible for various aspects of their administration. Although the diary explicitly notes that Pepys was paying him handsomely, it is probable that Simpson was working for Pepys instead of working on the interiors of warships. In
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Woolwich


town, where clay was readily available. Near Plumstead and Charlton were sandpits; the sand was shipped from a wharf near Tower Place. In 1863, the German firm Siemens & Halske established a submarine-cable factory in the Dockyard area, which expanded rapidly. Woolwich market received its charter in 1618 but is certainly older. The market, which had long been established in the High Street in Old Woolwich (at a location called Market Hill), had gradually drifted towards the Royal Arsenal's main gatehouse, more or less
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HMS Sinbad


with a single mortar and had a complement of 17–18 crewmen. "Sinbad", the only ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy, was laid down in November 1832 at Pembroke Dockyard, Wales, and launched on 27 February 1823. She was completed on 30 June 1834 at Plymouth Dockyard. Her conversion into a bomb vessel began in October 1854 at Woolwich Dockyard and lasted until June 1855. The ship was renamed "MV.2" ("Mortar Vessel") in recognition of her new role on 19 October
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Deptford Dockyard


up. The dockyard is one of the locations associated with the story of Sir Walter Raleigh laying his cloak before Elizabeth's feet. Deptford's significant role during this and later periods resulted in it being termed the "Cradle of the Navy." The growth of other shipyards, particularly Chatham Dockyard on the River Medway, eventually threatened Deptford's supremacy, and by the early seventeenth century the possibility of closing and selling Deptford yard was being discussed. Though Deptford and Woolwich possessed the only working docks, the Thames was too narrow
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Woolwich Dockyard


headquarters at MoD Lyneham.) Thereafter the older part of the dockyard was turned into a housing estate by Greenwich London Borough Council in the early 1970s. In the 1980s and 90s the Thames Path was extended to the area. Two towers with luxury apartments were built at Mast Quay around 2005, with even taller towers being projected in 2015. The various housing projects have encroached on the historic character of the area. From 1630 until 1688 the Master Shipwright was the key official at the dockyard until the introduction of resident commissioners by
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HMS Trial (1744)


HMS "Trial or Tryall" was a 10-gun (later 14-gun) two-masted "Hind"-class sloop of the Royal Navy, designed by Joseph Allin and built by him at Deptford Dockyard on the Thames River, England. She was launched on 17 July 1744. She and her sister ship, "Jamaica", were the only sloops to be built in the Royal Dockyards between 1733 and 1748. After more than 28 years service, she was paid off at Woolwich Dockyard in August 1772, and broken up there on 3
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Pallas-class frigate


The "Pallas"-class frigates were a series of three frigates built to a 1791 design by John Henslow, which served in the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The trio were all dockyard-built in order to use spare shipbuilding capacity. The orders were originally assigned in December 1790 to the Royal Dockyards at Plymouth and Portsmouth, but in February 1791 the orders were transferred to Chatham and Woolwich Dockyards respectively. They were the first and only 32-gun Royal Navy frigates designed to be armed with the eighteen-pounder cannon
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Thomas Slade


. On 22 November 1750 he replaced his uncle, who had died that year, as Master Shipwright at Plymouth. On 27 May 1752 he was transferred temporarily back to Woolwich Dockyard as Master Shipwright, and from there to Chatham Dockyard on 17 June 1752 and subsequently on 15 March 1753 to Deptford Dockyard, where he remained until 5 August 1755. He was appointed Surveyor of the Navy in August 1755 by George Anson, First Lord of the Admiralty, serving until his death in February 1771. For the first decade, he
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Admiralty in the 16th century


the management of their yards until the early 17th century when the navy board starts to introduce a more qualified naval administrator called "Resident Commissioners of the Navy" to manage the individual dockyards as the navy expands. In 1832 when the Navy Board is abolished Resident Commissioners were re-styled Admiral-superintendents. "Organization of Home Naval Base and Dockyards" Note: Shipbuilding storehouses during this period were mainly used for masts, rigging and 'Cooperage’ (the making barrels in which most supplies were stored). Woolwich Dockyard first
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HMS Greenwich (1777)


