Woolwich, a parish in Kent, and part of the royal manor of Eltham, on the river Thames, about 9 miles below London Bridge, was in 1885 constituted a parliamentary borough returning one member. The population of that borough in 1891 was 98,976, of whom 40,848 were in Woolwich itself (32,367 in 1851). The principal part of the town lies on the south bank of the river, but it has extended into Essex under the name of North Woolwich. A free steam ferry or floating bridge carrying vehicles connects the two portions. The town is chiefly important on account of the Royal Arsenal, employing some 12,000 men, whose wages exceed £72,000 a month. This establishment may be said to date from 1585, when Queen Elizabeth had a store of arms and armour at the Tower House, a mansion in Woolwich Warren adjoining the then boggy and unhealthy marshes of Plumstead. Prince Rupert protected the King's Warren with batteries in Charles II.'s reign, and other fortifications were added by that king's successor. The Dutch had several times threatened the dockyards here and at Chatham, and in 1695 two French privateers were captured off Woolwich. These fortifications have now disappeared. Towards the end of the 17th century the proof of ordnance was transferred from Moorfields to Woolwich, guns began to be cast there, carriages constructed, and powder stored. From these works grew the three great departments of the Royal Arsenal called respectively the Royal Gun Factories, Royal Carriage Department, and Royal Laboratory. But these names were not given until after the second visit to the Warren of George III. in 1805. The establishment then grew rapidly in importance. From 42 acres the ground covered by it extended to some 300. Guns of all sizes, every form of military wagon, shot, shell, torpedoes, cartridges, bullets, war, signal, and life-saving rockets, tubes, and fuzes have since always been produced there, small-arms being made at Birmingham and Enfield, in Essex, and powder, gun-cotton, and other explosives at Waltham in the same county. The wharves were enlarged by convict labour. A canal first and then lines of railway were constructed, together with piers and powerful steam and hydraulic cranes. Extensive practice ranges also were added in the Plumstead marshes, which had been carefully drained and embanked against the river. Machinery of the best and most modern type fills the workshops, and immense quantities of all kinds of warlike stores are collected, ready for issue to either the army or navy of the empire. As this establishment is the only government gun-factory, its importance cannot be overrated.
The garrison of Woolwich consists of a major-general commanding with his staff, the headquarters of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, of the Ordnance Store Corps, and of the Army Service Corps; some thirteen batteries of artillery, one 'infantry' battalion, a strong body of Volunteer Artillery, and a battalion of Rifle Volunteers, together with a considerable number of men of the various departmental corps. The barracks occupied by the troops are very imposing buildings. The Herbert Hospital, built soon after the Crimean war at the south end of Woolwich Common, is one of the largest military hospitals in Great Britain. The common itself, nearly half a square mile in extent, forms an excellent drill-ground. At its south-west corner there is a hut camp for two field batteries, and opposite to it the handsome buildings of the Royal Military Academy. This, the oldest military school in the kingdom, dates from 1741, when forty cadets were quartered in the arsenal for training in artillery and engineer duties. In 1806 the building on the common was occupied by some 150 cadets, a number which increased at one time to as many as 280. All are destined for the Royal Artillery or Royal Engineers. Another military educational establishment at Woolwich is the Artillery College, for giving special training to officers of the Royal Artillery, in order to fit them for appointments in the manufacturing departments of the Royal Arsenal, &c. It is located in the red barracks, built originally as a hospital for the marines, one division of which corps was quartered at Woolwich until 1869. In this year the Royal Dockyard at Woolwich was closed, as it was found unsuitable for modern ships of war, but it continues to be used as a military store depôt. It was the first and for long the principal dockyard in the kingdom. The Great Harry was built there in 1562, the Royal George in 1751, the Galatea in 1859, and more than 200 other ships.
At the north-west end of the common is the Repository, enclosed with a breast-work, and containing drill-sheds and materials for shifting heavy guns, building military bridges, &c., and the Rotunda Museum of military antiquities and models. Part of the Repository enclosure is laid out as a pleasure-ground. Close to the Rotunda is a small observatory belonging to the Royal Artillery Institution, which is itself part of the artillery barracks, and contains a natural history museum, a valuable library, many military relics, and a lecture hall for the discussion of papers on military subjects. St George's Garrison Church, near the artillery barracks, opened in 1863, is one of the most conspicuous buildings in the town. Few of the others are important. Woolwich, whose greatest son was General Gordon, has gradually become a suburb of London, and is connected with it by a railway and tramway. Plumstead on the east and
Charlton on the west merge into Woolwich. Like it they are densely populated, and may be considered part of London. See ARTILLERY, CANNON, FUZE, MILITARY SCHOOLS, ROCKET, SHELL, &c.