Editing Woolwich (section)

== Heritage ==
{{see also|Grade I and II* listed buildings in Greenwich}}
For centuries the area between the Thames and the present-day [[A206 road]] has been dominated by docks, warehouses and factories, starting with the [[Royal Navy Dockyard|Royal Dockyard]] early in the 16th century, later eclipsed by the [[Royal Arsenal]] in scale and grandeur. In the 18th century the [[Royal Regiment of Artillery]] and the [[Corps of Royal Engineers]] were established in Woolwich, followed by the [[Royal Military Academy, Woolwich|Royal Military Academy]]. Other military institutions completed the picture of the garrison town that Woolwich had become in the early 19th century. The town has a distinctive housing history and in the [[Bathway Quarter]] it has an equally distinctive civic centre. Although repeatedly rebuilt, its architectural heritage reflects its unusual and important history.<ref>Saint & Guillery (2012), p. 26.</ref>

=== Royal Arsenal ===
{{main|Royal Arsenal}}
The older parts of the Royal Arsenal constitute a [[Conservation area (United Kingdom)|conservation area]]. Most buildings of historic interest have been restored and given new uses. The Royal Brass Foundry (1717) is a [[Listed building|grade I listed building]], while the Dial Arch (1717–20), the Old Royal Military Academy (1720) and the Grand Store (1806–13) are Grade II* listed. Other listed buildings include the [[Royal Arsenal Gatehouse]], Middle Gatehouse, the Main Guard House, two small guardhouses near the Thames, the Shell Foundry Gatehouse, Verbruggen House and two twin pavilions in Laboratory Square, the oldest structures on the site (1696).

<gallery widths="140" heights="140">
File:London, Woolwich, Beresford Sq, Royal Arsenal Gatehouse.jpg|[[Royal Arsenal Gatehouse]]
File:Royal Arsenal Brass Foundry.jpg|Royal Brass Foundry
File:Oldmilitaryacademywoolwich.jpg|Cannon near the Old Royal Military Academy
File:London-Woolwich, Royal Arsenal, Major Draper St, Cafe 2.jpg|Converted warehouses at the Royal Arsenal
</gallery>

=== Woolwich Dockyard and Riverside ===
{{main|Woolwich Dockyard|Woolwich Riverside}}
At Woolwich Dockyard relatively little of historic interest remains. The main monumental building complex comprises a small cluster of 18th-century buildings: the entrance gate, the guardhouse and the so-called Clock House (Dockyard offices). A pair of 19th-century [[Dry dock|docks]] remain on the site of their 16th-century predecessors. The later development of the Dockyard in the [[Victorian period]] is represented by the Steam Factory and the Dockyard chimney, a prominent landmark, and further west by a group of buildings at the site of the [[Siemens Brothers]] factory.

Between the Arsenal and the Dockyard lies an area that was once Old Woolwich, a part of the town where little of historical interest remains and that, once again, is facing redevelopment. The round entrance building of the [[Woolwich foot tunnel]] dates from 1912. Further west, the [[Thames Barrier]] is an interesting example of modern architecture and technical achievement. The [[Thames Path]] is a [[National Trails|National Trail]] that connects these sites.

<gallery widths="140" heights="140">
File:London, Woolwich Dockyard, gatehouse 1.jpg|Woolwich Dockyard entrance gate
File:London, Woolwich Dockyard, 1840s chimney 3.jpg|The Dockyard chimney
File:WoolwichTunnelSouthEntrance.jpg|Entrance building [[Woolwich foot tunnel]]
File:Thames Barrier (14802757784).jpg|[[Thames Barrier]]
</gallery>

=== Other military buildings ===
{{see also|Royal Artillery Barracks|Royal Military Academy, Woolwich|Woolwich Garrison}}
[[File:Woolwich Royal Artillery Main Barracks.jpg|thumb|260px|[[Royal Artillery Barracks]]]]
[[File:Woolwich Royal Military Academy Main Building 3.jpg|thumb|260px|[[Royal Military Academy, Woolwich|Royal Military Academy]]]]

Elsewhere, monumental buildings testify of Woolwich's rich military history. [[Woolwich Common]] with its surrounding buildings has been designated a conservation area. The [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] façade of the [[Royal Artillery Barracks]] ([[James Wyatt]], 1776–1802) is the longest façade in London, stretching along the north end of the common. Across the road, Government House (1781), was the quarters of the Garrison Commandant from 1855 to 1995. Of the nearby [[St George's Garrison Church, Woolwich|Garrison Church of St George]] only the shell remains after it was bombed during the [[Second World War]]. Its Neo-Romanesque architecture and remnants of mosaics are still impressive. [[John Nash (architect)|John Nash]]'s [[Rotunda, Woolwich|Rotunda]], a round brick building with a leaded tent roof, until 2001 housed the [[Royal Artillery Museum]] and now serves as a [[boxing ring]] for the [[King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery]] in nearby Napier Lines Barracks.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Tom Sables|date=27 November 2020|title=Is Your Military Base Closing? Read The Full List Of Sites Shutting|url=https://www.forces.net/news/your-military-base-closing-read-full-list-sites-shutting|access-date=2021-06-12|website=Forces Network|language=en|archive-date=5 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805215139/https://www.forces.net/news/your-military-base-closing-read-full-list-sites-shutting|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[Royal Military Academy, Woolwich|Royal Military Academy]] at the south end of Woolwich Common was also designed by James Wyatt and has an almost equally long façade in [[Mock Tudor]] style. Other military buildings that survive include Connaught Barracks (built as the Royal Artillery Hospital in 1780), Green Hill Military School and [[Royal Herbert Hospital]] on [[Shooter's Hill]]. The Royal Engineers' HQ was moved to Chatham in 1856, but a small detachment remained in Woolwich, quartered in what is now Engineer House on Mill Hill, just off the Common. Several [[listed building]]s were demolished in the 1970s, including James Wyatt's Engineers Barracks (built for the [[Royal Military Artificers]] in 1803), [[Lewis Wyatt]]'s Grand Depot Barracks (begun in 1805-6 for the [[Train (military)|Field Train]] department), [[Royal Marine Barracks, Woolwich|Cambridge Barracks]] (1842, of which the gatehouse still stands) and [[Red Barracks, Woolwich|Red Barracks]] (1858, only the boundary wall and entrance gate remain). The latter two, on Frances Street, were originally built as the [[Royal Marine Barracks, Woolwich]] for the Woolwich Division of the [[Royal Marines]], and each was considered an innovative and influential design. The Marines departed with the closure of the Dockyard, whereupon the buildings were converted into barracks accommodation for various military corps. Rushgrove House (1806) housed the Colonel Commandant of the Marine Barracks (later Cambridge Barracks) from 1855.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Rush Grove House|num=1289929|access-date=17 August 2024}}</ref>

