The Royal Marine Barracks, Woolwich was a military installation occupied by the

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

and located in Frances Street, just south of

Woolwich Dockyard Woolwich Dockyard (formally H.M. Dockyard, Woolwich, also known as The King's Yard, Woolwich) was an English Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard along the river Thames at Woolwich - originally in north-west Kent, now in southeast London - whe ...

. After the Royal Marines' departure from Woolwich it was renamed Cambridge Barracks, while the adjacent Royal Marine Infirmary was renamed Red Barracks.

History

Royal Marine Barracks

The Woolwich Division of the

was established, as part of the response to the threat created by the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, in 1805. New barracks for marines, who provided a military presence in the Dockyard, were established east of Frances Street in 1808. Bowater Cottage, which had been built in the 1790s, became the home of the Colonel Commandant of the barracks in 1812. The barracks were re-built, to a design developed Captain William Denison RE, between 1842 and 1848.Survey of London, p. 11 They were of an enlightened design for their time, built to provide even the lowest-ranked inhabitants with sufficient light, space and fresh air. Rushgrove House, which had been built in 1806, became the home of the Colonel Commandant of the barracks in 1855. The Royal Marine Infirmary was erected to the northwest of the barracks in 1860.

Cambridge Barracks

After the closure of the Dockyard and the consequential disbanding of the Woolwich Division of the Royal Marines in 1869, these Royal Marine Barracks were renamed Cambridge Barracks, after the

Commander-in-Chief of the Forces Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, later Commander-in-Chief, British Army, or just Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C), was (intermittently) the title of the professional head of the English Army from 1660 to 1707 (the English Army, founded in 1645, wa ...

Prince George, Duke of Cambridge Prince George, Duke of Cambridge (George William Frederick Charles; 26 March 1819 – 17 March 1904) was a member of the British royal family, a grandson of King George III and cousin of Queen Victoria. The Duke was an army officer by professio ...

, and used by the British Army as additional troop accommodation. Having become surplus to requirements, the barracks were demolished in 1972, but the heavily rusticated gatehouse arch remains on Frances Street, serving as a community centre and police office.Survey of London, p. 13 The site was subsequently redeveloped for housing.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Woolwich Barracks in London

Royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or Royalty (disambiguation), royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Ill ...

Royal Marines bases