The Royal Artillery Museum, which was one of the world's oldest military museums, was first opened to the public in

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...

in southeast London in 1820. It told the story of the development of

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

through the ages by way of a collection of

artillery piece Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, ...

s from across the centuries. The museum had its roots in an earlier institution, the Royal Military Repository (established in Woolwich in the 1770s as a training collection for cadets of the Royal Military Academy); items which were once displayed in the Repository form the nucleus of the Royal Artillery Museum collection. Following the closure in 2016 of the museum, branded since 2001 as 'Firepower – The Royal Artillery Museum', its collection has been placed in storage pending the establishment of a new Royal Artillery Museum. The Royal Artillery Museum collections are designated as being of national and international significance by Arts Council England.

History

The museum has its origins in 18th-century

, in the Royal Arsenal (which at the time was known as the Warren). Two permanent

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

of field artillery had been established here by the Board of Ordnance in 1716, each 100 men strong; this became the "Royal Artillery" in 1720.History and Traditions of the Royal Artillery
/ref> Also in the Warren, in 1741, the Board had established a Royal Military Academy to train its artillery and engineer cadets.

The Royal Military Repository

In 1778 Captain

William Congreve William Congreve (24 January 1670 – 19 January 1729) was an English playwright and poet of the Restoration period. He is known for his clever, satirical dialogue and influence on the comedy of manners style of that period. He was also a mi ...

set up a training establishment within the Warren, as an offshoot of the Royal Military Academy, to instruct officers in handling heavy equipment in the field of battle. His 'Repository of Military Machines' (soon given the title of Royal Military Repository ) was housed in a long two-storey building alongside the Carriage Works: cannons used for field training were stored on the ground floor while smaller items and models used for teaching purposes were displayed upstairs. Training initially took place on land to the east of the Warren and later moved to the woods to the west of

Woolwich Common Woolwich Common is a common in Woolwich in southeast London, England. It is partly used as military land (less than 40%) and partly as an urban park. Woolwich Common is a conservation area. It is part of the South East London Green Chain. It is al ...

, close to the new Artillery Barracks, which are known still as 'Repository Grounds'. The Repository building itself was seriously damaged by fire (probably arson) in 1802. Those items that were saved or salvaged soon found a new home in the old premises of the Royal Military Academy, which itself moved from the Arsenal to Woolwich Common in 1806.

The Museum of Artillery in the Rotunda

In 1820 the Repository collection found a new home in a building of unusual provenance, secured for this purpose by the son of the Repository's founder (also named

). The Rotunda was initially erected in London in 1814 as an elaborate temporary marquee in the grounds of

Carlton House Carlton House was a mansion in Westminster, best known as the town residence of King George IV. It faced the south side of Pall Mall, and its gardens abutted St James's Park in the St James's district of London. The location of the house, no ...

. It was built for a ball given by

the Prince Regent George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

in honour of the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish soldier and Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of Uni ...

in anticipation of victory over

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

; designed by John Nash, it was made to resemble a military

bell tent A bell tent is a human shelter for inhabiting, traveling or leisure that has been used since 600AD. The design is a simple structure, supported by a single central pole, covered with cotton canvas. The stability of the tent is reinforced with ...

. After the victory celebrations were over the building languished without a use; but in 1818

authorised the Rotunda's removal to Woolwich "to be appropriated to the conservation of the trophies obtained in the last war, the artillery models, and other military curiosities usually preserved in the Repository" and it was rebuilt on the eastern edge of the Repository Grounds. In its new accessible location the Repository became 'an early and free permanent public museum'. Inside, trophies and weapons were arranged around the central column with display cases all around containing models and smaller exhibits; larger

s were displayed outside. In 1988 responsibility for the collection was vested in the Royal Artillery Historical Trust (which had been established in 1981 'as a mechanism for the Regiment to consolidate legal ownership of elements of the Regimental heritage'). The museum continued in the Rotunda through to the very end of the 20th century, despite attempts at various times (including in 1932, 1953, in the 1960s and 1980s) to move it elsewhere. Eventually accommodation was secured for a new museum within the old Royal Arsenal (the Army having left the site in the 1990s). The Royal Artillery Museum in the Rotunda closed in 1999 (though the Rotunda continued to house the museum's reserve collection until 2010).

Royal Artillery Regimental Museum

Independent of the museum in the Rotunda, the Royal Artillery Institution (founded in 1838) had established its own museum collection related to the history of the regiment, including uniforms, medals and other items. The Institution's headquarters (within the

Royal Artillery Barracks Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich, is a barracks of the British Army which forms part of Woolwich Garrison. The Royal Regiment of Artillery had its headquarters here from 1776 until 2007, when it was moved to Larkhill Garrison. History In 17 ...

