Royal Arsenal Dial Square Entrance Range

This is an archway and front range of buildings, dating from 1717 to 1720, originally serving as a foundry, gun boring works, and smithery, later used as ordnance works. The design is attributed to both Sir John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor, with later additions in 1896 for a cartridge factory. Constructed of red brick with rubbed brick headers, the roof is hipped and slate-covered.

The building has a single-depth plan fronting a former quadrangle. It is a single-storey structure with attics in the end blocks, comprising nine bays. The design is symmetrical, featuring a central gateway and gabled end sections that project forward. Shallow buttresses rise through the eaves, topped with plain caps. The gateway is marked by large, square, battered piers with moulded caps and pyramids of cannon balls. It stands over a round-arched opening with gauged brick voussoirs, now blocked, containing a sundial dated 1764.

Behind the archway is a three-centre arched cast-iron beam, dated 1780 and inscribed with the names of former Inspectors of Artillery and of the Royal Brass Foundry, spanning the years 1797 to 1855. The linking sections have two segmental-arched sashes with thin glazing bars. The inner bays contain a doorway with overlight, while the outer bays have a central round-arched window flanked by 6/6-pane sashes. The end gabled bays each have two sashes and a round-arched frieze beneath the gable, with a smaller segmental-arched attic window above. The window lintels are of rubbed brick, framing 6/6-pane windows from the 19th century. The rear of the building has been altered, with the three eastern bays opened up and featuring late 19th-century cast-iron columns.

The interior has been altered, with most original features removed. Historically, the building was part of the expansion of the Royal Arsenal when the Board of Ordnance moved gun founding to Woolwich, forming part of what was known as "The Great Pile." Originally, it fronted a double courtyard range; the inner Grand Square housed turning, washing, engraving, and smithies, while the rear Basin Square contained armourers' shops and accommodation. The building once contained horse-powered cannon-boring equipment used to process cannons cast at the nearby Royal Foundry. The building is designated Grade II* for its significance in marking an important phase in the development of 18th and 19th-century industrial buildings.