![The New Barracks (18thC), Edinburgh Castle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/The_New_Barracks_%2818thC%29%2C_Edinburgh_Castle.JPG)
Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or
laborers
A laborer (or labourer) is a person who works in manual labor types in the construction industry workforce. Laborers are in a working class of wage-earners in which their only possession of significant material value is their labor. Industries ...
. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are usually permanent buildings for
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
accommodation. The word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes, and the plural form often refers to a single structure and may be
singular in construction.
The main object of barracks is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training, and ''esprit de corps''. They have been called "discipline factories for soldiers". Like industrial factories, some are considered to be shoddy or dull buildings, although others are known for their magnificent architecture such as
Collins Barracks
Collins Barracks ( ga, Dún Uí Choileáin) is a former military barracks in the Arbour Hill area of Dublin, Ireland. The buildings now house the National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts and History.
Previously housing both British Arm ...
in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
and others in Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Vienna, or London. From the rough barracks of 19th-century
conscript
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
armies, filled with
hazing
Hazing (American English), initiation, beasting (British English), bastardisation (Australian English), ragging (South Asian English) or deposition refers to any activity expected of someone in joining or participating in a group that humiliates, ...
and illness and barely differentiated from the livestock pens that housed the
draft animal
A working animal is an animal, usually domesticated, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks instead of being slaughtered to harvest animal products. Some are used for their physical strength (e.g. oxen and draft horses) or for t ...
s, to the clean and Internet-connected barracks of modern
all-volunteer militaries, the word can have a variety of connotations.
History
![Chelsea Barracks - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Chelsea_Barracks_-_geograph.org.uk_-_812156.jpg)
Early barracks such as those of the Roman
Praetorian Guard
The Praetorian Guard (Latin: ''cohortēs praetōriae'') was a unit of the Imperial Roman army that served as personal bodyguards and intelligence agents for the Roman emperors. During the Roman Republic, the Praetorian Guard were an escort fo ...
were built to maintain elite forces. There are a number of remains of
Roman army
The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval contin ...
barracks in frontier forts such as
Vercovicium
Housesteads Roman Fort is the remains of an auxiliary fort on Hadrian's Wall, at Housesteads, Northumberland, England, south of Broomlee Lough. The fort was built in stone around AD 124, soon after the construction of the wall began in AD 12 ...
and
Vindolanda
Vindolanda was a Roman auxiliary fort ('' castrum'') just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, which it originally pre-dated.British windo- 'fair, white, blessed', landa 'enclosure/meadow/prairie/grassy plain' (the modern Welsh word ...
. From these and from contemporary Roman sources we can see that the basics of life in a
military camp
A military camp or bivouac is a semi-permanent military base, for the lodging of an army. Camps are erected when a military force travels away from a major installation or fort during training or operations, and often have the form of large cam ...
have remained constant for thousands of years.
In the
Early Modern Period, they formed part of the
Military Revolution
The Military Revolution is the theory that a series of radical changes in military strategy and tactics during the 16th and 17th centuries resulted in major lasting changes in governments and society. The theory was introduced by Michael Roberts i ...
that scholars believe contributed decisively to the formation of the
nation state
A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group.
A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may inc ...
by increasing the expense of maintaining
standing armies
A standing army is a permanent, often professional, army. It is composed of full-time soldiers who may be either career soldiers or conscripts. It differs from army reserves, who are enrolled for the long term, but activated only during wars or na ...
. Large, permanent barracks were developed in the 18th century by the two dominant states of the period, France the "caserne" and Spain the "cuartel". The English term 'barrack', on the other hand, derives from the Spanish word for a temporary shelter erected by soldiers on
campaign
Campaign or The Campaign may refer to:
Types of campaigns
* Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed
*Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme
* Bl ...
, ''barraca''; (because of fears that a standing army in barracks would be a threat to the constitution, barracks were not generally built in Great Britain until 1790, on the eve of the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
).
Early barracks were multi-story blocks, often grouped in a quadrangle around a
courtyard
A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky.
Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...
or
parade ground
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of s ...
