Growth of Woolwich

This sketch of development in Woolwich at the end of the C19 is a useful starting point in understanding the growth of the area. Civilian Woolwich still clings tenaciously to its waterfront, squeezed between the Dockyard and the Arsenal. The War Office, having taken over the Dockyard from the Admiralty in 1870, now dominates the town with its major landholdings. The railway has been established, and civilian Woolwich is rapidly expanding.

The Dockyard has reached the limit of its development, but the Arsenal will continue to expand eastwards until it covers almost 1,300 acres. Caught between them is the area that was the germ of Woolwich; a small mediaeval fishing hamlet with a ferry in the C14. Most of the area south of the lateral road that follows the river was still farmland at the start of the C18. Our story is about the waterfront area; we must leave the stories of the distinguished regiments and corps that formed the Woolwich Garrison to their own regimental museums.