The
Royal Artillery Barracks at
WoolwichWoolwich is a suburb in south-east London, England in the London Borough of Greenwich, on the south side of the River Thames, though the tiny exclave of North Woolwich is on the north side of the river. Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...
in
South East LondonThe South East is a sub-region of the London Plan corresponding to the London Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Lewisham and Southwark. The sub region was established in 2008. The south east has a population of 1,300,000 and is the location of 500,000 jobs. There is a metropolitan centre at...
is the "home" of the
Royal ArtilleryThe Royal Artillery is the common name for the Royal Regiment of Artillery, an arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
. It is famous for having the longest continuous building facade in the
UKThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
as well as for having the largest parade square of any
UKThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
barracksBarracks are living quarters for personnel on a military post. They are typically very plain and all of the buildings in the housing unit are often uniform structures.-History:...
.
The Barracks were built between 1776 and 1802 on a site overlooking
Woolwich CommonWoolwich Common is an area of military land located to the south of the town centre of Woolwich in South East London England.It is bounded on the south side by the A207 Shooter's Hill Road, and on the east by Academy Road that the former Royal Military Academy fronts. Situated to the west is the...
. Their use by the RA ended with the departure of
16 Regiment, Royal Artillery16th Regiment Royal Artillery is a regiment of the Royal Artillery in the British Army. It currently serves in the air defence role, and is equipped with the Rapier missile....
in July 2007.
Woolwich has extensive links with weaponry.
The
Royal Artillery Barracks at
WoolwichWoolwich is a suburb in south-east London, England in the London Borough of Greenwich, on the south side of the River Thames, though the tiny exclave of North Woolwich is on the north side of the river. Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...
in
South East LondonThe South East is a sub-region of the London Plan corresponding to the London Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Lewisham and Southwark. The sub region was established in 2008. The south east has a population of 1,300,000 and is the location of 500,000 jobs. There is a metropolitan centre at...
is the "home" of the
Royal ArtilleryThe Royal Artillery is the common name for the Royal Regiment of Artillery, an arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
. It is famous for having the longest continuous building facade in the
UKThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
as well as for having the largest parade square of any
UKThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
barracksBarracks are living quarters for personnel on a military post. They are typically very plain and all of the buildings in the housing unit are often uniform structures.-History:...
.
The Barracks were built between 1776 and 1802 on a site overlooking
Woolwich CommonWoolwich Common is an area of military land located to the south of the town centre of Woolwich in South East London England.It is bounded on the south side by the A207 Shooter's Hill Road, and on the east by Academy Road that the former Royal Military Academy fronts. Situated to the west is the...
. Their use by the RA ended with the departure of
16 Regiment, Royal Artillery16th Regiment Royal Artillery is a regiment of the Royal Artillery in the British Army. It currently serves in the air defence role, and is equipped with the Rapier missile....
in July 2007.
Woolwich has extensive links with weaponry. Besides the Royal Artillery Barracks it was the location of the
Royal ArsenalThe Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, originally known as the Woolwich Warren, carried out armaments manufacture, ammunition proofing and explosives research for the British armed forces. It was sited on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England...
complex, which was the British Government's principal armaments manufacturing facility for over 200 years, and the
Royal Military AcademyThe Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Signals and other technical corps.The RMA was founded in 1741...
which trained artillery officers and engineers from 1741 to 1939. There was also a military hospital based at Woolwich which closed in the mid 1990s.
Woolwich CommonWoolwich Common is an area of military land located to the south of the town centre of Woolwich in South East London England.It is bounded on the south side by the A207 Shooter's Hill Road, and on the east by Academy Road that the former Royal Military Academy fronts. Situated to the west is the...
is still a designated military training area although troops are not often seen nowadays.
Woolwich DockyardWoolwich Dockyard was an English naval dockyard founded by King Henry VIII in 1512 to build his flagship Henri Grâce à Dieu , the largest ship of its day....
was one of the principal Royal Dockyards during the
TudorThe Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII...
and
Stuart-People:*Clan Stuart of Bute, a Scottish clan*House of Stuart, a royal house of Scotland and England*Stuart , people with the surname and given name Stuart-Places:Australia*Stuart, the former name for Alice Springs, Northern Territory...
periods, although it closed in the late 19th century for
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
use as the Thames was by then too difficult to navigate for the naval vessels of the time.
It has often been a matter of debate as to whether the
Ministry of DefenceThe Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
would dispose of the barracks as surplus to requirements. This is now not the case as the barracks has been designated one of the MoD's "core sites". At one time it was rumoured that the only reason that the barracks was not being closed and sold was that the members of the
Royal Artillery Mess who owned their officers' mess in the building would not consent to sell, and so the MoD were forced to recognise that they could not dispose of the building in its entirety. Now it is planned that, now the last RA unit has moved out, the
public dutiesPublic duties are performed by military personnel, and usually have a ceremonial or historic significance rather than an overtly operational role.-Germany:...
line infantry battalion and
incremental companiesThe Guards Division of the British Army contains a total of five battalions, one from each of the five regiments of Foot Guards. However, before the Options for Change defence review in 1992, there were eight battalions:*1st and 2nd Bn, Grenadier Guards...
of the
Foot Guards-British Army:The Foot Guards are the Infantry regiments of the Household Division of the British Army. There have been six regiments of foot guards, five of which still exist...
will be moved from
Chelsea BarracksChelsea Barracks was a British Army barracks located in the City of Westminster, London, adjacent to Chelsea, on Chelsea Bridge Road.-History:...
and
Cavalry BarracksCavalry Barracks is a British Army installation located north of Hounslow Heath in Hounslow, west London. It was one of 40 such barracks built around London to guard against possible invasion by France in the late 18th and early 19th centuries....
, which will be closed.
2012 Olympic and Paralympic venue
The
shootingThe shooting sports include those competitive sports involving tests of proficiency using various types of guns such as firearms and airguns . Hunting is also a shooting sport, and indeed shooting live pigeons was an Olympic event...
events at the
2012 Summer OlympicsThe 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, are due to take place in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
and
ParalympicsThe 2012 Summer Paralympic Games will be the fourteenth Paralympics and will take place between 29 August and 9 September 2012. The Games will be held in London, United Kingdom after the city was successful with its bid for the Paralympics and Summer Olympic Games...
in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
,
Great BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
will be held at a temporary venue at the Barracks. The original venue for the shooting was the National Shooting Centre at
BisleyBisley is a large village in Surrey, England, which is notable for rifle shooting. Bisley's immediate neighbours are West End, Chobham and Knaphill.- History :...
in
SurreySurrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford...
, but the plan was changed after the
International Olympic CommitteeThe International Olympic Committee is an organization based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas on 23 June 1894. Its membership consists of the 205 National Olympic Committees....
expressed reservations about the number of sports which London proposed to stage outside the city.
The budget for the Olympics project is £18 million. After the Olympics the shooting hall will be reassembled elsewhere in the UK.
See also
- Royal School of Artillery
The Royal School of Artillery is the principal training establishment for artillery warfare in the British Army. It is located at Larkhill, on the south edge of Salisbury Plain in the UK....
- Wentworth Woodhouse
Wentworth Woodhouse is a Grade I listed country house near the village of Wentworth, in the vicinity of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. "One of the great Whig political palaces", its East Front, 606 ft long, is the longest country house façade in Europe. The house includes 240 rooms and...
, another building with a long facade
External links