REPOSITORy wOODS, wOOlwICH, gREATER ... - English Heritage

combination with the substantial surviving remains of the practice fortification and theRotunda, represent a significant proportion of the unique training facility that was theRoyal Military Repository. It is possible that buried remains may also survive in the areasof the Repository that have been redeveloped. In addition to the surviving elements ofthe 19 th -century landscape, a number of 20 th -century practice trenches survive as well asother training facilities, evidence of a not always well-documented aspect of the modernBritish army.The Repository Grounds with their designed landscape and training facilities, the Rotundabuilding, the linear fortification and even the observatory building represent a uniquecollection of buildings, structures and spaces whose history is intimately linked. TheRepository Grounds are in their particular location because of the topography, theRotunda and the linear fortification are in their location because of the Repository,and the observatory building may be located close by in order to take advantage of aclose association with the Repository or the topography. The surviving archaeologicalremains and buildings, when combined with the excellent photographic, cartographicand documentary evidence for the Repository enable the building of a detailed narrativeabout a site which was at the heart of the growing professionalism of the British army,which began at the start of the 19 th century as a consequence of the Napoleonicconflicts. Excellent documentary evidence gives an exceptional understanding of howdifferent parts of the landscape were used in the Repository training, as well as the rolesof specific structures.A tradition of building military practice fortifcations was beginning to develop by thelate 18th century (e.g. Smith 1995, 423) and surviving 19th century structures areknown from other military establishments such as Sandhurst (A Johnson, pers comm).However none of these were designed for the specific practice of Repository exercisesand appear to largely relate to infantry training. In summary, the Repository Groundsprobably represent one of the earliest purpose-built training landscapes in England, if notin Western Europe, a landscape which appears to have stayed in use as some form oftraining area until the present day. Established at a time of increasing professionalism, thetraining grounds of the Repository embody both the Congreves' visions of the trainingneeds of the artillery at this time and the essentially empiric British approach to militarytraining.© ENGLISH HERITAGE4414 - 2009