The gate was named after the Anglo-Irish general William Beresford, Master-General of the Ordnance and Governor of the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich.

Its construction was supervised by Colonel John Thomas Jones, Chief Royal Engineer, who also made the design.

The new gate replaced an older one of 1720 and was preceded by the clearance of some cottages which stood in the way of the main approach road to the Arsenal.

[1] In 1969 plans were presented by the Greater London Council (GLC) for the widening of Beresford Street and Plumstead Road, necessary because of traffic congestion and made more urgent by the massive construction scheme at Thamesmead.

The construction of the Royal Arsenal Gatehouse, or Beresford Gate as it was originally called, took place in stages.

The last additions of 1891 are of red brick and feature three large windows on each side and a clock at the top of its south-facing gable.

The central section of the gate is flanked by two lodges from 1828, both adorned with recessed rectangular panels and surmounted by brass mortars.