IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0074 ACC/1601
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: WOOLWICH ARSENAL
Date(s): 1731-1961
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 1.37 linear metres (281 files).
Name of creator(s): War Department
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Woolwich Arsenal was developed from the Royal Laboratory, Carriage Department and Powder House. It dates to the Tudor period and was a centre for the manufacture and testing of arms. It housed the main Government foundry. It was named the Warren until 1805 when George III renamed it the Royal Arsenal. Up to 40,000 workers were employed there during the Second World War. Post-war, the site was reduced in size and some was sold off for housing development.
Information from The London Encyclopaedia, eds. Weinreb and Hibbert (LMA Library Reference 67.2 WEI).
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Deeds relating to lands, mainly in Plumstead and Erith, purchased by the War Department for the extension of Woolwich Arsenal and subsequently sold by the Ministry of Defence to London County Council, 19 December 1975.
Details of property given are very scanty but marginal plans aid in location of the plots. The deed packets also contain some related papers.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
The deeds have been catalogued according to original file order, and chronologically within each file.
Conditions governing access:
Available for general access.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright to this collection rests with the City of London.
Physical characteristics:
Fit
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Transferred to the Greater London Record Office [now LMA] on 28 November 1980.
ALLIED MATERIALS
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Archivist's note:
Date(s) of descriptions: Records prepared May to September 2011.