Hilsea Barracks was a military installation at

Hilsea Hilsea is a district of the city of Portsmouth in the English county of Hampshire. Hilsea is home to one of Portsmouth's main sports and leisure facilities – the Mountbatten centre. Trafalgar School, Portsmouth, Trafalgar School (formerly the Ci ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

History

The site was originally occupied by Gatcombe Manor, a medieval house which was acquired through marriage by Admiral Sir Roger Curtis, Bt in the 18th century. The

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

requisitioned the land from Curtis for military purposes in the 1770s. (Gatcombe House, which was rebuilt in 1780, was subsequently occupied by Sir Roger's son, Sir Lucius. He had vacated it by 1849; it was subsequently used as part of the barracks and survives as a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Plan and Profiles for Building Barracks within the New Line at Portsea Lake to contain two Battalions

A plan for barracks on the site was first drawn up by William Dundas in 1756, in connection with the construction of

Hilsea Lines The Hilsea Lines are a line of 18th- and 19th-century fortifications built at Hilsea to protect the northern approach to Portsea Island, an island off the southern coast of England which forms the majority of the city of Portsmouth and its key nav ...

(designed to protect Portsmouth and its Dockyard from landward attack). Building commenced in 1780; as designed, the barracks consisted of rows of long wooden huts arranged around three sides of a parade ground. In 1794 the barracks were extended, so as to accommodate several thousand troops. Following 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 ...

these barracks were gradually dismantled, the last part being taken down (and the materials sold) in February 1822. Only the associated hospital was retained. In 1854 Hilsea Barracks were rebuilt, on a more permanent basis, for occupation by the Royal Field Artillery; accommodation was provided for 100 men and 100 artillery horses, (more was added subsequently). By 1864 two batteries of the Royal Artillery were stationed there. The men were accommodated in brick huts measuring by , 22 men to a hut. Accommodation for the officers was provided in Gatcombe House. A new pavilion plan hospital was built in 1865. A military chapel known as "St Barbara's Garrison Church" was added in 1888. The Royal Field Artillery vacated the site in 1921, whereupon it became the main headquarters and training

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for the

Royal Army Ordnance Corps The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equip ...

, with Gatcombe House serving as the Headquarters Officers' Mess. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

the site was used by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. The RAOC moved their regimental depot to Feltham Barracks in 1946 and vacated the site entirely on 31 March 1962. The buildings, which had undergone various improvements and changes of use over the years, were demolished to make way for the "Gatcombe Park" housing development in 1965. The Victorian riding school, built for the Royal Artillery in the 1890s and some of the walls which enclosed the barracks still survive.Mitchell, p. 30

References

Sources

*{{cite book , title=Hilsea Lines and Portsbridge , last=Mitchell , first=Garry , year=1988 , isbn=0-947605-06-1 Barracks in England Installations of the British Army