. A good example is
Berwick Barracks
Berwick Barracks, sometimes known as Ravensdowne Barracks, is a former military installation of the British Army in Berwick-upon-Tweed, England.
History
The barracks were built between 1717 and 1721 by Nicholas Hawksmoor for the Board of Ordnance ...
, which was among the first in England to be purpose-built and begun in 1717 to the design of the distinguished architect
Nicholas Hawksmoor
Nicholas Hawksmoor (probably 1661 – 25 March 1736) was an English architect. He was a leading figure of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. Hawksmoor worked alongside the principa ...
. During the 18th century, the increasing sophistication of military life led to separate housing for different ranks (officers always had larger rooms) and married quarters; as well as the provision of specialized buildings such as dining rooms and cook houses, bath houses, mess rooms, schools, hospitals, armories, gymnasia, riding schools and stables. The
pavilion plan concept of hospital design was influential in barrack planning after the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
.
The first large-scale training camps were built in the
Kingdom of France
The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period. ...
and the
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
during the early 18th century. The British Army built
Aldershot
Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...
camps from 1854.
By the First World War,
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
,
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
, and
cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
regiments had separate barracks. The first naval barracks were
hulk
The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk' ...
s, old wooden sailing vessels; but these insanitary lodgings were replaced with large
naval
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
barracks at the major dockyard towns of Europe and the United States, usually with
hammock
A hammock (from Spanish , borrowed from Taíno and Arawak ) is a sling made of fabric, rope, or netting, suspended between two or more points, used for swing (seat), swinging, sleeping, or Human relaxation, resting. It normally consists of one ...
s instead of beds.
These were inadequate for the enormous armies mobilized after 1914. Hut camps were developed using variations of the eponymous
Nissen hut
A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure for military use, especially as barracks, made from a half-cylindrical skin of corrugated iron. Designed during the First World War by the American-born, Canadian-British engineer and inventor Majo ...
, made from timber or corrugated iron.
Military
In many military forces, both NCO and SNCO personnel will frequently be housed in barracks for service or training. Officers are often charged with ensuring the barracks and personnel are maintained in an orderly fashion. Junior enlisted and sometimes junior NCOs will often receive less space and may be housed in bays, while senior NCOs and officers may share or have their own room. Junior enlisted personnel are typically tasked with the cleanliness of the barracks.
The term "
Garrison
A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...
town" is a common expression for any town that has military barracks, i.e., a permanent military presence nearby.
Worldwide
Canada
Barracks were used to house troops in forts during the
Upper Canadian period. Leading up to and during the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
,
Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe and
Major-General Isaac Brock oversaw the construction of
Fort York
Fort York (french: Fort-York) is an early 19th-century military fortification in the Fort York neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The fort was used to house members of the British and Canadian militaries, and to defend the entrance of t ...
on the shores of
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...
in present-day
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
. There are several surviving British Army barracks built between 1814 and 1815 at that site today. Multiple limestone barracks were built half a mile west of Fort York in 1840, only one of which survives. The British Army handed over "
New Fort York
New Fort York, later the Stanley Barracks, is a former British and Canadian military base in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It was built in 1840–1841 to replace Toronto's original Fort York at the mouth of Ga ...
", as the second fort was called, to the
Canadian Militia in 1870 after
Confederation
A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
.
The
Stone Frigate
A stone frigate is a naval establishment on land.
"Stone frigate" is an informal term that has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy after its use of Diamond Rock, an island off Martinique, as a ' sloop of war' to harass the French in 1803–04 ...
, completed in 1820, served as barracks briefly in 1837–38, and was refitted as a
dormitory
A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...
and classrooms to house the
Royal Military College of Canada
'')
, established = 1876
, type = Military academy
, chancellor = Anita Anand ('' la, ex officio, label=none'' as Defence Minister)
, principal = Harry Kowal
, head_label ...
by 1876. The Stone frigate is a large stone building originally designed to hold gear and rigging from British warships dismantled to comply with the
Rush–Bagot Treaty
The Rush–Bagot Treaty or Rush–Bagot Disarmament was a treaty between the United States and Great Britain limiting naval armaments on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain, following the War of 1812. It was ratified by the United States Senate o ...
