Woolwich Dockyard
Notable ships launched at the dockyard
Establishment timelines
1512 Woolwich founded by Henry VIII. Closed 1 October 1869.
1513 Deptford founded by Henry VIII. Closed 1869.
1843 Queen Victoria & Prince Albert embarked from Woolwich Dockyard to Scotland.
1844 Queen Victoria & Prince Albert embarked from Woolwich Dockyard to Scotland.
1841 Queen Victoria & Prince Albert present at the launch of the Trafalgar.
1854 Queen Victoria & Prince Albert present at the launch of the Royal Albert.
The Royal Arsenal at Woolwich is a real blast from the past. Ever since Henry VIII built the Royal dockyards there, it has been associated with the boom of cannon, the crack of rifles, the whiff of gunpowder.
Guns captured by Sir Francis Drake were stored at Woolwich from 1586, and the production of arms started there 110 years later. The Arsenal provided ordnance to the Army and Navy through the Peninsular and Napoleonic wars, and armed Wellington's men for their victories. During the Crimean War, the Arsenal boasted the largest machine shop under one roof, and production was further extended 45 years later to cope with the Boer War. Expansion had to keep pace with the growing might of the British Empire.
For 200 years the Arsenal's deadly business was hidden from public view by a great stone wall two-and-a-half miles long and up to 20ft high, which was built after the authorities realised there was a risk of espionage - until then, Frenchmen were free to roam through the brass foundries and workshops. Even after the Royal Ordnance Factory closed in 1967, and the Arsenal stood spent and forlorn, it was shrouded in secrecy. Woolwich residents only recently got access to it and the Thames beyond.
Now many of the Arsenal's buildings are being converted into homes - 700 altogether, including some new ones designed to blend in with the old listed buildings.
A brief history starting from Henry VIII
A community has existed by the Thames at Woolwich (pronounced ‘woolitch’ or ‘woolidge’) since at least the Iron Age, and the Romans built a fort here. The Old English place name probably means ‘trading place for wool’, but no evidence has been found of a wool market.
In 1513 Henry VIII founded a dockyard here to build the royal ship Henri Grace à Dieu, popularly known as the ‘Great Harry’. Subsequent naval expansion brought a rope yard, ordnance storage and a gun battery to the waterfront, which at that time may have lain as much as 200 feet south of the present shoreline. Elizabeth I came to Woolwich in 1559 to mark the launch of her ship Elizabeth Jonas.
In 1695 the Royal Laboratory was established next to Tower Place, manufacturing explosives, fuses and shot. It was built on a site known as Woolwich Warren, which was named for its large rabbit population. A burst of activity from 1716 to 1720 saw the formation of the Royal Regiment of Artillery and the construction of its first barracks – as well as of a brass foundry, a new mansion house and the ‘great pile’ of buildings at Dial Square, which was probably the work of Nicholas Hawksmoor. The Royal Military Academy was founded at Woolwich in 1741.
From 1776 redundant naval vessels were moored offshore to accommodate prisoners who would otherwise have been sent to the American colonies, then in rebellion against the Crown. Convict labour was used to build new wharves and to dredge silt from the river.
Woolwich Common – which formerly covered a much wider area extending into Charlton – was gradually encroached upon for the construction of army quarters. At the height of Britain’s empire-building much of the British Army used to camp on the common until called forward to the Royal Arsenal to collect stores and ammunition before embarking on ships moored in the Thames. Between 1776 and 1802 new barracks were built on Woolwich Common for the Royal Regiment of Artillery.
Published in October 2012, The Survey of London’s history of the built environment of Woolwich is fabulously comprehensive – but very pricey
In 1805 the Royal Arsenal was officially established and no expense was spared in making this the world’s foremost munitions works.
The Royal Military Academy moved to the east side of Woolwich Common in 1808. The academy taught every branch of military science, as well as French and Latin, writing, fencing and drawing. Among the magnificent military buildings on the common is the Rotunda, designed by John Nash for an exhibition in St James’s Park in 1814 and moved here six years later, when it became the first military museum.
