Product Description
The Barracks were built between and on a site overlooking Woolwich Common to accommodate the nascent Royal Artillery, which was fast outgrowing its barracks in the Warren. As originally built () the barracks frontage was only half the present length, being the eastern half of the current south elevation (with the pediment and clock positioned centrally). Twenty-five years later, when further expansion was required, it was resolved to double the frontage by building an identical façade to the west (with a wind-dial in place of the clock). The architect James Wyatt then married the two halves together with a centerpiece triumphal arch. Behind the south frontage, the barracks were laid out on a grid pattern, and included soldiers’ accommodation, officers’ quarters, the officers’ mess, a chapel and a library with ancillary buildings further behind along with stores and stables for the horse artillery. Several of these buildings were altered over time or entirely replaced in one of a number of refurbishment programmes; Wyatt’s officers’ mess remains in situ Design by Richard Hiatt