British troops in Boston and New York; she set sail for North America in March 1778 and remained there until the following year. In March 1779 she returned to Woolwich Dockyard for repair. In April she was sailed to Sheerness Dockyard where she was refitted as a receiving ship, to collect and hold sailors gathered by press gangs operating ashore. Fitout lasted until August, after which she re-entered active service under Commander William Daniel. She was paid off in March 1783 and sailed to Deptford Dockyard for disposal. In April
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Woolwich Dockyard


the 16th and 17th centuries; as late as 1664 a large new brick storehouse was provided "to lodge ships' carriages in". The wharf was still subject to frequent flooding, however, and from the 1650s the Board of Ordnance began to make use of open land at Tower Place, to the east of the Gun Wharf, as a site for proving and storing cannons and other large guns. Known as 'The Warren', this was the beginning of what would later become the Woolwich Royal Arsenal. The Ordnance
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Woolwich Dockyard


new facility on the Isle of Grain; but this, (along with other radical proposals) was not pursued. In 1802 a steam-driven bucket dredger was brought into service at Woolwich (prior to this, convicts had been used to dredge the quayside by hand) but still the silting persisted; nevertheless, the yard continued to be developed: in 1814 a large smithery or metal-working factory was added to produce anchors and other iron items. In the 1820s two new covered slips were added (No.1 and No.2
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English ship Antelope (1651)


The Antelope was a 56-gun great frigate of the navy of the Commonwealth of England, launched at Woolwich Dockyard in 1652. Notwithstanding the term "frigate", this was the largest of the warships ordered by the Commonwealth, and was eventually classed as a second rate. The "Antelope" was fitted out in July 1652, and sailed from Woolwich in August. She was commissioned under Captain Andrew Ball, and deployed to the Danish coast to convoy merchantmen from the Sound. She sailed for home on 27 September but was wrecked
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John Cleveley the Younger


the new demand for South Seas images, producing images for the print market such as the "Death of Cook", and "HMS Resolution and at Moorea". John the Younger painted the Royal Dockyards at Deptford, Woolwich and Chatham (e.g. the hand-coloured print "A view of His Majesty’s dockyard at Chatham", showing a naval ship being floated out, a launching scene common in the work of both father and son; and "Launch of HMS Alexander at Deptford in 1778"). However,
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Sheerness Dockyard


residence and it went on to accommodate him and his successors as Commander-in-Chief, The Nore until 1907 (after which it housed the Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet). Before the rebuilding of Sheerness was complete, the Admiralty was beginning to invest in steam propulsion for warships, with the opening of its first Steam Factory at Woolwich Dockyard in 1831. This marked the start of an era of fast-paced technological change, and in the 1840s massive expansion took place at Portsmouth and Devonport to provide
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Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich


administered by three separate local bodies: Lee District Board of Works, Plumstead Vestry and Woolwich Local Board of Health. The area of the borough varied between 8,277 and . The population, as recorded at the census, was: Constituent parishes 1801-1899 Metropolitan Borough 1900-1961 The borough was divided into eleven wards for elections: Burrage, Central, Dockyard, Eltham, Glyndon, Herbert, River, St George's, St Margaret's, St Mary's and St Nicholas. For elections to Parliament, the borough was
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HMS Pallas (1865)


HMS "Pallas" was a purpose-built wooden-hulled ironclad of the Royal Navy, designed as a private venture by Sir Edward Reed, and accepted by the Board of Admiralty because, as an economy measure, they wished to use up the stocks of seasoned timber held in the Woolwich Dockyard. The fact that Woolwich was not equipped to build iron ships was also relevant. She was built as a box-battery ship, with two of her big guns on either broadside and the others mounted in the extreme bow
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Peter Pett


ship of 500 tons at Woolwich Dockyard, to be named HMS "Leopard". With the construction of the "Leopard" underway, Charles decided that he would have a ship built larger and more ornate than any of her predecessors. In June 1634 whilst at Woolwich and on the "Leopard" with the King, Phineas Pett, Peter's father, relates: "His Highness, calling me aside, privately acquainted me of his princely resolution for the building of a great new ship, which he would have me undertake
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Royal Marine Barracks, Woolwich


Marine Infirmary designed by William Scamp and built between 1858 and 1860; it was one of the first pavilion-plan hospitals to be erected in England in the wake of the Crimean War. The infirmary, situated on a hill, was "the most conspicuous and striking feature of the town of Woolwich." After the closure of the Dockyard in 1869 the infirmary also passed to the British Army. Renamed Red Barracks, reflecting the original red brick design, the old infirmary building accommodated the Army Ordnance Corps (later the Royal
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Woolwich Dockyard


