Royal Military Academy, Woolwich

The Royal Military Academy is situated in the south east of London in Woolwich and was founded in 1719 then later established in 1741 by George II. The RMA was the British training site for commissioned officers of both the Royal Artillery and the Royal Engineers and later on the Royal Corps of Signals. The table-top game of snooker was invented here by a former cadet and the cadets who trained here were known as ‘gentlemen cadets’ because they were funded by the MOD but were exempt from military law. The site Closed in 1939 at the beginning of WWII and was relocated to form the Royal Military Academy of Sandhurst. The Royal Military Artillery museum was relocated into the buildings after WWII and the vast rows of empty wooden archive cabinets can still be found near the main entrance. The site is now Grade II listed and redevelopment is imminent to convert the site into luxury housing.