The dockyard was extended in 1833 and again in the 1840s, when modern docks were built. Woolwich Arsenal and Dockyard stations opened in 1849 on the South Eastern Railway’s new line from London Bridge to Dartford, Gravesend and Strood. Shops lined the main streets and Woolwich became north Kent’s principal commercial centre. Such was the pressure of expansion that growth began to spill over into Plumstead in the 19th century and later into Eltham.
The prison hulks were abolished in 1858 and the dockyard closed in 1869, when the site was handed over to the War Department for use as an annexe of the Royal Arsenal. The common continued to be used as an artillery firing range until 1860.
Workers from the Royal Arsenal set up a buyers’ co-operative in 1868, operating at first from members’ houses in Plumstead and then from 147 Powis Street as the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society. In 1886 another group of workers established a football club, known initially as Dial Square, and then Royal Arsenal. On moving to Highbury in 1913 the club shortened its name to Arsenal.
By the early 20th century the Royal Arsenal covered 1,285 acres. Including its testing ranges, the site measured three miles long by one mile wide, and had three separate internal railway systems. At the outbreak of the First World War the Royal Arsenal employed over 70,000 workers.
The Royal Military Academy closed in 1939 and was re-established eight years later at Sandhurst in Berkshire. After the Second World War declining demand for armaments prompted the arsenal’s diversification into manufacturing for civilian purposes, from railway trucks to automated equipment for the silk-weaving industry.
The Royal Ordnance factory closed in 1967, although many of the buildings continued to be used for testing and storage. Much of the new town of Thamesmead covers the arsenal’s eastern testing ranges.
The former headquarters of the Woolwich Equitable Building Society in General Gordon Square
Military use of the Royal Arsenal site ceased altogether in 1994 – the culmination of a period of decline from which Woolwich is only now recovering. The arsenal’s buildings were taken over by English Partnerships for the development of housing, light industry and leisure facilities.
- 1512–14— Henri Grâce à Dieu (Great Harry); flagship of Henry VIII
- 1557-59— Elizabeth Jonas (the Elizabeth); fought against the Armada in 1559; rebuilt in 1597-98; broken up in 1618
- 1608— Ark Royal - a rebuilding
- 1610— HMS Prince Royal
- 1613— Defiance - a rebuilding
- 1615— Merhonour - a rebuilding
- 1616— HMS Convertine - originally begun as the private warship Destiny for Sir Walter Raleigh
- 1617— Rainbow - a rebuilding
- 1631— HMS Vanguard - a rebuilding
- 1637— HMS Sovereign of the Seas; first-rate ship of the line, ordered by Charles I
- 1655— HMS Royal Charles
- 1670— HMS Saint Andrew; first-rate ship of the line, later renamed HMS Royal Anne.
- 1751— HMS Dolphin; circumnavigated the globe twice.
- 1756— HMS Royal George; first-rate ship of the line; her sinking in 1782 was one of the worst disasters in Royal Navy history - around 800 lives were lost.
- 1783— HMS Europa - 50 gun Fourth-rate, used by Joseph Whidbey and George Vancouver to conduct a survey of Port Royal, Jamaica in 1793.
- 1805— HMS Ocean; second-rate ship of the line, flagship of Lord Collingwood.
- 1809— HMS Macedonian; frigate captured by USS United States during the War of 1812.
- 1818— HMS Talavera; third-rate ship of the line.
- 1820— HMS Beagle; ship used on naturalist Charles Darwin's famous voyage.
- 1846— HMS Niger, ship used for trials to prove the superiority of screw propulsion.
Establishment timelines
1512 Woolwich founded by Henry VIII. Closed 1 October 1869.
1513 Deptford founded by Henry VIII. Closed 1869.
1843 Queen Victoria & Prince Albert embarked from Woolwich Dockyard to Scotland.
1844 Queen Victoria & Prince Albert embarked from Woolwich Dockyard to Scotland.
1841 Queen Victoria & Prince Albert present at the launch of the Trafalgar.
1854 Queen Victoria & Prince Albert present at the launch of the Royal Albert.
The Royal Arsenal at Woolwich is a real blast from the past. Ever since Henry VIII built the Royal dockyards there, it has been associated with the boom of cannon, the crack of rifles, the whiff of gunpowder.