. In the first half of the eighteenth century, however, it gained a renewed momentum: the site doubled in size, as did the workforce, and even in the first decade of the 1700s there were more ships launched from Woolwich than from any other English yard. Many buildings were built (or rebuilt) at this time, now mostly in brick. On newly-acquired and reclaimed land to the east, three new slips were built and a new mast pond was created, along with adjacent mast houses and boat
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Edmund Dummer (naval engineer)


on the situation of the yard; the third compares the plan of the yard at the Revolution with its development ten years on, showing the improvements or new buildings added; the fourth – the most extensive section – gives in plan and elevation every single building in each yard. The Survey first covers each of the royal dockyards on the Thames and Medway – Chatham, Sheerness, Woolwich and Deptford – as well as the Navy Office, before dealing with the dockyards at Portsmouth and Plymouth. In total it was estimated that the
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Edmund Dummer (naval engineer)


value of His Majesty's Dockyards was £291,124, of which £166,799 had been spent in the previous ten years, more than doubling the original value. The greatest investment had been made at Plymouth of £67,095, followed by Portsmouth (£63,384), Deptford (£12,880), Chatham (£11,155), Woolwich (£10,477), Sheerness (£1,566) and finally the Navy Office (£239). Dummer's achievements as Surveyor for the royal dockyards are highly regarded by present-day naval
15741983
Navy Board


overall responsibilities were the construction and maintenance of ships through the Royal Dockyards of Deptford, Woolwich, Portsmouth and Chatham; the operations of the dockyards and other naval establishments . In addition to the procurement of victuals (obtained from private contractors or "agents"), stores, supplies and services for the fleetand provision of ordnance items (sourced from the Office of Ordnance). It was also responsible for all civilian and naval pay, and for the appointment of junior officers and warrant officers, and had several other duties in addition
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Chatham Dockyard


the nearest being those on the Thames: Deptford and Woolwich). 1567 is generally seen as the date of Chatham's establishment as a Royal Naval Dockyard. In the years that followed the ground was prepared, accommodation was secured and a mast pond was installed. The renowned Tudor shipwright Mathew Baker was appointed to Chatham in 1572 (though he was primarily based at Deptford). Under his supervision the site was developed to include sawpits, workshops, a wharf with a crane and, most significantly, its first dry dock,
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HMS Burford (1679)


Portsmouth Dockyard. "Burford" served in the Baltic in 1715 and 1717 before returning to the Mediterranean to fight the Spanish at the Battle of Cape Passaro in 1718. She was wrecked on the Italian coast in a storm on 14 February 1719. "Burford" was one of the third rates of the Thirty Ships Programme voted by Parliament on 16 April 1677 . She was named after the nine year old Earl of Burford, the illegitimate son of King Charles II and Nell Gwynne. Ordered from the Woolwich Dockyard in 1677 as
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HMS Salisbury (1707)


HMS "Salisbury" was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard to the dimensions of the 1706 Establishment, and launched on 3 July 1707. In autumn of 1707, she brought the body of admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell (who had been killed in a disastrous shipwreck in the Isles of Scilly) from St Mary's to Plymouth prior to his burial in Westminster Abbey. "Salisbury" was rebuilt for the first time by Stacey of Woolwich Dockyard. Unusually, as she was
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HMS Greenwich (1666)


HMS "Greenwich" was a 54-gun fourth-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Christopher Pett at Woolwich Dockyard and launched in 1666. "Greenwich" was rebuilt at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1699 as a fourth-rate of 46-54 guns. She fought at the Action of August 1702 as part of a squadron under Admiral John Benbow, but hung back from the engagement. As a result, her Captain Cooper Wade was tried and convicted of cowardice and shot. On 16 April 1724 she was
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Deptford Dockyard


the problem as work and contracts were moved to other royal dockyards. The yard had its location close to the main navy offices in London in its favour, but the silting of the Thames and the trend towards larger warships made continued naval construction there an unappealing prospect. Engineer John Rennie commented of the yard that Ships-of-the-line which are built there cannot as I am informed with propriety be docked and coppered. Jury masts are put into them and they are taken to Woolwich, where they are docked
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HMS Defiance (1675)


HMS "Defiance" was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Phineas Pett II at Chatham Dockyard, and launched in 1675. In the summer of 1678, "Defiance" was under the command of John Ernle. She was rebuilt at Woolwich Dockyard in 1695, again as a 64-gun ship. "Defiance" was part of a squadron under Vice-Admiral John Benbow in August 1702. In an action between Benbow's squadron and the squadron of the French Admiral Jean du Casse,
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Thames and Medway Canal


