Royal Arsenal Former Paper Cartridge Factory Building 17

This is a disused cartridge factory, built between 1855 and 1856 to designs by Captain R Beatson of the Royal Engineers. It is located within the Royal Arsenal complex. The building is constructed of yellow brick with red brick dressings, and has a 20th-century corrugated sheet roof, supported by an internal iron frame.

The building has a rectangular plan, 11 bays long and 2 bays wide. Former beam engine houses are located in the north-west corner, while a former boiler house and a former rag store project to the north at the western and eastern ends respectively. The two-storey front elevation, which is 9 bays wide, is near-symmetrical, with red brick clasping pilasters, a plinth, cornice, and parapet. The central bay projects slightly and features an ashlar surround to a segmental-arched carriage entrance with double doors, and a matching window above with key and impost details. Original window openings are defined by rubbed brick segmental arches, with 20th-century replacement window frames. Doorways with plate-glass overlights are located four bays from each end. The right-hand end features a symmetrical nine-window range and a five-window former rag store wing, both with central entrances.

Inside, part of an original two-storey iron frame survives. This frame consists of three rows of tapering octagonal piers with flared caps, and holes for line shafting. The surviving southern aisle features longitudinal and transverse cast-iron beams with sockets for the timber first floor. The roof structure includes segmental-arched ties with open spandrels, cast-iron rafters with compression pieces on either side of a central circle, and lateral and longitudinal wrought-iron tension bars connected in the middle by a round plate. A short section of the south-east roof has been replaced in the 20th century. Former external walls contain segmental-arched, blocked windows.

Historically, the factory was originally equipped with an octagonal chimney inside a courtyard to the north, and also had a separate north office building. It was used for producing paper cartridges from rags. The building represents part of the post-Crimean War expansion of the Royal Arsenal’s cartridge-making facilities. Later, it was used for manufacturing metal cartridge cases, including those for Hodgkiss quick-firing guns in the early 20th century. The iron frame is notable as an example of the large iron-framed buildings of the 1850s, found in Royal Naval Dockyards, and railway manufacturing yards at Swindon and Derby. It integrated its structural function with the line shafting and pipework necessary for mechanised cartridge manufacture, and while not as structurally advanced as Beatson's No 2 Ship Shop at Portsmouth, it provides a complete example of its specialised type.