Woolwich Dockyard

Woolwich Dockyard was an English naval dockyard along the river Thames in Woolwich, where a large number of ships were built from the early 16th century until the late 19th century. At its largest extent it filled a 56-acre site north of Woolwich Church Street, between Warspite Road and New Ferry Approach. The 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 at Gun Wharf in Old Woolwich, east of the area that was later known as Woolwich Dockyard or The King's Yard, Woolwich. 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. Initially situated further to the east, past Bell Water Gate, the yard moved in the 1540s to what was to become its permanent site, where a pair of dry docks formed the centre of operations.

During the Age of Sail, the dockyard facilities ultimately included covered slipways for shipbuilding, masting sheers, sawmills, mould lofts, numerous storehouses (including a palatial Great Storehouse of 1693) and, in later years, a large metal-working factory used to produce anchors and other iron items. The two dry docks were rebuilt in the early 17th century (the first of several rebuildings) when the western dock was expanded, enabling it to accommodate two ships, end to end.

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