<gallery widths="140" heights="140">
File:London, Woolwich, Royal Garrison Church 02.jpg|Ruined [[St George's Garrison Church, Woolwich|Garrison Church]] (1863)
File:London-Woolwich, Rotunda 04.jpg|John Nash's [[Rotunda (Woolwich)|Rotunda]] (1814/20)
File:London, Woolwich, Connaught Mews 02.jpg|Former Connaught Barracks (1780)
File:London-Woolwich, Gunner Lane 02.jpg|Engineer House (1858)
File:2016 Woolwich, Government House, main entrance.jpg|Government House (1781)
File:2015 London-Woolwich, Red Barracks wall 13.JPG|Former Red Barracks gate (1860)
File:2015 London-Woolwich, Cambridge Barracks gate house 13.JPG|Gatehouse Cambridge Barracks (1848)
File:2015 London-Woolwich, Rushgrove House 03.JPG|Rushgrove House (1806)
</gallery>

=== Woolwich Centre ===
[[File:London-Woolwich, Bathway07.jpg|thumb|left|160px|[[Bathway Quarter]]]]
Virtually nothing is left of the [[Old Woolwich|old town of Woolwich]] which was near the ferry and the parish church along the Thames. In the early 19th century the commercial and administrative centre moved south to its present location around [[Powis Street]], [[Beresford Square]] and the [[Bathway Quarter]]. Although 20th-century economic decline and infrastructural works have had their effects, there are still some interesting buildings in Woolwich town centre. The best preserved area is perhaps the Bathway Quarter with the former Public Baths, the [[Woolwich Town Hall|Old and New Town Hall]], the former Magistrates Court and Police Station, the Old Public Library and several historic buildings of Woolwich Polytechnic.

[[File:London-Woolwich, Woolwich New Rd , St Peter's.JPG|thumb|[[St Peter's Roman Catholic Church, Woolwich|St Peter's rectory, church and school]]]]
In nearby Powis Street and Hare Street some late [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] shop façades have been preserved, notably by local architect Henry Hudson Church. The western end of Powis Street is dominated by two former [[Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society]] (RACS) department stores, one late Victorian, the other one in [[Art Deco]] style. Nearer to the river are two large cinemas, both built in 1937 and both in use as Pentecostal church halls. The former [[Odeon Cinemas|Odeon Cinema]] (now occupied by the [[New Wine Church]]) is a fine example of an Art Deco theatre; the former [[Granada Cinema, Woolwich|Granada Cinema]] has lavish interior decorations.

Of the grand houses that once stretched along Woolwich Common and dotted the northern slopes of Shooter's Hill, little remains. Rushgrove House, Shrewsbury House and Woodhill Court survive but have lost their spacious gardens. Woolwich parish church, [[St Mary Magdalen Woolwich|St Mary Magdalen]] is a plain brick 1730s building with a spireless tower. Other religious buildings of interest include the [[St Peter's Roman Catholic Church, Woolwich|Roman Catholic St Peter's Church]] (by [[Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin|Pugin]]), and two [[Gurdwara|Sikh gurdwaras]], one a [[Gurdwara Sahib Woolwich|former Methodist church]], the other a former Masonic hall.

<gallery widths="140" heights="140">
File:London, Woolwich-Centre, Wellington St, Woolwich Town hall1.jpg|[[Woolwich Town Hall]]
File:London-Woolwich, Polytechnic St, old Polytechnic College.jpg|Former Woolwich Polytechnic College
File:2016 Woolwich, Powis St, former RACS Central Stores.jpg|Victorian [[Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society|RACS]] building
File:London-Woolwich, former RACS department store 03.JPG|Art deco former RACS department store
File:London, Woolwich, John Wilson St, Gateway House02.jpg|Former [[Odeon Cinemas|Odeon Cinema]]
File:Christ Faith Tabernacle Cathedral4.jpg|Former [[Granada Cinema, Woolwich|Granada Cinema]]
File:London-Woolwich, John Wilson St - Calderwood St 2.jpg|[[Gurdwara Sahib Woolwich|Gurdwara Sahib]]
File:2015 London-Woolwich, view from Anglesea Rd 08.JPG|Gurdwara Ramgarhia
</gallery>