Royal Arsenal Royal Laboratory East Pavilion
ROYAL ARSENAL ROYAL LABORATORY EAST PAVILION, PLUMSTEAD ROAD SE18
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1211082
- Date first listed:
- 08-Jun-1973
- List Entry Name:
- Royal Arsenal Royal Laboratory East Pavilion
- Statutory Address:
- ROYAL ARSENAL ROYAL LABORATORY EAST PAVILION, PLUMSTEAD ROAD SE18
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
| Buildings |
| Scheduled monuments |
| Parks and gardens |
| Battlefields |
| Shipwrecks |
Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2006-03-03
- Reference:
- IOE01/15338/05
- Rights:
- © Ms Frances Ottaway. Source: Historic England Archive
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1211082
- Date first listed:
- 08-Jun-1973
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 09-Jul-1997
- List Entry Name:
- Royal Arsenal Royal Laboratory East Pavilion
- Statutory Address 1:
- ROYAL ARSENAL ROYAL LABORATORY EAST PAVILION, PLUMSTEAD ROAD SE18
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- ROYAL ARSENAL ROYAL LABORATORY EAST PAVILION, PLUMSTEAD ROAD SE18
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Greater London Authority
- District:
- Greenwich (London Borough)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TQ 43751 79169
Details
TQ 4479 PLUMSTEAD ROAD SE18
(North side)
786/9/10067
Royal Arsenal
Royal Laboratory E Pavilion
08/06/73
GV II
Gunpowder factory, disused. Part of the Royal Laboratory of 1694-96, extended and altered 1855, partly demolished 1950s. Brick with stone dressings, roof not visible. Single-depth plan. 2 storeys; 5-window range. A symmetrical front has projecting centre with rusticated voussoirs, plinth plat band and coping. Doorway with eared architrave and console cornice, with window above has an architrave with foliate brackets and lion-head key. Rubbed brick keyed flat arches to altered windows. INTERIOR not inspected: it may contain features of interest but is noted as having been remodelled internally in C20, with a central concrete dogleg stair.
HISTORY: The oldest part of the Arsenal, and possibly the oldest Ordnance buildings in the country: one of a pair of pavilions with that to the W (qv), which are the only surviving part of a larger building to which the Royal Laboratory for the manufacture of fireworks and gunpowder transferred when it moved from Greenwich in 1695. Originally with cross windows and a steep hipped roof, lower buildings each side, the courtyard between the two pavilions was closed to the N and S by walls with gateways, the lion and unicorn finials from which are now on the Board Room (qv). The yard was roofed over in 1855, and contained the largest milling machinery space in the world when it was completed.
Listing NGR: TQ4295478475
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 200491
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 19-Jun-2026 at 05:41:20.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.