The Royal Artillery Museum dates back to 1820, and the regiment's connections with Woolwich go back further still. Now known as Firepower, the museum is located a short walk from the station and at the heart of the Royal Arsenal, where some of the guns on display were manufactured. It is in the former Royal Laboratory Department buildings (the department was responsible for the manufacture of ammunition).
The museum tells the story of artillery from the earliest guns to the present day. That obviously involves plenty of weaponry, but also varied displays, films and activities as well as other items including uniforms, medals and images. As someone with only a mild interest in military history, I was surprised to find that the museum kept me fully entertained all afternoon (so much so that I ran out of time for a planned cup of coffee in the museum cafe!).
Many of the earlier guns have decorative features, royal crests and even rather jolly paint schemes. In fact, some are so attractive that it's easy to forget their grim purpose.
The most elaborate example of such decoration is an Indian tiger-shaped gun. Not quite completed when it was captured by British troops, the display speculates that it was possibly intended for the Sultan of Mysore.
Later weapons focused on utility rather than decoration. As more fire became indirect - in other words, the gun was out of sight of the enemy or target - so camouflage became more important too. Technical innovations brought other changes: the multi-barrelled machine guns of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, for example, which look odd to us today.
There are unexpected items among the artillery pieces, including a training mule! Some guns, such as those used in mountain areas, were able to be dismantled and transported by mule. These models were used to train gunners to load and unload the weapons.
Make-do-and-mend can be found here, too. This 'Wolf' gun was constructed in besieged Mafeking during the Boer War, using spare metal parts and the wheels of a threshing machine. It bombarded Boer positions during the siege.
While there are Cold War-era items in the main displays, the larger pieces are stored separately and accessed by guided tour. Back in the main building, a gallery devoted recent conflicts and deployments brings the regiment's story to the present day.
(More photos over on flickr.)
