The historic Rotunda near Woolwich Common needs emergency work to stop it collapsing, nearly a quarter of a century after it closed to the public.

Designed by John Nash, the 24-sided polygon was originally erected in Westminster but moved to Woolwich in 1820, on a site which at the time commanded views of the Thames and the rest of the barracks. The roof is said to have inspired Nash’s later work at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton.

The Rotunda housed the Royal Artillery’s museum for nearly 180 years but closed in 1999 when the collection moved to the short-lived Firepower attraction in the Royal Arsenal. It was then home to Firepower’s reserve collection until about 2010 and was used as a boxing gym for a while after.

Since then the building, off Repository Road, has been left to crumble, largely out of public view. Historic England’s Heritage at Risk register says it is in a “very bad” condition.

The Grade II*-listed building needs “emergency structural stabilisation works”, a planning application submitted to Greenwich Council says. The roof structure needs to be propped up, the leaking roof needs to be repaired while doors and windows also need fixing, the application says. A carpet left soaking from the leaking roof also needs to be removed to reduce the humidity levels.

When it moved to the Rotunda commanded views of the Thames as well as the surrounding army land

Scaffolding has already been put in place to prop the roof up, with a canvas roof coverage dating from the 1970s removed. Electrics have not been tested for seven years, according to an assessment of the building’s condition.

The application also appears to confirm that the Rotunda will be included when most of Woolwich Barracks is sold by the Ministry of Defence – with any buyer expected to refurbish the building after years of government neglect.  The building is in the hands of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, whose stewardship of Woolwich Common is regularly criticised by locals.

“It is expected that following disposal of the building by the current owner that any future repairs or development will be the subject of a further application at that time,” a planning document says.

While this application is merely meant to allow the building to be patched up, an assessment submitted to the council says that the full repair bill would come £2.6 million.

Woolwich Rotunda with "museum parking" sign
Signage for the Royal Artillery Museum remains in place, 24 years after it closed. Image: The Greenwich Wire

While the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery is expected to stay at its Napier Lines base, next door to the Rotunda, the rest of the barracks is expected to close by 2028 as part of a wider programme of defence cuts. A council consultation on what to do with the site, which includes housing, woodland and the old Royal Artillery headquarters, is expected soon.

Signage outside the building still indicates that the museum is open, nearly a quarter of a century after it closed. Firepower itself closed in 2016, while a plan to reopen the  Royal Artillery museum at the regiment’s new home of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire has stalled. 

Full details of the patch-up plans for the Rotunda – including documents detailing what needs to be done, accounts of its history and photos of the interior – are on the Greenwich Council planning website.