Guns captured by Sir Francis Drake were stored at Woolwich from 1586, and the production of arms started there 110 years later. The Arsenal provided ordnance to the Army and Navy through the Peninsular and Napoleonic wars, and armed Wellington's men for their victories. During the Crimean War, the Arsenal boasted the largest machine shop under one roof, and production was further extended 45 years later to cope with the Boer War. Expansion had to keep pace with the growing might of the British Empire.
For 200 years the Arsenal's deadly business was hidden from public view by a great stone wall two-and-a-half miles long and up to 20ft high, which was built after the authorities realised there was a risk of espionage - until then, Frenchmen were free to roam through the brass foundries and workshops. Even after the Royal Ordnance Factory closed in 1967, and the Arsenal stood spent and forlorn, it was shrouded in secrecy. Woolwich residents only recently got access to it and the Thames beyond.
Now many of the Arsenal's buildings are being converted into homes - 700 altogether, including some new ones designed to blend in with the old listed buildings.
A brief history starting from Henry VIII
A community has existed by the Thames at Woolwich (pronounced ‘woolitch’ or ‘woolidge’) since at least the Iron Age, and the Romans built a fort here. The Old English place name probably means ‘trading place for wool’, but no evidence has been found of a wool market.
In 1513 Henry VIII founded a dockyard here to build the royal ship Henri Grace à Dieu, popularly known as the ‘Great Harry’. Subsequent naval expansion brought a rope yard, ordnance storage and a gun battery to the waterfront, which at that time may have lain as much as 200 feet south of the present shoreline. Elizabeth I came to Woolwich in 1559 to mark the launch of her ship Elizabeth Jonas.
In 1695 the Royal Laboratory was established next to Tower Place, manufacturing explosives, fuses and shot. It was built on a site known as Woolwich Warren, which was named for its large rabbit population. A burst of activity from 1716 to 1720 saw the formation of the Royal Regiment of Artillery and the construction of its first barracks – as well as of a brass foundry, a new mansion house and the ‘great pile’ of buildings at Dial Square, which was probably the work of Nicholas Hawksmoor. The Royal Military Academy was founded at Woolwich in 1741.
From 1776 redundant naval vessels were moored offshore to accommodate prisoners who would otherwise have been sent to the American colonies, then in rebellion against the Crown. Convict labour was used to build new wharves and to dredge silt from the river.
Woolwich Common – which formerly covered a much wider area extending into Charlton – was gradually encroached upon for the construction of army quarters. At the height of Britain’s empire-building much of the British Army used to camp on the common until called forward to the Royal Arsenal to collect stores and ammunition before embarking on ships moored in the Thames. Between 1776 and 1802 new barracks were built on Woolwich Common for the Royal Regiment of Artillery.
Published in October 2012, The Survey of London’s history of the built environment of Woolwich is fabulously comprehensive – but very pricey
In 1805 the Royal Arsenal was officially established and no expense was spared in making this the world’s foremost munitions works.
The Royal Military Academy moved to the east side of Woolwich Common in 1808. The academy taught every branch of military science, as well as French and Latin, writing, fencing and drawing. Among the magnificent military buildings on the common is the Rotunda, designed by John Nash for an exhibition in St James’s Park in 1814 and moved here six years later, when it became the first military museum.
The dockyard was extended in 1833 and again in the 1840s, when modern docks were built. Woolwich Arsenal and Dockyard stations opened in 1849 on the South Eastern Railway’s new line from London Bridge to Dartford, Gravesend and Strood. Shops lined the main streets and Woolwich became north Kent’s principal commercial centre. Such was the pressure of expansion that growth began to spill over into Plumstead in the 19th century and later into Eltham.
The prison hulks were abolished in 1858 and the dockyard closed in 1869, when the site was handed over to the War Department for use as an annexe of the Royal Arsenal. The common continued to be used as an artillery firing range until 1860.
Workers from the Royal Arsenal set up a buyers’ co-operative in 1868, operating at first from members’ houses in Plumstead and then from 147 Powis Street as the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society. In 1886 another group of workers established a football club, known initially as Dial Square, and then Royal Arsenal. On moving to Highbury in 1913 the club shortened its name to Arsenal.
By the early 20th century the Royal Arsenal covered 1,285 acres. Including its testing ranges, the site measured three miles long by one mile wide, and had three separate internal railway systems. At the outbreak of the First World War the Royal Arsenal employed over 70,000 workers.
