Red Barracks, Woolwich

Red Barracks, Woolwich
Frances Street, Woolwich, London
The barracks
Red Barracks, Woolwich is located in Greater London
Red Barracks, Woolwich
Red Barracks, Woolwich
Location within London
Coordinates51°29′22″N 0°03′15″E / 51.4895°N 0.0542°E / 51.4895; 0.0542
TypeMilitary base
Site history
Built1858–1860
Built forAdmiralty
In use1860–1967
Garrison information
OccupantsRoyal Marine Infirmary
Royal Army Ordnance Corps
Military College of Science
Quality Assurance Directorate (Weapons)

The Red Barracks, formerly the Royal Marine Infirmary, was a military installation located in Frances Street, just south of Woolwich Dockyard, in London, England. It was commissioned as an infirmary for the Royal Marines and later became accommodation for the British Army.

History

Entrance to the former Royal Marine Infirmary (later known as Red Barracks)

Royal Marine Infirmary

The building was commissioned as an infirmary to serve the Royal Marine Barracks, Woolwich. It was (along with Blackburn Infirmary) one of the first two pavilion-plan hospitals to be erected in England in the wake of the Crimean War.[1] Construction started in 1858. It was designed by William Scamp in the neoclassical style, built in red brick with stone dressings and was completed in 1860.[2]

The design of the three-storey building involved a symmetrical main frontage of 13 bays facing onto Frances Street. The central section of three bays, which was projected forward, featured three round headed openings on the ground floor and a tetrastyle portico spanning the first and second floors. The portico was formed by huge Ionic order columns supporting an entablature and a modillioned pediment. The wings of five bays each were fenestrated by round headed windows on all three floors. The wings were decorated by banded pilasters supporting a balustrade at roof level. The main barracks behind were laid out in a square with four-stage towers surmounted by spires at each corner. The infirmary, situated on a hill, was "the most conspicuous and striking feature of the town of Woolwich."[3]

Red Barracks

After the closure of the Dockyard in 1869 the infirmary also passed to the British Army.[4] Renamed Red Barracks, reflecting the original red brick design, the old infirmary building accommodated the Army Ordnance Corps (later the Royal Army Ordnance Corps) until October 1921,[5] when the corps moved its headquarters to Hilsea Barracks near Portsmouth.[6] From 1885 Red Barracks also accommodated Artillery College (known as Ordnance College from 1899 to 1918). After the departure of the RAOC the college expanded to fill the whole of Red Barracks; renamed the Military College of Science in 1927, the college moved to Shrivenham in 1939.[7] Red Barracks then became the home of the Inspectorate of Armaments (later the Quality Assurance Directorate (Weapons))[8] and also accommodated the Royal Artillery Record Office from 1940.[4]

The building was decommissioned by the British Army in 1967 and used as a venue for the comedy film, The National Health, which was released in 1973.[9] Despite being a listed building, it was demolished in 1975.[4] The perimeter walls, which date back to the 1850s, survive.[4] The site was subsequently redeveloped for housing.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ Cook, G. C. (June 2002). "Henry Currey FRIBA (1820–1900): leading Victorian hospital architect, and early exponent of the "pavilion principle"". Postgraduate Medical Journal. 78 (920): 352–9. doi:10.1136/pmj.78.920.352. PMC 1742402. PMID 12151691.
  2. ^ "Forecourt railings and gates to Red Barracks, and Gate Lodge, Frances Street, Woolwich SE18 - Greenwich". Historic England. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  3. ^ Survey of London, p. 13
  4. ^ a b c d Survey of London, p. 14
  5. ^ "Red Barracks, Woolwich". Hansard. 26 April 1923. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  6. ^ Steer, Brigadier Frank (2005). To The Warrior His Arms: the story of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps 1918-1993. Barnsley, S. Yorks.: Pen & Sword.
  7. ^ "A Short History of the Royal Military College of Science, 1864–1964" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  8. ^ "War Office and Ministry of Defence: Inspectorate of Armaments: Reports". National Archives. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  9. ^ "The National Health". London Location. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  10. ^ "Woolwich Barracks". Hansard. 16 June 1964. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  11. ^ "King's Troop to stay in Woolwich but rest of barracks to be sold". Greenwich Wire. 17 November 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2024.

Sources