.
Poland
In Poland barracks are represented usually as a complex of buildings, each consisting of a separate entity or an administrative or business premises. As an example, the
Barracks Complex in Września
The Barracks Complex in Września - the old Prussian barracks, built in the early twentieth century (1902–1910), at the current Kosciuszko Street (old de. Kaiser-Wilhelm-strasse).
Description
At the Koszarowa Street and Kosciuszko Street in Wr ...
.
Portugal
Each of the
Portuguese Army
The Portuguese Army ( pt, Exército Português) is the land component of the Armed Forces of Portugal and is also its largest branch. It is charged with the defence of Portugal, in co-operation with other branches of the Armed Forces. With its ...
bases is referred as a ''quartel'' (barracks). In a barracks, each of the dormitory buildings is referred as a ''caserna'' (
casern
A casern, also spelled cazern or caserne, is a military barracks in a garrison town.Les gens de guerre à Saint-Julien-du-Sault, J Crédé, Imprimerie Fostier, 1976 In French-speaking countries, a ''caserne de pompier'' is a fire station.
In fort ...
). Most of them are regimental barracks, constituting the fixed component of the Army system of forces and being responsible for the training, sustenance and general support to the Army. In addition to the regimental administrative, logistic and training bodies, each barracks can lodge one or more operational units (operational battalions, independent companies or equivalent units). Although there are housing blocks within the perimeter of some regimental barracks, the Portuguese usual practice is for the members of the Armed Forces to live outside the military bases with their families, inserted in the local civilian communities.
Many of the Portuguese regimental barracks are of a model developed by the old Administrative Commission for the New Infrastructures of the Armed Forces (CANIFA). Because of this, they are commonly referred as "CANIFA type barracks". These types of barracks were built in the 1950s and 1960s, following a standardized architectural model, usually with an area of between 100,000 and 200,000 square metres, including a headquarters building, a guard house, a general mess building, an infirmary building, a workshop and garage building, an officer house building, a sergeant house building, three to ten rank and file caserns, fire ranges and sports facilities. In average each CANIFA type barracks was intended to lodge around 1000 soldiers and their respective armament, vehicles and other equipment.
Russia
Until the end of the
18th century
The 18th century lasted from January 1, 1701 ( MDCCI) to December 31, 1800 ( MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions. During the century, slave trad ...
personnel of the
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...
were
billeted with civilians homes or accommodated in
sloboda
A sloboda ( rus, слобода́, p=sləbɐˈda) was a kind of settlement in the history of the Old Russian regions Povolzhye, Central Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The name is derived from the early Slavic word for "freedom" and may be loosely ...
s in a countryside. First barracks were built during the reign of Emperor
Paul I Paul I may refer to:
*Paul of Samosata (200–275), Bishop of Antioch
*Paul I of Constantinople (died c. 350), Archbishop of Constantinople
*Pope Paul I (700–767)
*Paul I Šubić of Bribir (c. 1245–1312), Ban of Croatia and Lord of Bosnia
*Paul ...
. For these purposes, Paul I established a one-time land tax based on the amount of land owned by citizen. This tax was not mandatory, but person who paid it was permanently exempted from billets.
From the end of 1882, the money collected for exemption from
billet
A billet is a living-quarters to which a soldier is assigned to sleep. Historically, a billet was a private dwelling that was required to accept the soldier.
Soldiers are generally billeted in barracks or garrisons when not on combat duty, alth ...
was transferred to the military ministry. This has made it possible to step up the construction of barracks for the army. By 1 January 1900, 19015 barracks had been built, which accommodated 94% of the troops.
United Kingdom
In the 17th and 18th centuries there were concerns around the idea of a standing army housed in barracks; instead, the law provided for troops routinely to be
billet
A billet is a living-quarters to which a soldier is assigned to sleep. Historically, a billet was a private dwelling that was required to accept the soldier.
Soldiers are generally billeted in barracks or garrisons when not on combat duty, alth ...
ed in small groups in inns and other locations.