The Royal Military Academy closed in 1939 and was re-established eight years later at Sandhurst in Berkshire. After the Second World War declining demand for armaments prompted the arsenal’s diversification into manufacturing for civilian purposes, from railway trucks to automated equipment for the silk-weaving industry.
The Royal Ordnance factory closed in 1967, although many of the buildings continued to be used for testing and storage. Much of the new town of Thamesmead covers the arsenal’s eastern testing ranges.
The former headquarters of the Woolwich Equitable Building Society in General Gordon Square
Military use of the Royal Arsenal site ceased altogether in 1994 – the culmination of a period of decline from which Woolwich is only now recovering. The arsenal’s buildings were taken over by English Partnerships for the development of housing, light industry and leisure facilities.
Vincent's (partial) list of ships built at Woolwich from 1633 to 1786
The resources needed to build a ship of the line were staggering; in addition to up to 2,000 mature trees, each ship required between 30 and 40 miles of rope, which needed renewing every 2 or 3 years. The Woolwich Ropeyard, eventually 1,080' long, produced standard 100 fathom (600 foot) lengths of rope. Now largely lying under Beresford Street, it stretched from the Arsenal Gatehouse to Riverside House.
1633 Unicorn,64 guns
1637 Sovereign, 100 guns
1646 Adventure, 44 guns
1649 Mary, 64 guns
This list omits ships known to have been built at Woolwich during the Commonwealth
1661 Anne, 8 guns
1664 Royal Katherine, 84 guns
1666 Greenwich, 54 guns
1666 Faulcon, 42 guns
1668 Charles, 110 guns
1670 St Andrew, 96 guns
1673 Boneta, 54 guns
1673 Deale, 8 guns
1674 Portsmouth, 8 guns
1675 Woolwich, 54 guns
1676 Royal Charles, 32 guns
1678 Captain, 70 guns
1679 Grafton, 70 guns
1679 Burford, 70 guns
1682 Duke, 96 guns
1682 Henrietta, 8 guns
1687 Deptford, 48 guns
1691 Chester, 48 guns
1693 Portland, 54 guns
1693 Milford, 32 guns
1694 Lincoln, 48 guns
1698 Bedford, 70 guns
1702 Tartar, 32 guns
1703 Garland, 42 guns
1704 Resolution, 70 guns
1704 Swift, 12 guns
1705 Drake, 14 guns
1706 Gosport, 42 guns
1706 Flamborough, 24 guns
1706 Elizabeth, 70 guns
1707 Falmouth, 54 guns
1709 Blenheim, 96 guns
1709 Royal Anne, 40 guns
1710 Devonshire, 80 guns
1711 Ormond, 54 guns
1711 Blandford, 20 guns
1711 Hind, 20 guns
1711 Hazard, 14 guns
1712 Greyhound, 20 guns
1730 Neptune, 96 guns
1730 Torbay, 74 guns
1731 Northumberland, 96 guns
1731 Princes Charlotte, 80 guns
1732 Royal Louise, 32 guns
1735 Rippon, 60 guns
1736 Dragon, 60 guns
1736 Superb, 60 guns
1739 Suffolk, 70 guns
1739 Cumberland, 6 guns
1740 Essex, 70 guns
1741 Antelope, 50 guns
1743 Chichester, 50 guns
1743 Captain, 64 guns
1743 Buffalo, 60 guns
1744 Devonshire, 66 guns
1745 Windsor, 60 guns
1746 Bristol, 50 guns
1749 Orford, 70 guns
1749 Lancaster, 66 guns
1750 Savage, 8 guns
1751 Dolphin, 2 guns
1752 Falmouth, 50 guns
1752 Ranger, 8 guns
1754 Dunkirk, 60 guns
1755 Cambridge, 80 guns
