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Inside the Arsenal         

 
Inside the Arsenal exhibit
This free exhibition tells the fascinating story of the Royal Arsenal and the Royal Woolwich Dockyard by looking across 400 years of history from Henry VIII to modern times.

The exhibition is hands-on allowing the visitor to see and hear aspects of the Arsenal’s history and to look at objects relating to the site and its activities.

Visitors of all ages and experience will find something of interest in this absorbing exhibition. School visitors are especially welcome, see our services for schools page.

What's it all about?

No longer shrouded in secrecy, there are many tales of the Arsenal to be told, from the convicts living on the Woolwich hulks to the men, women and children who worked on the site and the leaders of scientific, technical and social innovation.

The site employed increasing numbers of workers, peaking around 100,000 during the First World War.

The exhibition explores the impact of the Royal Arsenal on Woolwich and the surrounding areas by looking at the effects on family life of the peaks and troughs of the Arsenal’s prosperity.

The development of the trade unions, improvements in the welfare of the workforce and the establishment of the Royal Arsenal Cooperative Society (RACS) placed the Arsenal at the forefront of a social revolution.

What can you see and do?

You can see films and pictures, also read and listen to first-hand accounts of what life was like inside and outside the Arsenal gates.

You can:

  • Look at documents showing advances in explosives, weaponry, steel production, manufacturing processes, rocket and nuclear power that took place at the Arsenal. Discover their impact on the modern world.

  • Watch previously unseen films of working conditions at the Arsenal site during the First World War.

  • View personal histories of some of those who earned their living here.

  • See the arts of wooden shipbuilding and gun-founding through enlightening interactive displays.

  • Find answers to interesting questions about the Arsenal...

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