(The concerns were various: political, ideological and constitutional, provoked by memories of
Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...
's
New Model Army
The New Model Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Th ...
and of the use of troops in reign of
James II to intimidate areas of civil society. Furthermore, grand urban barracks were associated with absolutist monarchies, where they could be seen as emblematic of power sustained through military might; and there was an ongoing suspicion that gathering soldiers together in barracks might encourage sedition.)
Nevertheless, some "soldiers' lodgings" were built in Britain at this time, usually attached to coastal fortifications or royal palaces. The first recorded use of the word 'barracks' in this context was for the Irish Barracks, built in the precinct of the
Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
in 1669. At the
Ordnance Office
The Board of Ordnance was a British government body. Established in the Tudor period, it had its headquarters in the Tower of London. Its primary responsibilities were 'to act as custodian of the lands, depots and forts required for the defence ...
(responsible for construction and upkeep of barracks)
Bernard de Gomme
Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname.
The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brav ...
played a key role in developing a 'domestic' style of barrack design in the latter half of the 17th century: he provided barrack blocks for such locations as
Plymouth Citadel and
Tilbury Fort
Tilbury Fort, also known historically as the Thermitage Bulwark and the West Tilbury Blockhouse, is an artillery fort on the north bank of the River Thames in England. The earliest version of the fort, comprising a small blockhouse with artil ...
, each with rows of square rooms arranged in pairs on two stories, accommodating a
Company
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...
of some sixty men, four to a room, two to a bed. Standard furnishings were provided, and each room had a grate used for heating and cooking.
In England, this domestic style continued to be used through the first half of the eighteenth century; most new barracks of this period were more or less hidden within the precincts of medieval castles and
Henrician forts. In Scotland, however, a more demonstrative style was employed following the
Jacobite rising of 1715
The Jacobite rising of 1715 ( gd, Bliadhna Sheumais ;
or 'the Fifteen') was the attempt by James Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender) to regain the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland for the exiled Stuarts
The House of Stuart, ori ...
(as at
Ruthven Barracks
Ruthven Barracks (), near Ruthven in Badenoch, Scotland, are the best preserved of the four barracks built in 1719 after the 1715 Jacobite rising. Set on an old castle mound, the complex comprises two large three-storey blocks occupying two side ...
) and
that of 1745 (as seen in the monumental
Fort George). This bolder approach gradually began to be adopted south of the border during the eighteenth century (beginning with nearby
Berwick, 1717). There was much building in and around the
Royal Dockyard
Royal Navy Dockyards (more usually termed Royal Dockyards) were state-owned harbour facilities where ships of the Royal Navy were built, based, repaired and refitted. Until the mid-19th century the Royal Dockyards were the largest industrial ...
s at this time: during the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
, fears of a land attack led to defensive '
lines
Line most often refers to:
* Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity
* Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system
Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to:
Arts ...
' being built around the dockyard towns, and infantry barracks were established within them (e.g. at Chatham, Upper and Lower Barracks, 1756, and Plymouth, six defensible square barracks, 1758–63). The newly constituted
Royal Marines
The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...
were also provided with accommodation in the vicinity of the Dockyards (e.g.
Stonehouse Barracks
Stonehouse Barracks is a military installation at Stonehouse, Plymouth. It is the home of 3 Commando Brigade and referred to by commandos as 'the spiritual home of the Royal Marines'.
Origins
Since the Corps' foundation in 1664, Marines have bee ...
, 1779) becoming the first Corps in Britain to be fully provided with its own accommodation. Large urban barracks were still a rarity, though. In London there was a fair amount of barrack accommodation, but most of it was within the precincts of various royal palaces (as at
Horse Guards, 1753). The prominent
Royal Artillery Barracks
Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich, is a barracks of the British Army which forms part of Woolwich Garrison. The Royal Regiment of Artillery had its headquarters here from 1776 until 2007, when it was moved to Larkhill Garrison.
History
In 17 ...
in Woolwich (1776) was one exception (but significantly the Artillery were under the command of the
Board of Ordnance
The Board of Ordnance was a British government body. Established in the Tudor period, it had its headquarters in the Tower of London. Its primary responsibilities were 'to act as custodian of the lands, depots and forts required for the defence ...
rather than of the Army).
