It remained church property until 1795 when it was taken over by the city and made a military training field, in exchange for a rent paid by the city to the bishop. At the time the city was obliged to provide ground for the military. The military gave the area the name Etterstadsletta, and was in use as a training field until 1881. In 1821, King Charles XIV John ordered an exercise with 6,000 soldiers as a political power demonstration aimed at the newly formed parliament. The field was also the site of executions, the last performed on 19 April 1864 on the Prussian Friedrich Wilhelm Priess and the Dane Knud Fredrik Christian Simonsen by Samson Isberg with an audience of 5,000 people. The field was also used for Harness racing until 1928.
