"The GREAT HENRY. First, the Great Henry-grace-a-dieu, being of the portage of 1500 tons, rideth at Northfleet, between Gravesend and Erith; being in good reparation, caulking except, so that she may be laid in dock at all times when the same shall be ready,* and Brygandyn,† the Clerk of the Ships, doth say, that before the said ship shall be laid in the Dock, it is necessary that her mast be taken down, and bestowed in the great storehouse at Erith, and also he saith, that if the Great Henry be not housed over, in such wise that the same may be sufficiently defended from snow, rain, and sun, it shall be utterly destroyed within few years; and also he esteemeth that the charge to house it, will amount to the sum of 100 marks and above."

"The SOVEREIGN. Item, the Sovereign, being of the portage of 800 tons, lyeth in a Dock at Woolwich, the same being in such case that she must be new made from the keel upwards; the form of which ship is so marvelous goodly, that great pity it were she should die, and the rather, because many things be there in her, that will serve right well."

By the evidence that has been produced, it appears that a ship of war of the first class, was begun at Woolwich in the year 1512, and that about two years afterwards there certainly was a royal dock at that place, and probably earlier; and upon such testimony, the right to the title of the Mother-Dock of England claimed for that establishment, (as it consisted both of premises occupied as a building yard, and a dock,) must be admitted.

Additional premises were soon afterwards obtained by the Crown. Sir Edward Boughton conveyed two parcels of land called Bowton's Docks (Boughton's?) in the parish of Woolwich, to king Henry VIII. in the 37th year of his reign.§

In this manner, the establishment of the Crown at Woolwich has been extended, but it is impracticable here, to trace the steps by which subsequent improvements were effected; yet the

This refers to an existing dock, in which, according to the next following passage, the ship Sovereign was then lying.

↑ Whose name was given to vessels, rigged according to his suggestion. Charnock, vol. ii page 106, note. See also, concerning Brigandine, Excerpta Historica, London. 1830, pp. 130-1.

The traveller passing by water, between London and Gravesend, will now see the same method of preserving ships in use at Woolwich. In the year 1789, it was again suggested; and in 1793, several ships had a roof thrown over them, just as they were finished, and some were kept on the stocks in that state for two or three years. Some lying in ordinary also, had sheds put over them. Derrick, memoirs on the Royal Navy, pp. 287-8.

§ Hasted's History of Kent, vol. i. p. 450.

reader is presented with the accompanying view of Woolwich, engraved from an original drawing made in the year 1662, by Mr., afterwards Sir Jonas Moore,* Surveyor of the Ordnance, being no doubt a faithful representation of the Town and Dock, as they appeared at that time. The Church delineated in this view fell into decay, and another was erected in the 5th year of the reign of George II., as one of the new Churches built after the fire of London, in 1666, from funds supplied by an impost upon coals brought into the Port of London. The Royal Dock Yard now extends in front of the Church, where the ground appears in the view, uncovered. Of course no sign of the Royal Arsenal appears.

This graphic view, contrasted with the verbal description of the place in the reign of Henry VIII., the founder of the Dock Yard, exhibits an improvement: but how much more does the present appearance of Woolwich, as now seen from the river, excel the aspect presented in the drawing?

THE ROYAL ARSENAL.

To many who occasionally pass by water between London and Gravesend, an account of the origin of this important public department may be acceptable, and to some it may be interesting.

The Foundry, where brass ordnance for the public service had previously been cast, was at Moorfields, in London, where a dreadful accident occurred, that led to the removal of that establishment. The relation of this sad event was given in the public journals of the time, and from them the following particulars are obtained:1716. "On Thursday, the 10th of May, about nine o'clock at night, while the workmen at the royal foundry near upper Moorfields, were casting a cannon, the metal that was running into the mould, flew up on a sudden, with very great noise and violence, and came down like drops of fire, not only upon all the workmen, but upon the spectators (of whom there was a great number to see the performance). Several attended from the Tower, particularly Mr. Hall, Clerk of the Ordnance, who was so

See page 40, ante.