Diana Beattie, FSA, Director, Heritage of London Trust, describes this largely undiscovered, ruined but still beautiful building and the plans to bring it back into use.
St George's Chapel Woolwich
As you drive round the South Circular (here called Grand Depot Road) down towards the Woolwich Ferry your eyes are drawn inevitably to the left – to the extraordinary façade of Woolwich Barracks, the longest and most splendid Georgian building in the world. Constructed between 1774 and 1803 the barracks were until very recently the home of the Royal Artillery.
Woolwich barracks
But over on the right side of the road, tucked away among the trees is another gem that most people never see – the ruins of St George’s Chapel, the Garrison Church of the Royal Artillery. The Chapel was hit by a V1 flying bomb in 1944, the interior was burned out and the roof collapsed and apart from a temporary roof fitted back in the 1970s it has been left like that ever since.
But if you were able to park your car and look through the rusty iron gates you would be astonished to see some very fine mosaics in the chancel. The most magnificent, the one in the centre, shows St George slaying his dragon and on either side of it are marble tablets inscribed with the names of all the deceased gunners who won the Victoria Cross, under the name of the campaign in which they gained the decoration, from the Crimean War to the middle of the Second World War.
The Royal Artillery has taken itself off, lock stock and barrel, or perhaps we should say trail, trunnions and barrel, to Larkhill on Salisbury Plain and in true military style they made sure they took everything with them – everything except the Royal Artillery Band, and the Royal Horse Artillery who remain in the Barracks, and of course the ruined Garrison Church.
St Georges was commissioned in 1863 by Sir Sidney Herbert, later Lord Herbert of Leys, the Secretary of State for War. The architect was T H Wyatt and his design was based on the enormous Italianate Church built in Wilton in 1844 by Sir Sidney’s uncle, the earl of Pembroke.
Recent research by English Heritage has revealed that the mosaics were added in 1903 by Messrs Burke & Co of Newman Street in London – they include a wonderful peacock, the symbol of the Resurrection, and a phoenix, the symbol of immortality.
In March this year the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment will be moving into the refurbished Woolwich Barracks and the enormous parade ground will once more echo to the sound of Sergeant Majors and the stamp of boots, but this will do nothing for St George’s.
Peacock mosaic, St George's chapel
However in 2012 the Shooting Olympics are coming to Woolwich and will be held on the Common next to the Barracks and so very close to St George’s. The Heritage of London Trust is in discussion with Defence Estates with the aim of replacing the old temporary roof – which blew off a couple of years ago – and restoring the damaged mosaics of what remains a major War Memorial. A local committee is being formed to take over the management of the site and to encourage its use for concerts and other events.
We aim to secure the future of this important record of our history and to bring it back into more active community use.
If you would like to know more about the plans to rescue this important national war memorial, please get in touch with the Heritage of London Trust at info@heritageoflondon.com or at their office at 34 Grosvenor Gardens, London, SW1W 0DH.