1755 Squirrel, 28 guns
1755 Royal George, 100 guns
1757 Trent, 28 guns
1757 Princess Amelia, 80 guns
1757 Boreas, 28 guns
1758 Rippon, 60 guns
1759 Mars, 74 guns
1760 Thunderer, 74 guns
1761 Blenheim, 96 guns
1761 Bedford, 74 guns
1764 Triumph, 74 guns
1765 Canada, 74 guns
1768 Venus, frigate
1768 Prudent, 64 guns
1769 Queen, 96 guns
1770 Intrepid, 64 guns
1772 Defiance, 64 guns
1772 Penguin, 8 guns
1772 Romney, 50 guns
1772 Experiment, gunboat
1774 Ruby, 64 guns
1774 Action, 28 guns
1776 Daphne, 28 guns
1779 Edgar, 74 guns
1779 Orford, 10 guns
1780 Sampson, 64 guns
1780 Europe, 54 guns
1780 Mermaid, 23 guns
1784 Windsor Castle, 98 guns
1785 Boyne, 98 guns
1786 Impregnable, 90 guns
1637 Sovereign, 100 guns
1646 Adventure, 44 guns
1649 Mary, 64 guns
This list omits ships known to have been built at Woolwich during the Commonwealth
1661 Anne, 8 guns
1664 Royal Katherine, 84 guns
1666 Greenwich, 54 guns
1666 Faulcon, 42 guns
1668 Charles, 110 guns
1670 St Andrew, 96 guns
1673 Boneta, 54 guns
1673 Deale, 8 guns
1674 Portsmouth, 8 guns
1675 Woolwich, 54 guns
1676 Royal Charles, 32 guns
1678 Captain, 70 guns
1679 Grafton, 70 guns
1679 Burford, 70 guns
1682 Duke, 96 guns
1682 Henrietta, 8 guns
1687 Deptford, 48 guns
1691 Chester, 48 guns
1693 Portland, 54 guns
1693 Milford, 32 guns
1694 Lincoln, 48 guns
1698 Bedford, 70 guns
1702 Tartar, 32 guns
1703 Garland, 42 guns
1704 Resolution, 70 guns
1704 Swift, 12 guns
1705 Drake, 14 guns
1706 Gosport, 42 guns
1706 Flamborough, 24 guns
1706 Elizabeth, 70 guns
1707 Falmouth, 54 guns
1709 Blenheim, 96 guns
1709 Royal Anne, 40 guns
1710 Devonshire, 80 guns
1711 Ormond, 54 guns
1711 Blandford, 20 guns
1711 Hind, 20 guns
1711 Hazard, 14 guns
1712 Greyhound, 20 guns
1730 Neptune, 96 guns
1730 Torbay, 74 guns
1731 Northumberland, 96 guns
1731 Princes Charlotte, 80 guns
1732 Royal Louise, 32 guns
1735 Rippon, 60 guns
1736 Dragon, 60 guns
1736 Superb, 60 guns
1739 Suffolk, 70 guns
1739 Cumberland, 6 guns
1740 Essex, 70 guns
1741 Antelope, 50 guns
1743 Chichester, 50 guns
1743 Captain, 64 guns
1743 Buffalo, 60 guns
1744 Devonshire, 66 guns
1745 Windsor, 60 guns
1746 Bristol, 50 guns
1749 Orford, 70 guns
1749 Lancaster, 66 guns
1750 Savage, 8 guns
1751 Dolphin, 2 guns
1752 Falmouth, 50 guns
1752 Ranger, 8 guns
1754 Dunkirk, 60 guns
1755 Cambridge, 80 guns
1755 Squirrel, 28 guns
1755 Royal George, 100 guns
1757 Trent, 28 guns
1757 Princess Amelia, 80 guns
1757 Boreas, 28 guns
1758 Rippon, 60 guns
1759 Mars, 74 guns
1760 Thunderer, 74 guns
1761 Blenheim, 96 guns
1761 Bedford, 74 guns
1764 Triumph, 74 guns
1765 Canada, 74 guns
1768 Venus, frigate
1768 Prudent, 64 guns
1769 Queen, 96 guns
1770 Intrepid, 64 guns
1772 Defiance, 64 guns
1772 Penguin, 8 guns
1772 Romney, 50 guns
1772 Experiment, gunboat
1774 Ruby, 64 guns
1774 Action, 28 guns
1776 Daphne, 28 guns
1779 Edgar, 74 guns
1779 Orford, 10 guns
1780 Sampson, 64 guns
1780 Europe, 54 guns
1780 Mermaid, 23 guns
1784 Windsor Castle, 98 guns
1785 Boyne, 98 guns
1786 Impregnable, 90 guns