Woolwich Dockyard

Woolwich Dockyard stands on the south bank of the Thames in Woolwich, now part of southeast London. It began in 1512 when Henry VIII founded the yard to build his new flagship, the Henri Grâce à Dieu. The original site near Bell Water Gate was small, with dry docks and storehouses. By the 1540s the yard had moved west to higher ground where two dry docks, known as Boughton’s Docks, formed its core. For centuries it built and repaired ships for the Royal Navy, becoming one of Europe’s leading yards in the 17th century. The dockyard grew steadily through the 1600s and 1700s. A Great Storehouse of brick was added in 1698, and a clock house followed in 1700. The ropeyard, with its long sheds and ropewalks, stretched along present-day Beresford Street. By the mid-18th century the yard had doubled in size, adding slips, mast ponds and a large sail and mould loft. Officers’ houses lined new terraces, and a main gateway marked the yard’s centre. Today the dockyard site is partly residential and partly industrial. Remnants of its past remain visible, including parts of the old docks and storehouses. The area between Warspite Road and New Ferry Approach still shows traces of the 56-acre yard. Visitors can walk where ships were built and repaired for over three centuries, seeing how Woolwich helped shape Britain’s naval power.