Firepower - The Royal Artillery Museum

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Firepower - The Royal Artillery Museum


Established	4 May 1820
Location	Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, South East London
Nearest tube station(s)	Woolwich Arsenal
Website	Official website

Firepower: The Royal Artillery Museum is a military museum in Woolwich in south-east London, England, which tells the story of the Royal Regiment of Artillery and of the Royal Arsenal.

The museum is located in some of the former buildings of the Royal Arsenal, which was the British Government's principal ordnance manufacturing facility from the early 18th century until the mid 20th century. Since the turn of the millennium the Royal Arsenal site has been undergoing a mixed use redevelopment, and Firepower is one of the anchor features of this project.

The forerunner of Firepower was the Royal Military Repository, which was established on the Royal Arsenal site in May 1778. After a fire in 1802 the surviving artefacts were rehoused in the Old Royal Military Academy. In 1820 the main collection was moved to the Rotunda on Woolwich Common. The collection moved to Firepower in April 2001. All of Firepower's buildings were once part of the Royal Laboratory Department, which controlled the manufacture of ammunition. The Old Military Academy is grade II* listed and some of the other buildings used by Firepower are grade II listed.

Firepower has large collections of historic and modern weapons. It is composed of the following sections:

Breech cinema: Shows an introductory film.
Field of fire: An interactive exhibit with sound, smoke, screens and vibrations designed to give visitors an idea of what it is like to be a modern gunner in war time.
The Gunnery Hall: The museum's main display of 20th century weapons.
The History Gallery: This covers the history of artillery from slings and arrows onwards.
Medals Gallery: Displays a selection from the museums collection of thousands of medals won by members of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, and tells some of the stories behind them.
Real Weapon Gallery: An interactive exhibition about ammunition.