The Rotunda (former Royal Artillery Museum), Woolwich Common, London Borough of Greenwich: History, Structure and Landscape Emily Cole, Susan Skedd, Jonathan Clarke and Sarah Newsome Discovery, Innovation and Science in the Historic Environment Research Report Series no. 251-2020 Research Report Series 251- 2020 THE ROTUNDA (former Royal Artillery Museum), WOOLWICH COMMON, LONDON BOROUGH OF GREENWICH: HISTORY, STRUCTURE AND LANDSCAPE Emily Cole, Susan Skedd, Jonathan Clarke and Sarah Newsome © Historic England ISSN 2059-4453 (Online) The Research Report Series incorporates reports by the expert teams within the Investigation & Analysis Department of the Research Group of Historic England, alongside contributions from other parts of the organisation. It replaces the former Centre for Archaeology Reports Series, the Archaeological Investigation Report Series, the Architectural Investigation Report Series, and the Research Department Report Series. Many of the Research Reports are of an interim nature and serve to make available the results of specialist investigations in advance of full publication. They are not usually subject to external refereeing, and their conclusions may sometimes have to be modified in the light of information not available at the time of the investigation. Where no final project report is available, readers must consult the author before citing these reports in any publication. Opinions expressed in Research Reports are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Historic England. For more information contact [email protected] or in writing to: Historic England, Fort Cumberland, Fort Cumberland Road, Eastney, Portsmouth PO4 9LD © HISTORIC ENGLAND 251 - 2020 ABBREVIATIONS DOE Department of the Environment EH English Heritage HE Historic England HEA Historic England Archive ODNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography OS Ordnance Survey PSA Property Services Agency (part of the DOE) RA Royal Archives RAHT Royal Artillery Historical Trust RAI Royal Artillery Institution RAM Royal Artillery Museum TNA The National Archives Cover Image: The Rotunda from the south-west on 9 April 1975, following the completion of the extensive restoration programme. (© Crown copyright. Historic England Archive, ref. p_g21156_003) SUMMARY The Woolwich Rotunda is a structure of international significance, listed grade II*. Designed by the architect John Nash, it began life as a temporary building constructed in 1814 for the Prince Regent (the future George IV) in the gardens of Carlton House, and utilised as a ballroom for the Wellington Fête of that year. In 1818, the structure was dismantled and transferred to Woolwich, for the use of the Royal Military Repository. The Rotunda was rebuilt and reopened on its new site as a museum in mid-1820, intended for use both by military men and civilians. Its interior was formed of a single large space filled with military collections, while the Rotunda was carefully sited at Woolwich, forming part of the Royal Military Repository training ground. The building remained a museum until the turn of the twenty-first century: the bulk of the Rotunda’s collections were transferred to Firepower, the new Royal Artillery Museum, opened in Woolwich in 2001. Following the closure of Firepower in 2016, the collections have been moved to a new museum in Wiltshire, due to open in 2022. Emptied of its exhibits, the Rotunda is currently without a function, and has been on the Historic England buildings at risk register since 2007. This report aims to inform discussions about its future. CONTRIBUTORS The text of this report was written by Emily Cole, Susan Skedd and Jonathan Clarke (then of the English Heritage Architectural Investigation team) and by Sarah Newsome (Archaeological Investigation & Survey). Initial editing was undertaken in 2008-9 by Gordon Higgott, also of the EH Architectural Investigation team, and Alan Johnson of the Government Historic Estates Unit, with graphics produced by Andy Donald and photography by Derek Kendall and Patricia Payne. It was issued as an interim report in early 2009 (see below). In 2020, to inform discussions about the future of the Rotunda and the associated Repository Woods (see Preface), Wayne Cocroft (Senior Archaeological Investigator at Historic England) asked that the interim report of 2009 be finalised and incorporated into the Historic England Research Report Series. In order to achieve this, further changes and edits have been undertaken by Emily Cole, along with the gaining of permissions to reproduce the various images. Desktop publishing has been undertaken by Rachel Forbes. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS As is noted below, the work resulting in this report was undertaken a number of years ago. The report issued in 2009 did not contain acknowledgements, aside from limited thanks given in Alan Johnson’s introduction. It would be impossible now to adequately list all the individuals and organisations who provided support and advice, but they certainly included, as well as the various authors and editors: Roger Bowdler, the Royal Collection and its archives at St James’s Palace, the staff at the Ministry of Defence and Firepower, the Royal Artillery Museum, Lt Col. Michael Edwards, the Royal Artillery Historical Trust, The National Archives, the staff of the Survey of London (especially Peter Guillery), and the staff of the Brighton Pavilion. For their help in bringing this report to publication in 2020, thanks are due in particular to Nigel Wilkins of the Historic England Archive, Joanna Smith, Wayne Cocroft, Jon Clarke, Sarah Newsome, and all the staff of the various archives, libraries and organisations who kindly provided images and permitted their reproduction. © HISTORIC ENGLAND 251 - 2020 ARCHIVE LOCATION Historic England Archive, The Engine House, Fire Fly Avenue, Swindon SN2 2EH. DATE OF RESEARCH AND INVESTIGATION Research and investigation of both the Rotunda and the Repository Grounds took place in phases between 2002 and 2009, with initial site visits taking place on 20 March 2002 and 12 March 2003. CONTACT DETAILS Historic England, Brooklands, 24 Brooklands Avenue, Cambridge, CB2 8BU Dr Emily Cole; 01223 582793, [email protected] © HISTORIC ENGLAND 251 - 2020 CONTENTS PREFACE - EMILY COLE, 2020 1 INTRODUCTION - ALAN JOHNSON, 2009 3 PART ONE: HISTORY 4 THE ROTUNDA AT CARLTON HOUSE, 1814-1818 - EMILY COLE 4 Historical Context 4 The Napoleonic Wars 4 The Prince Regent 5 1814: The Year of Celebration 7 Architectural Context 13 The History of Carlton House 13 Carlton House Described 17 Fêtes and Temporary Rooms at Carlton House 22 Tents and Tent-Rooms 25 The Design and Erection of the Rotunda, 1814 27 The Wellington Fête 35 Subsequent History of the Rotunda at Carlton House, 1814-18 42 The Dismantling of the Rotunda 45 THE ROTUNDA AT WOOLWICH, 1818-PRESENT- SUSAN SKEDD AND EMILY COLE 50 Historical Context 50 The Military Presence in Woolwich 50 The Early History of the Royal Military Repository 52 The Re-erection of the Rotunda, 1818-20 55 The Dating of the Lead Roof 60 The Landscaping of the Repository Grounds 65 The Evolution and Use of the Rotunda from 1820 72 1820-1859 72 1859 -1870 78 1870-1972 83 1972-1975 89 © HISTORIC ENGLAND 251 - 2020 1975-2009 97 PART TWO: STRUCTURE - JONATHAN CLARKE 99 THE STRUCTURAL DESIGN OF THE ROTUNDA 99 The Structural Elements 99 Structural Influences and Forerunners 106 Who designed the roof: Nash or Nixon? 108 CONES AT BRIGHTON 110 ROTUNDA AND PAVILION: REGENCY STRUCTURAL INNOVATION 114 PART THREE: LANDSCAPE - SARAH NEWSOME AND SUSAN SKEDD 116 THE LANDSCAPE SETTING OF THE WOOLWICH ROTUNDA, 1818-1945 116 The Early Landscape and the Establishment of the Repository Grounds 116 The First Buildings, 1781-1806 117 Landscaping for the Exercises, 1806-1830 118 The Rotunda’s Location in 1818 123 Congreve’s ‘fortification’, 1818-c. 1850, and its Survival 123 The Repository Grounds in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries 128 Conclusion 136 CONCLUSION: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ROTUNDA AT WOOLWICH - SUSAN SKEDD AND EMILY COLE 137 Royal and Political Significance 137 Military and Educational Significance 139 A Public Building 140 ‘The Rotunda irrepressible’ 142 ENDNOTES 144 PREFACE - EMILY COLE, 2020 This study of the Rotunda was originally issued as an interim research report by English Heritage in 2009, under the editorship of Gordon Higgott. It was the result of a process of research and investigation that began around 2001, when Alan Johnson of the EH Government Historic Estates Unit commissioned some work from what was then the Historical Analysis & Research Team. Emily Cole undertook that first phase of research, beginning with the Rotunda’s history at Carlton House, completing an internal English Heritage report on this subject in April 2002 (revised and reissued in July 2008). In subsequent years, further work was undertaken on the Rotunda’s history at Woolwich (by Emily Cole and Susan Skedd), on the building’s structure (by Jonathan Clarke) and on its landscape setting (by Sarah Newsome). Jonathan Clarke published an article on the building in Construction History in 2005/6, and an archaeological survey report by Sarah Newsome, Jonathan Millward and Wayne Cocroft on the Repository Woods was published in the English Heritage Research Report series in 2009 (no. 14-2009).1 All of this work fed into a new Survey of London volume on Woolwich, then in preparation by colleagues at English Heritage; the resulting volume was published in 2012.2 The interim Rotunda report completed by English Heritage in 2009 was intended for limited and predominantly internal use; it was never published online and was not part of the English Heritage Research Report Series. As is noted below, the report served to inform discussions then underway about the future of the Rotunda and surrounding areas in Woolwich. It was intended that the material in the report be subsequently issued in the form of a book, but this project never went ahead. As a result of the interim report and the associated report on the Repository Woods, the linear training fortification to the east side of the Rotunda was scheduled in 2010, while Repository Woods was designated as a grade II-listed park and garden in 2011.