In the aftermath of the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
, though, things changed. The size of the army grew from 40,000 to 225,000 between 1790 and 1814 (with the
Militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
adding a further 100,000).
Barrack accommodation at the time was provided for a mere 20,000. To deal with the situation, responsibility for building barracks was transferred in 1792 from the
Board of Ordnance
The Board of Ordnance was a British government body. Established in the Tudor period, it had its headquarters in the Tower of London. Its primary responsibilities were 'to act as custodian of the lands, depots and forts required for the defence ...
to a specialist Barracks Department overseen by the War Office. With a view to dealing with sedition, and perhaps quelling thoughts of revolution, several large cavalry barracks were built in the 1790s: first at
Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End.
...
(close to the royal palaces), then in several provincial towns and cities: Birmingham, Coventry, Manchester, Norwich, Nottingham and Sheffield (as well as
Hounslow Barracks
Cavalry Barracks is a former British Army installation located north of Hounslow Heath in Hounslow, west London. Hounslow was one of 40 new barracks established around the country in the wake of the French Revolution, to guard against the dual t ...
just west of London). Several smaller cavalry and artillery barracks were established around this time, but very little was built for the infantry; instead, a number of large camps (with wooden huts) were set up, including at Chelmsford,
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...
and
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
, as well as at various locations along the south coast.
Barrack-masters were appointed, one such was Captain
George Manby
Captain George William Manby FRS (28 November 1765 – 18 November 1854) was an English author and inventor. He designed an apparatus for saving life from shipwrecks and also the first modern form of fire extinguisher.
Early life
Manby was bo ...
at the Royal Barracks,
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...
. Coincidentally his father, Captain Matthew Manby, had been barrack-master at
Limerick
Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...
.
It was not until some years after the end of the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
(and post-war
recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...
) that barrack-building began again.
John Nash built four as part of his London improvements:
Regent's Park
Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...
and
St John's Wood
St John's Wood is a district in the City of Westminster, London, lying 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Traditionally the northern part of the ancient parish and Metropolitan Borough of Marylebone, it extends east to west from ...
for the Cavalry,
Wellington Barracks
Wellington Barracks is a military barracks in Westminster, central London, for the Foot Guards battalions on public duties in that area. The building is located about three hundred yards from Buckingham Palace, allowing the guard to be able to ...
for the Guards, and
St George's Barracks (since demolished) behind the
National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...
. In several instances elsewhere, buildings were converted rather than newly built (or a mixture of the two, as at
Cambridge Barracks, Portsmouth
Cambridge Barracks was a military installation at Portsmouth, Hampshire.
History
The barracks were created by converting some late-18th century warehouses into military accommodation in 1825. The site had previously been a large timber-yard an ...
where a new frontage, housing officers, was built in front of a range of warehouses converted to house the men). In response to the
Chartist riots three barracks were established in north-west England in the 1840s,
Ladysmith Barracks
Ladysmith Barracks was a British military installation on Mossley Road, Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester.
History
The barracks were originally established under the name of Wellington Barracks, in response to the threat from civil unrest ass ...
at Ashton-under-Lyne,
Wellington Barracks
Wellington Barracks is a military barracks in Westminster, central London, for the Foot Guards battalions on public duties in that area. The building is located about three hundred yards from Buckingham Palace, allowing the guard to be able to ...
at Bury and
Fulwood Barracks
Fulwood Barracks is a military installation at Fulwood in Preston, Lancashire, England.
History
The barracks were built between 1842 and 1848 as a base, initially at least, for the 2nd Battalion 60th Rifles following the chartist riots. In 18 ...
at Preston.
A review conducted following the demise of the Board of Ordnance in 1855 noted that only seven barracks outside London had accommodation for more than 1,000.
This changed with the establishment of large-scale Army Camps such as
Aldershot
Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...
(1854), and the expansion of Garrison towns such as
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...
