The Powder Magazine near Greenwich RMG PU2175, William Henry Toms, 4 April 1738

The powder magazine near greenwich plate 6 from a series by toms, a well known london topographer and engraver of the first half of the 18th century. The broad location of the magazine was east of east greenwich, then ending at about ballast quay, round to the greenwich peninsula (formerly greenwich marsh), now site of the dome (02). It is almost certainly the magazine on the formerly marshy site of what is now granite wharf , east of lovell's wharf,. This was there from 1694 and though out of use by 1760 its position is still marked on a map of 1804 (as it is on john rocque's map of the 1740s). Brick earth was being extracted in the area before 1869, from which time it was called stone yard and held limekilns and coke ovens. By the mid-1890s it was known as granite wharf and held lime, cement and stone works. Apart from the grazing cattle and a courting couple, the presence of a peat-cutter (with a visible trench) raising his hat to another gentleman indicates the marshy nature of the ground. The figure sketching in the foreground may be the artist of the piece. The powder magazine near greenwich. Date: 4 April 1738. Dimensions: Mount: 106 mm x 152 mm. Collection: Fine art.