Gunfounding - The Bronze Age

Sandby's engraving of the Brass Foundry, 1779

The Board of Ordnance, having decided to manufacture its own bronze guns, constructed both the Brass Foundry and the Great Pile between 1716 and 1720. The formal and elegant landscaped layout of what were, at the time, extremely large industrial buildings, and the bright, airy "feel" of the development, are in great contrast to what was to come later. Andrew Schalch, of the Douai factory, was appointed Master Founder in 1718 and was to live amongst the storehouses and workshops of the Great Pile until his supersession by the Verbruggens in 1770.

While the Verbruggens introduced improvements in gun production, there were no fundamental changes from the bronze guns of the century before. Indeed, right up until around 1840 the Brass Foundry was still using the same horse-powered boring machinery introduced at this time. Given the almost-domestic scale of these buildings to modern eyes, some are surprised that they were able to meet ordnance needs during the Napoleonic wars. It should be remembered that the Arsenal made no iron guns until the mid-19th century.

The river (north) sides of Laboratory Square and the Great Pile

Cannon were a decisive weapon on the battlefield from the 17th century onwards, but the difference between the scales of land and sea service gun requirements was huge. Bronze guns were generally for land (field) service use, while the Navy's warships were largely armed with iron cannon. The combined Anglo-Dutch-Belgian artillery at Waterloo could throw a weight of metal about the same as that of a single third-rate, 74 gun ship of the line. In 1805 the Navy had around 950 ships.

The smithy in the west wing of artificer's court

This perspective helps us to understand why, when there were major expansions elsewhere on the Arsenal in the Napoleonic period, the gun factory operated largely within the same buildings as those of almost a century before. Iron guns, from private makers like the Carron company, were proofed at Woolwich before entering service, but none were made here. The Arsenal's ammunition and gun carriage manufacturing activities, and the stores buildings, did however expand enormously during the Napoleonic period.

Great Pile - Building Information Built in 1717-1720, previously attributed to Vanbrugh but now thought to have been the work of Nicholas Hawksmoor. It comprised single storey buildings surounding two courtyards, Artificers' Court to the south and Basin or Fountain Court to the North, with a gateway towards the Thames. It was separated from the Laboratory Square by a tree lined avenue, leading directly from the north end of the foundry. The Sea Service storehouse lay at the north end, the Land Service storehouse lay betwen the two courtyards. Basin Court contained the armourers' shops and the Master Founder's House. Artificers' Court contained the smithy and carpenter's shops in the west wing, and the turning, washing and engraving houses for gun-making in the south range, including the finishing lathe. A sundial was placed over the south entrance in 1764, and it became known as Dial Square. The southern range of the courtyard still survives (shaded lighter blue); the east and west wings were demolished in 1969. [Mills Whipp 1995]