X-Nico

5 unusual facts about Royal Arsenal


Edward Mounier Boxer

In 1855 he was appointed Superintendent of the Royal Laboratory of the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich.

George Croydon Marks, 1st Baron Marks

After attending a local private school, at age 13 he became apprenticed at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, where his father William was a foreman, and continued his general education part-time at the Royal Arsenal School.

Hay Frederick Donaldson

Alongside his latter two projects, he was based as Chief Mechanical Engineer at the Royal Ordnance Factories, Woolwich, from 1889 to 1903, during which period he also served as its Deputy Director-General in 1898-99.

Melvill Jones

After university he worked at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich in their workshop and was there until January 1911 when he joined in the Aerodynamics Department of the National Physical Laboratory at Teddington and then at Armstrong Whitworths where he worked on the design of airships until the outbreak of war in 1914.

Tariq Mustafa

Tariq Mustafa is a graduate of University of London where he received his Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in mechanical engineering with first class honours while also doing an engineering apprenticeship at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich.


Ballincollig Royal Gunpowder Mills

Some of the decline was also due to the importation of barrels from Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, as machine cut staves were cheaper than those produced by the Ballincollig coopers.

BL 16 inch Mk I naval gun

Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth & Company at Elswick, Vickers at Barrow-in-Furness, William Beardmore & Company at Dalmuir and the Royal Gun Factory at Woolwich made a total of 29 guns of which 18 would be required for both ships at any time.

Blakely rifle

Blakely believed that Armstrong had infringed upon his patents, so when Armstrong became superintendent of the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, Blakely stopped offering his designs to the British Army.

Jack Humble

Humble was born in Hartburn, County Durham, but moved to London in 1880 to work at the Royal Arsenal, in a somewhat unusual manner; he and his brother walked the 400-mile journey south from their home village to the capital, which made headlines in the local newspapers back home.

Operation Pike

Oil fields were to be attacked with incendiary bombs, while tests conducted at the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich revealed light oil storage tanks at the oil processing plants could be detonated with high explosives.

ROF Bridgend

In 1935, it was therefore agreed to keep armaments research at the Woolwich Arsenal in south-east London, while production would be transferred to two new factories at ROF Chorley in Lancashire (Filling Factory No.1) and ROF Bridgend in Glamorgan (Filling Factory No.2).

ROF Chorley

It was planned as a Permanent Royal Ordnance Factory with the intention that it, unlike some other similar facilities, would remain open for production after the end of World War II; and, together with ROF Bridgend (Filling Factory No. 2), would replace the Royal Filling Factory located at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich.

ROF Glascoed

The new factory was designed at The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich (Woolwich Arsenal), based on its long experience in munitions production.


see also

Blacknor Fort

In 1937-39, anti-aircraft rockets, using 3-inch tubular charges produced by the Royal Naval Cordite Factory, Holton Heath, were tested at the fort by the Explosives Research Department of the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich.

History of the Ministry of Defence Police

Consequently, the first records of police in the Army Dept appear circa 1860 when Metropolitan Police were called upon to police The Royal Arsenal.