Woolwich Arsenal

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="005fd5a3.jpg"> <div> <B>  </B><B> </B><FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial Rounded MT Bold" ><B>www.derelictlondon.com</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B><IMG SRC="02c5d430.jpg" border=0 width="93" height="67" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=50 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="006d2b03.jpg"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#C0C0C0" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div> <I><IMG SRC="173e4e4f0.jpg" border=0 width="78" height="79" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></I></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="602" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 621 WIDTH="598"><div> <B><U>The Royal Arsenal Woolwich </U></B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The  Royal Arsenal West is not really derelict but I felt it important to document these disused old buildings as they undergo renovation and conversion to flats.</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> Development of the present site of Royal Arsenal West, then known as Woolwich Warren, began in 1671 when the Crown purchased the old mansion known as Tower Place together with 31 acres of land, for use as an ordnance storage depot. The change from storage depot to munitions factory began in 1696 when the Royal Laboratory was constructed for the purpose of manufacturing ammunition, fuses and gun-powder.A new foundry, known as the Royal Brass Foundry, was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh and completed in 1717.</div> <bR> <div> Further expansion and the introduction of substantial improvements in weapon design and manufacturing techniques took place throughout the 19th and early 20th century culminating in a peak of activity during the First World War when over 72,000 persons were employed.</div> <bR> <div> During the 2nd World War, with the Royal Arsenal Woolwich working to the limit of its capacity there was little opportunity to undertake a careful and controlled expansion of facilities. When the war ended, demand for armaments dropped dramatically and in order to maintain employment, alternative work for the civilian market was sought.</div> <div> Over 11,000 railway trucks were produced in the Arsenal together with automatic and multiple head knitting frames for the silk industry. The rearmament policy of the early l950s gave a temporary boost to production at Woolwich but a report in 1952 concluded that the Arsenal in its existing form was uneconomic and that it should be reorganised and rationalised. Although some action to this end was taken, the Arsenal continued to decline until the Woolwich Review Committee  finally recommended that only two small areas should be retained and the remainder released for redevelopment. There then followed a gradual decline in activity to the point when it was decided that the Royal Ordnance Factory should be officially closed on 1 April 1967 and most of the 1200 acres which the Arsenal by then embraced sold to Greater London Council for their Thamesmead housing and industrial project. </div> <bR> <div> Two small areas remained in MOD use though known as Royal Arsenal West and Royal Arsenal East up until their final closure in the early 1990s, the former including many of the more important historic buildings which are to be preserved for posterity.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id1233.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Arsenal"><U><IMG SRC="171bf87a0.jpg" border=0 width="504" height="378" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> <B>Royal Carriage Department </B>built the gun carriages and wheels </div> <div> for the mounting and transport of the guns produced elsewhere on the Royal Arsenal Estate.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id1233.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Arsenal"><U><IMG SRC="1729fb7c0.jpg" border=0 width="507" height="380" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> Excavations in 2000 of the area in the pic above  revealed a late Roman cemetery. Over 140 </div> <div> Pagan graves have been excavated. Whilst no human remains survived, coffin and body stains </div> <div> were hauntingly apparent and some 25% of the burials included artifacts, notably pottery vessels, </div> <div> shale and copper alloy buttons, and bracelets, glass beads and glass vessel. Other pre-arsenal</div> <div>  features excavated have included foundations, ditches, pits and a medieval double flued, tile built</div> <div>  pottery kiln.</div> <bR> <div> The above pic  (taken from inside of Dial Square) is all that remains of one of the original </div> <div> departments of the Royal Gun Factories.t he southern range including the main entrance to this </div> <div> particular department which dealt with the washing, machining and boring of gun barrels that were</div> <div> cast in the Royal Brass Foundry. Also the engraving of barrels was carried out here as seen on</div> <div> many of the `Woolwich` guns of the time. Beyond the iron arch is another arch known as Dial Arch </div> <div> as it housed a sundial. The Clock End?!! <B>The workers formed Dial Square FC in 1886 </B>changing</div> <div> their name two weeks later to<B> Royal Arsenal FC </B>playing at nearby Plumstead Marshes<B>.</B> Included in</div> <div> the founding group were two former Nottingham Forest players, one of whom, wrote to his old club </div> <div> seeking help. They responded with a full set of red jerseys and a ball. The club was known as the </div> <div> "Woolwich Reds" by its fans </div> <bR> <div> The club chairman wanted to merge the renamed <B>Woolwich Arsenal </B> with Fulham but that plan</div> <div> fell through. A ground was found in Highbury. Tottenham Hotspur, four miles away, objected to </div> <div> the move but were over-ruled; the South London club maintaining that there was enough potential </div> <div> support for both clubs. In 1915 the move was completed and the club dropped the Woolwich </div> <div> from its name to become <B>Arsenal</B>. . </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id1235.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="_"><U><IMG SRC="171dfabb0.jpg" border=0 width="250" height="187" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A> </div> <div> The <B>Royal Laboratory</B> is the oldest surviving buildings on the Arsenal.Plans were drawn </div> <div> up in 1694 and it's construction was completed in 1696.The main role of this</div> <div> complex was the manufacture of ammunition for small arms and artillery fire power large and small.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id1235.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="_"><U><IMG SRC="171ffabb0.jpg" border=0 width="250" height="187" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id1237.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="_"><U><IMG SRC="1721fac00.jpg" border=0 width="250" height="192" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A> <A HREF="id1237.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="_"><U><IMG SRC="172afabf0.jpg" border=0 width="250" height="191" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id1239.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="_"><U><IMG SRC="1725fabc0.jpg" border=0 width="250" height="188" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A> <A HREF="id1239.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="_"><U><IMG SRC="1727fabb0.jpg" border=0 width="250" height="187" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> Sue Gress writes: </div> <div> <I>"Woolwich Arsenal has a significance for my family, who lived across the river in East Ham. My grandfather, born in 1880 survived the</I></div> <div> <I>First World War, his wife and four children very grateful that he came home to them. During 1918 he secured a job as a munitions </I></div> <div> <I>packer - filling shell cases at the arsenal. With their fifth child on the way my grandmother opened her front door one day to find the </I></div> <div> <I>local police officer, a man she knew well. He told her that along with several workmates her husband had died that morning when a </I></div> <div> <I>shell exploded in their workroom. Somehow there wasn't a mark on his body, the death certificate recorded 'percussive injury' as </I></div> <div> <I>cause of death. Coming out of the First World War unscathed, to be killed by one of your own bombs a mile from your home seems </I></div> <div> <I>very cruel. There was no award of money from the government for my grandmother who had to struggle on, then with five children - </I></div> <div> <I>my mother being born shortly after his death."</I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="1d08da180.jpg" border=0 width="218" height="280" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Abandoned munitions factory</div> <div> courtesy of Ian Pennington 2002</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="derelict_london_com.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Derelict London.com"><U><I><IMG SRC="3c896370.gif" border=0 width="150" height="55" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></I></U></A></div> </td> </tr></table></body>