page_title: Powis Street
section_title: West end - South side
hierarchical_section_title: Powis Street / Architecture / West end - South side
caption_attribution_description: English: Detail of main façade of former RACS Central Stores in Powis Street, Woolwich, South East London, UK.
context_page_description: Powis Street is a partly pedestrianised shopping street in Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, south east London, England. It was laid out in the late 18th century and was named after the Powis brothers, who developed most of the land in this part of the town. The street has been rebuilt several times but has retained some notable examples of late-Victorian and Art Deco architecture.
context_section_description: The west end of Powis Street is not pedestrianised although vehicle access is restricted here. Big buildings dominate this part of the street. On the south west corner with Barnard Close (nrs 115-123, opposite Hare Street) five late-Victorian shops were replaced by a building designed by Rodney Gordon (of Owen Luder Partnership) in 1964-65. Its style has been characterized as "blowsy forcefulness".
  Its neighbour is the late- or rather Neo-Victorian Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society Central Stores (nrs 125-153). With its 82 m long façade it is the largest building in the street. It was designed by the Society's architect, Frank Bethell, and built in three phases, replacing a number of existing RACS shops and adjacent buildings. The easternmost part, including the central tower, was built in 1902-03. The second range was finished in 1912 and the last section in 1926. Above its main entrance is a large statue by Alfred Drury of the RACS' founder, Alexander McLeod (1832–1902). Its 32 m high copper-domed clock tower made it look grander than any other shop in Woolwich. With its red brick and moulded terracotta façade, the architectural critic Ian Nairn thought it would look more at home in the Midlands. After RACS lost its independence in 1985, the Central Stores closed and were used by Greenwich Council. In 1989 the building was listed. In 2011-13 it was converted into a hotel with 120 rooms and shop units.
  A vacant lot with a large car park separates the hotel from Woolwich County Court, built by the Office of Works in 1935-36, shortly after the road was widened here. It is a simple red brick building with a Portland stone entrance and the royal arms above. Further west is a short row of Neo-Georgian shops built in 1937-38 after the road-widening. The corner of Parson's Hill, originally the name of this whole area, is occupied by the Castle Tavern (nrs 179), a famous Woolwich hostelry in the 19th century, rebuilt in 1937.
caption: Clock tower RACS buildings
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