) was severely damaged in

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

, but everything that could be salvaged from its museum, library and archives was moved in 1941 to the central block of the recently vacated Royal Military Academy building on the common (the academy having transferred in 1939 to Sandhurst). The Institution and its museum remained there until 1999, whereupon its collections were combined with those of the Rotunda to form the new Firepower museum. (The library and archives of the Institution were moved at the same time to an adjacent building in the Arsenal, the James Clavell Library).

Firepower: The Royal Artillery Museum

Flickr - davehighbury - Royal Artillery Museum Woolwich London 277

Between 2001 and 2016 the combined museum was branded as Firepower: The Royal Artillery Museum and was housed in some of the former buildings of the Royal Arsenal. All Firepower's buildings were once part of the Royal Laboratory Department, which controlled the manufacture of ammunition; they are for the most part Grade II listed. The adjacent

Greenwich Heritage Centre Greenwich Heritage Centre was a museum and local history resource centre in Woolwich, south-east London, England. It was established in 2003 by the London Borough of Greenwich and was run from 2014 by the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust until th ...

told the story of the local people of Greenwich who worked in the Arsenal and made the guns.

Closure

Firepower closed in July 2016 and its buildings were acquired by Greenwich Council, which had hopes of establishing a "significant new cultural and heritage quarter" on the site. The relocation of the museum was described by a board member as a "missed opportunity". Later that year,

filled part of the gap by creating a new exhibition ''Making Woolwich: The Royal Regiment of Artillery in Woolwich''. The project was supported amongst others by the Royal Regiment of Artillery, Royal Artillery Museums Ltd, Friends of the Royal Artillery Collections and the Royal Artillery Historical Trust.

Future of the buildings

In 2017 it was announced that the Royal Borough of Greenwich had acquired five historic buildings around No 1 Street to create a £31 million cultural district including buildings 17, 18 and 41, which were all used by Firepower. The plan included a 450-seat black box theatre to be built on the site of the former museum entrance. Building 17 (and other listed buildings nearby) would house rehearsal studios for resident companies such as Academy Performing Arts, Dash Arts, Chickenshed Theatre, Protein Dance, Greenwich Dance and

Greenwich+Docklands International Festival Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

. The

was intended to move to the former James Clavell Library, until 2016 part of Firepower, but closed in July 2018.

Gallery of buildings

The following buildings were leased to Firepower by

Greenwich London Borough Council Greenwich London Borough Council is the local authority for the Royal Borough of Greenwich in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. Greenwich is divided into 23 wards, electing ...

: File:Flickr - davehighbury - Firepower Woolwich London (49).jpg, The main museum entrance opened into a new building, which housed the Modern Gunner galleries. File:Royal Artillery Museum outside view Geograph 972031 9bfa1c45.jpg, To the right of the main entrance, the former Paper Cartridge Factory (''Building 17'', 1855–6) housed the main Gunnery Hall as well as the History Gallery and other exhibitions. File:London, Woolwich, Royal Arsenal06.jpg, To the left of the main entrance, the former Royal Laboratory Offices (''Building 18'', 1855–6) housed museum offices and archives (James Clavell Library). File:Greenwich Heritage Centre - geograph.org.uk - 972035.jpg, ''Building 41'' (opposite the main museum) was originally part of the New Laboratory Square factory complex; it housed large Cold War-era exhibits.

Gallery of exhibits

File:Abbot self propelled gun.jpg, A

FV433 Abbot SPG FV433, 105mm, Field Artillery, Self-Propelled "Abbot" is the self-propelled artillery, or more specifically self-propelled gun (SPG), variant of the British Army FV430 series of armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs), using much of the chassis of ...

File:3-7 inch mountain gun.jpg, A 3.7-inch mountain howitzer File:Gatling gun 1865.jpg, A Gatling gun File:Iraqi Supergun Section 1.jpg, A Section of the 1990-1991 Iraqi supergun

Plans

It was planned that the Royal Artillery Museum collection would be displayed in a new museum on Salisbury Plain, at Avon Camp West, south of Netheravon. However, in 2020 the Army withdrew its support for the lease of proposed site, leading to a "strategic re-appraisal" of the project. In the meantime, the exhibits are being stored and conserved in a museum stores nearby with limited public access.

References

{{Authority control Regimental museums in London Woolwich Museums established in 1820 Museums disestablished in 2001 Defunct museums in London