The Thames and Medway Canal is a disused canal in Kent, south east England, also known as the Gravesend and Rochester Canal. It was originally some long and cut across the neck of the Hoo peninsula, linking the River Thames at Gravesend with the River Medway at Strood. The canal was first mooted in 1778 as a shortcut for military craft from Deptford and Woolwich Dockyards on the Thames to Chatham Dockyard on the Medway, avoiding the journey round the peninsula and through the Thames estuary. The canal was also intended to take
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Woolwich Dockyard


for heavy repair work. The two dry docks were rebuilt in the early 17th century (the first of several rebuildings) and the western dock was expanded, enabling it to accommodate two ships, end to end. In the years that followed, the dockyard was expanded; its facilities included slipways for shipbuilding, timber yards, saw pits, cranes, forges, a mast house and several storehouses. There were also houses on site for the senior officers of the yard. A clock house was built in 1670 (containing a
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Woolwich Dockyard


sheds; a sizeable rigging house was also built here. Alongside the Great Storehouse an equally large building, housing both a sail loft and a mould loft, was constructed in 1740. Meanwhile, land acquired to the west enabled a new terrace of officers' houses to be built in the early 1750s. The yard was further expanded westwards in the 1780s, again almost doubling in size. Much of the area of the expanded dockyard was preserved as open ground for storage of timber, with rows of wooden seasoning sheds; as
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Woolwich Dockyard


pedestrians. In 1905 an Army Service Corps depot was established on the old Dockyard site (the Corps headquarters was nearby in Connaught Barracks). During the First World War the site accommodated the country's largest Army Pay Office alongside the ordnance depot, as well as units of the Army Service Corps and the Army Ordnance Corps. In 1926 the western part of the site was sold to the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society; the Co-Op still occupies a number of buildings on the site. The older, eastern portion
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Gordon Bremer


appointed, jointly with Sir Francis Augustus Collier, to the command of the Channel Squadron, with his broad pennant on board HMS "Queen". In November 1842, he became commodore-superintendent of the Woolwich Dockyard, where he commanded the yacht "William and Mary". He retired from the dockyard on 13 November 1848. On 15 September 1849, Bremer was appointed to Rear-Admiral of the Blue. He served as a magistrate in Devonshire. He died of diabetes mellitus on 14 February 1850 at Tunbridge Wells,
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Victualling Commissioners


). There was also a Victualling Yard at Dover (which had no Dockyard, but was used to service ships in the nearby anchorage the Downs); the Maison Dieu served as Dover's victualling store from 1544 until 1831, when the Yard closed. HM Victualling Yard, Deptford was the largest and busiest of the Victualling Yards (being advantageously close to the food wharves and markets of London). The other Naval Dockyards in the Thames area (Chatham, Sheerness and Woolwich) were all dependent on Deptford for victualling.
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HMS Victory


ten first-rate ships to be constructed. The outline plans were based on which had been launched at Woolwich Dockyard in 1756, and the naval architect chosen to design the ship was Sir Thomas Slade who, at the time, was the Surveyor of the Navy. She was designed to carry at least 100 guns. The commissioner of Chatham Dockyard was instructed to prepare a dry dock for the construction. The keel was laid on 23 July 1759 in the Old Single Dock (since renamed No. 2 Dock and now Victory
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Grain Tower


the shipbuilding yards at North Woolwich, and the magazines at Purfleet. The Medway also had major installations, notably the Chatham Dockyard, which had been targeted to devastating effect by the Dutch during the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1667. It was thus deemed essential to prevent an enemy entering the Medway and reaching the dockyard. Grain Tower stands about offshore at the eastern tip of the Isle of Grain, where the mouth of the Medway meets the Thames. It was constructed on the tidal sandbank of Grain Spit and is reached
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Thamesmead


for London. The nearest stations are Abbey Wood, Belvedere, Plumstead, Woolwich Arsenal and Woolwich Dockyard for Southeastern services towards Crayford, Dartford, Gillingham, London Cannon Street and London Charing Cross. The Ridgeway cycle path owned by Thames Water passes through the town from Plumstead Railway station to Crossness Sewage Treatment works, dividing the town into North and South Thamesmead. There are a wide variety of active community groups and local bands (The Bargains and a member of post-rock act From The Sky) and a short-range
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