Former Smithery, Erecting Shop and Brass Foundry, Royal Dockyard is a Grade II listed building in the Greenwich local planning authority area, England. First listed on 18 November 1992. A C14 Industrial. 5 related planning applications.
Former Smithery, Erecting Shop and Brass Foundry, Royal Dockyard
- WRENN ID
- nether-mortar-oak
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Greenwich
- Constituency
- Greenwich and Woolwich MP: Matthew Pennycook (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 18 November 1992
- Type
- Industrial
- Address
- Former Smithery, Erecting Shop and Brass Foundry, Royal Dockyard, Woolwich Church Street, SE18 5NS
- OS grid reference
- TQ 422 791
- Coordinates
- 51.49313, 0.04813
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
A former smithery, erecting shop, and brass foundry, originally part of the Royal Dockyard at Woolwich. The erecting shop was built between 1838 and 1840, with the smithery and brass foundry added in 1846. These buildings were designed by officers of the Royal Engineers working under the Board of Ordnance. The complex served as the first naval establishment for the installation and repair of steam engines, chosen for its proximity to London's marine engineering industry.
The erecting shop, originally a boiler shop converted around 1843, is located south of the site and near the inner basin. It was used for assembling steam engines and installing them in ships using large cranes. Constructed of stock brick with two stone bands, it features a south front with a series of round-headed windows and two larger openings with stone keystones and impost blocks. The end elevations also have keystones and blocked lunettes. Inside, there is a blank arcade of round-headed arches.
The smithery, built for metal parts manufacture, stands to the west. It has a series of 16 round-headed arches with stone keystones and impost blocks, featuring pale yellow brick voussoirs with round-headed openings below, most now blocked. Two round-headed entrances are present. A partially glazed roof connects the smithery to the brass foundry, with a portion now covered in asbestos sheeting. The interior of the smithery has cast iron tapering columns and a metal roof with a king post truss.
The brass foundry, also built in 1846, is constructed of stock brick with stone dressings and has a roof covered with asbestos sheeting. Its west front features seven bays, the central three bays projecting under a pediment with a louvred oculus. The north and south elevations have five bays, with a central full-height round-headed arch (now blocked) and four tall round-headed openings containing 20th-century windows.
Local climate
Former Smithery, Erecting Shop and Brass Foundry, Royal Dockyard sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 96% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 99% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 52% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- Sale history — 3 transactions since 2015
- Related listed building consents — 5 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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