; over time in these locations temporary huts were replaced with more permanent barracks buildings. Large-scale camps were not the only way forward, however; from the 1870s, the localisation agenda of the
Cardwell Reforms
The Cardwell Reforms were a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell between 1868 and 1874 with the support of Liberal prime minister William Ewart Gladstone. Gladstone paid little attention ...
saw new and old barracks established as
depots
Depot ( or ) may refer to:
Places
* Depot, Poland, a village
* Depot Island, Kemp Land, Antarctica
* Depot Island, Victoria Land, Antarctica
* Depot Island Formation, Greenland
Brands and enterprises
* Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in ...
for regional or County brigades and regiments. The latter part of the 19th century also saw the establishment of a number of Naval barracks (an innovation long resisted by the Royal Navy, which had tended to accommodate its sailors afloat either on their ships or else in
hulks moored in its harbours). The first of these, Keyham Barracks in Devonport (later
HMS Drake), was begun in 1879, and only completed in 1907.
During the 20th century, activity ranged from the need for speedy expansion during the First World War (when large camps such as
Catterick were established), to the closure of many barracks in the
interwar period
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...
. Many of those that remained were rebuilt in the 1960s, either substantially (as happened at Woolwich, behind the facade) or entirely (as at
Hyde Park
Hyde Park may refer to:
Places
England
* Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London
* Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds
* Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield
* Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester
Austra ...
and at
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
- built 1863, demolished and rebuilt 1963, closed 2008). There has been an ongoing focus on improving the quality of barracks accommodation; since the 1970s several
former RAF bases have been converted to serve as Army barracks, in place of some of the more cramped urban sites. Today, generally, only single and unmarried personnel or those who choose not to move their families nearby live in barracks. Most British military barracks are named after battles, military figures or the locality.
United States
In basic training, and sometimes follow-on training, service members live in barracks. Formerly, the
U.S. Marine Corps had gender-separate basic training units. Currently, all services have training where male and female recruits share barracks, but are separated during personal time and lights out. All the services integrate male and female members following
boot camp and first assignment.
After training, unmarried junior enlisted members will typically reside in barracks. In the 21st century, these service members are generally housed in individual rooms conforming to the
DoD's "1+1 standard", though exceptions still exist. During unaccompanied, dependent-restricted assignments, non-commissioned and commissioned officer ranks may also be required to live in barracks. Amenities in these barracks increase with the rank of the occupant.
Unlike the other services, the U.S. Air Force officially uses the term "
dormitory
A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...
" to refer to its unaccompanied housing.
During World War II, many U.S. barracks were made of inexpensive, sturdy and easy to assemble
Quonset hut
A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel having a semi cylindrical cross-section. The design was developed in the United States, based on the Nissen hut introduced by the British during World War I ...
s that resembled
Native American long house
Longhouses were a style of residential dwelling built by Native American First Nation peoples in various parts of North America. Sometimes separate longhouses were built for community meetings.
Iroquois and the other East Coast longhouses
The I ...
s (having a rounded roof but made out of metal).
See also
*
Cantonment
A cantonment (, , or ) is a military quarters. In Bangladesh, India and other parts of South Asia, a ''cantonment'' refers to a permanent military station (a term from the British India, colonial-era). In military of the United States, United Stat ...
, a temporary or semi-permanent military quarters.
*
B hut
*
Barkas, Hyderabad
Notes
References
* Black, Jeremy, ''A Military Revolution?: Military Change and European Society, 1550-1800'' (London, 1991)
* Dallemagne, François, ''Les casernes françaises'', (1990)
* Douet, James, ''British Barracks, their social and architectural importance, 1660-1914'' (London, 1997)
* Roberts, Michael ''The Military Revolution, 1560-1660'' (Belfast, 1956); reprinted with some amendments in Rogers, Clifford, ed., ''The Military Revolution Debate'' Rogers, Clifford, ed., ''The Military Revolution Debate: Readings on the Military Transformation of Early Modern Europe'' (Boulder, 1995)
* 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica''
External links
*
Royal Engineers MuseumMilitary Works (Barrack construction)
{{Authority control
Military units and formations by type
Human habitats
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