Royal Artillery Museum

The Royal Artillery Museum
round brick building with a tent-like roof
The Rotunda, Woolwich: home of the museum from 1820 to 2001
Map
Established4 May 1820 (1820-05-04)
Dissolved8 July 2016 (2016-07-08)

The Royal Artillery Museum, which was one of the world's oldest military museums,[1] was first opened to the public in Woolwich in southeast London in 1820. It told the story of the development of artillery through the ages by way of a collection of artillery pieces 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.[2] The Royal Artillery Museum collections are designated as being of national and international significance by Arts Council England.[3]

  1. ^ Michelin Green Guide: London. Michelin Travel & Lifestyle. 2012.
  2. ^ "The Royal Artillery Museum". Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Designated Outstanding Collections" (PDF). Arts Council England. Retrieved 10 August 2016.