Housing could be built on part of Woolwich Barracks after its closure in 2028, Greenwich Council has said.

The army plans to sell off most of its land in Woolwich – including the former headquarters of the Royal Artillery – under cutbacks announced by the last government. 

Only the King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery – which moved to Napier Lines, off Repository Road, in 2012 – would remain in the area.

Greenwich Council will consult locals in the new year on a masterplan for the rest of the site, which could include opening up Repository Woods – an open space between Charlton and Woolwich that is still used for military exercises – to the public for the first time.

Much of the site, which includes Woolwich Common, is protected as metropolitan open land, and most of the land that could be developed would be behind the 17th century Royal Artillery Barracks. It is currently used as army accommodation and offices, with its own internal road network, but is largely screened off from the area by high walls.

Taking down some of these walls and opening up the site is mentioned as a possibility in the council’s consultation document.

Repository Wood is still used for military training but could be opened up when the army leaves. Image: The Greenwich Wire

“The proposed uses include housing, employment, education and community uses,” the consultation says. “Development should be compact and utilise the land that has already been built upon,reusing existing protected historic buildings.”

The area includes the Rotunda – the old Royal Artillery Museum that has been closed to the public since 1998 and is in a poor condition. The number of listed buildings on site “present a challenge and an opportunity”, the document says, and a heritage study is planned. 

Locals are also being asked if the parade grounds in front of the barracks should be retained and what they could be used for in the future. 

The King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery would still use Napier Lines, Barrack Field and part of Woolwich Common, while army housing at Green Hill is also out of scope, according to the consultation.

Woolwich Rotunda with "museum parking" sign
The Rotunda is in a poor state after its museum closed in the late 1990s. Image: The Greenwich Wire

Even now, the army’s presence in Woolwich is much reduced compared with previous years.

The Red Barracks and Cambridge Barracks, across Artillery Place, were closed in the 1960s and replaced with the looming council blocks of the Cardwell Estate – many of them demolished and replaced in the late 1990s.

Grand Depot Barracks, north of John Wilson Street, was also transferred into public hands, becoming council offices, government offices and a student halls of residence. These have also been demolished and replaced with a Tesco and housing.

After the remaining parts of the Royal Arsenal closed in 1994 it was intended that the site should remain in public hands, with some demolition and landscaping overseen by government and City Hall agencies. 

But eventually Berkeley Homes, which has already been developing part of the site for a decade, took on the freehold in 2011. A similar fate is likely for the remaining part of the barracks.

The consultation will be launched in the new year. 

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