Royal Artillery Museum

The museum has its origins in 18th-century Woolwich, in the Royal Arsenal (which at the time was known as the Warren). Two permanent companies 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. Also in the Warren, in 1741, the Board had established a Royal Military Academy to train its artillery and engineer cadets.

In 1778 Captain William Congreve (1742–1814) of the Royal Artillery 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. Congreve's experiences as a lieutenant firework in Canada during the Seven Years' War had convinced him of the need to train the artillery to manoeuvre heavy ordnance in difficult conditions. 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…