Before it moved to its new site within the old Woolwich Arsenal in 2001, the Royal Artillery's Museum was housed in the Rotunda, Woolwich.
The Rotunda has an interesting history. It was originally designed as a tent by the architect John Nash to house an exhibition and victory reception that was organised to mark the end of the Napoleonic Wars ... in 1814!
The tent was erected in St James's Park, but afterwards it was taken down and re-erected in 1820 in Woolwich. Nash replaced the fabric walls with brick ones and the fabric roof was replaced with one made of lead. A cast iron central supporting pillar was substituted for the original wooden one, and other shorter cast iron pillars were sited close to the wlls to help to support the weight of the roof.
Until recently the Rotunda continued to be used as overflow storage for the Royal Artillery's Museum, FIREPOWER, but recently it has been transformed into a boxing gymnasium for members of the Royal Horse Artillery.
The Rotunda has an interesting history. It was originally designed as a tent by the architect John Nash to house an exhibition and victory reception that was organised to mark the end of the Napoleonic Wars ... in 1814!
The tent was erected in St James's Park, but afterwards it was taken down and re-erected in 1820 in Woolwich. Nash replaced the fabric walls with brick ones and the fabric roof was replaced with one made of lead. A cast iron central supporting pillar was substituted for the original wooden one, and other shorter cast iron pillars were sited close to the wlls to help to support the weight of the roof.
Until recently the Rotunda continued to be used as overflow storage for the Royal Artillery's Museum, FIREPOWER, but recently it has been transformed into a boxing gymnasium for members of the Royal Horse Artillery.
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