The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Signals and other technical corps. RMA Woolwich was commonly known as "The Shop" because its first building was a converted workshop of the Woolwich Arsenal.
History
Origins in the Royal Arsenal
An attempt had been made by the Board of Ordnance in 1720 to set up an academy within its Arsenal (then known as the Warren) to provide training and education for prospective officers of its new Regiment of Artillery and Corps of Engineers (both of which had been established there in 1716). A new building was being constructed in readiness for the Academy and funds had been secured, seemingly, through investment in the South Sea Company; but the latter's collapse led to plans for the Academy being placed on hold. After this false start, the academy was opened by authority of a Royal Warrant in 1741: it was intended, in the words of its first charter, to produce "good officers of Artillery and perfect Engineers". Its 'gentlemen cadets' initially ranged in age from 10 to 30. To begin with they were attached to the marching companies of the Royal Artillery, but in 1744 they were formed into their own company, forty in number (enlarged to forty-eight, two years later) overseen by a captain-lieutenant. To begin with the cadets were accommodated in lodgings in the town of Woolwich, but this arrangement was deemed unsatisfactory (the cadets gained a reputation for riotousness) so in 1751 a Cadets' Barracks was built just within the south boundary wall of the Warren and the cadets had to adjust to a more strict military discipline. (The Cadets' Barracks was demolished in the 1980s for road widening.) Education in the academy focused at first on mathematics and the scientific principles of gunnery and fortification; French was also taught, for a small fee. In addition to their theoretical studies, the cadets shared (with all ranks of the Artillery) in what was called 'the Practice' of gunnery, bridge building, magazine technique and artillery work. While an artillery officer attended each class to keep order, teaching in the academy was provided by civilians: a First Master (later called Professor of Fortification and Gunnery), a Second Master (later Professor of Mathematics) and additional tutors in French, Arithmetic, Classics and Drawing. In 1764 the Royal Academy (as it had been known) had the word 'Military' added to its title, and at the same time a senior officer was appointed to serve as Lieutenant-Governor (de facto head of the institution). Moreover, the institution was split: younger cadets entered the Lower Academy, where they were taught reading, writing, arithmetic, Latin, French and drawing. If they performed well in examinations they were allowed to proceed to the Upper Academy, where they learned military skills and sciences (as well as fencing and dancing – required skills for prospective officers).
Relocation to Woolwich Common The possibility of moving the Royal Military Academy out of the Warren was mooted as early as 1783, as it was fast outgrowing the available accommodation. At first costs precluded this possibility, but (with the Academy continuing to grow) James Wyatt, the Board of Ordnance Architect, was commissioned to design a new complex of buildings to stand, on a site facing the Royal Artillery Barracks, at the southern edge of Woolwich Common; it was built between 1796 and 1805 and opened for use the following year.
Wyatt's Academy was built of yellow brick in the Tudor Gothic style. It consisted of a central block (reminiscent of the Ordnance Board's headquarters in the Tower of London) flanked by a pair of accommodation blocks, linked by arcaded walkways. The central block contained classrooms, a library and offices; the accommodation blocks housed officers in the three-storey central sections and cadets in the two-storey wings. Behind the central block Wyatt placed a large dining hall flanked by spacious quadrangles having service buildings around the sides. 128 cadets moved to the new Academy: these comprised the four senior years. Of the younger cadets, sixty were kept at the Warren (by then renamed the Royal Arsenal) and another sixty were sent to a new college for junior cadets at Great Marlow. Practical teaching continued to be given in the working context of the Arsenal. In 1810, military cadets of the East India Company, who had previously been educated at the Academy, were moved to a new college at Addiscombe. During the years that followed the status of the cadets changed: rather than being considered (albeit junior) military personnel, as had previously been the case, they were removed from the muster roll and they (or their parents) began to be charged fees for attendance. In this way the Academy took on something of the ethos of an English public school. In 1844 the Academy was described by Edward Mogg as accommodating:
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