Inglis Barracks was a military installation in

Mill Hill Mill Hill is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is situated around northwest of Charing Cross. Mill Hill was in the historic county of Middlesex until 1965, when it became part of Greater London. Its population counted 18,4 ...

, London, NW7. It was also referred to as Mill Hill Barracks. The site has been redeveloped and now contains a variety of modern housing.

History

Early history

Mill Hill Barracks, a set of red brick buildings designed by the architect

Harry Bell Measures Harry Bell Measures (1862–1940) was an English architect. Career He had a varied career. In 1884 to 1892 he was in-house architect for William Willett, producing high-quality housing for the wealthy in London and South East England; these wer ...

CBE MVO (1862–1940), was built in 1904 on the site of Bittacy farm. The site was roughly triangular in shape bounded by Partingdale Lane to the north, Frith Lane to the east and Bittacy Hill to the west. It was a short walk up the hill from

Mill Hill East tube station Mill Hill East is a London Underground station in Mill Hill in the London Borough of Barnet, north London. The station is the terminus and only station of a single-track branch of the Northern line from Finchley Central station and is in Trave ...

. The rail service was originally built by the

Edgware, Highgate and London Railway The Edgware, Highgate and London Railway was a railway in North London. The railway was a precursor of parts of London Underground's Northern line and was, in the 1930s the core of an ambitious expansion plan for that line which was thwarted ...

(EH&LR) and had been opened as Mill Hill by the Great Northern Railway (GNR). The barracks became the

Regimental Depot The regimental depot of a regiment is its home base for recruiting and training. It is also where soldiers and officers awaiting discharge or postings are based and where injured soldiers return to full fitness after discharge from hospital bef ...

for the

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers R ...

(Duke of Cambridge's Own) when they moved from the

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 ...

following the opening of the barracks. Twenty-five years later, the barracks were renamed after Lieutenant-General Sir William Inglis, who had commanded the 57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot during the

Battle of Albuera The Battle of Albuera (16 May 1811) was a battle during the Peninsular War. A mixed British, Spanish and Portuguese corps engaged elements of the French Armée du Midi (Army of the South) at the small Spanish village of Albuera, about sout ...

, one of the bloodiest battles of the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spai ...

(1809–14), fought on 16 May 1811. All of the recruits for the Middlesex Regiment were processed through the Regimental Depot at Mill Hill during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. The barracks ceased to be the home of the Middlesex Regiment when that regiment merged with three other regiments to form the

Queen's Regiment The Queen's Regiment (QUEENS) was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1966 through the amalgamation of the four regiments of the Home Counties Brigade. Then, until 1971 the regiment remained one of the largest regiments in the ar ...

Howe Barracks Howe Barracks was a military installation in Canterbury in Kent. History Permanent barracks were first established in Canterbury when William Baldock initiated construction of "St Gregory’s Barracks", an infantry barracks on Sturry Road, as pa ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

in 1966.

Second World War

30 Command Workshop

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is a corps of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's Professional Engineers". History Prior to REME's for ...

moved onto the site in 1943 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 ...

Post-war

The Home Postal Depot,

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is head ...

(HPD RE) established their Postal Training School (PTS) in the barracks in the mid-1950s. By 1961 the Home Postal & Courier Communications Depot RE (as it was then called) had moved from its premises on Gorst Road, Acton, to fully occupy Inglis Barracks. The Postal Depot’s main sorting facility was established in an old munitions factory off Frith Lane and barrack buildings were given over to accommodate administration offices and sleeping quarters. On 31 October 1962, shortly after the occupation of the barracks by HPCCD RE, the

Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood (Victoria Alexandra Alice Mary; 25 April 1897 – 28 March 1965), was a member of the British royal family. She was the only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary, the sister of Kings Edward VIII ...

, as the Controller Commandant

Women's Royal Army Corps The Women's Royal Army Corps (WRAC; sometimes pronounced acronymically as , a term unpopular with its members) was the corps to which all women in the British Army belonged from 1949 to 1992, except medical, dental and veterinary officers and cha ...

(WRAC) laid the foundation stone for extra barrack blocks to be built within the site to accommodate 12 Company, WRAC. On 16 July 1982

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

, visited the Depot (or the Postal & Courier Depot as it was then styled) as part of the RE (Postal & Courier Services) centenary celebrations. To mark the centenary Barnet Borough granted the Depot the Freedom of the Borough.

IRA bomb

The

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reu ...

planted a bomb in one of the barracks blocks (Block B); its explosion in the early hours of 1 August 1988 killed Lance Corporal MJF Robbins and injured nine other soldiers of the Royal Engineers. The two-storey building containing the single men's quarters was completely destroyed. The Prime Minister,

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

, subsequently met officers to offer her condolences as the barracks was in her then Parliamentary constituency. In April 1993 the responsibility for the processing of the armed services mails addressed to HM Ships and British Forces Post Office (BFPO) addresses was transferred from the Royal Engineers to the newly formed Royal Logistics Corps. To mark the occasion a parade was held at the barracks. The Chief Royal Engineer General Sir George Cooper inspected the troops and took the salute. The

British Forces Post Office The British Forces Post Office (BFPO) provides a postal service to HM Forces, separate from that provided by Royal Mail in the United Kingdom. BFPO addresses are used for the delivery of mail in the UK and around the world. BFPO moved from its ...

(the successors of the Home Postal Depot RE) left the site and moved to

RAF Northolt ("Ready to carry or to fight") , pushpin_map = Greater London , pushpin_label = RAF Northolt , pushpin_map_caption = Shown within Greater London , coordinates = , type = Royal Air Force station , code = , site_area = , height = , owner ...

in 2007.

Buildings

The original barrack installation constituted two accommodation blocks, an officers mess, a small church and various out-buildings. Other buildings were added over the years, particularly in the 1960/70s, to accommodate the growing establishment and changing use. The military presence at the barracks ceased in 2007 and Ministry of Defence sold the site for residential development as part of

Project MoDEL Project MoDEL (Ministry of Defence Estates London) is a project run for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) by the ministry's Defence Infrastructure Organisation and VSM Estates, a joint venture established between Vinci PLC and St. Modwen Properties to ...

in 2012. The estate is now called ′Millbrook Park′.

Road names

In the 1970s the road names within the barracks complex reflected the presence of the RE (Postal & Courier Services). On 30 July 2018 one of the roads on the Millbrook Park development was named "Michael Robbins Way" in honour of the death of Corporal MJF Robbins on 1 August 1988 in the IRA bombing of B Block.

Memorials

Outside the Officers Mess there stood the Middlesex Regiment's memorial, but that has since been moved to Mill Hill village near to

Mill Hill School Mill Hill School is a 13–18 mixed independent, day and boarding school in Mill Hill, London, England that was established in 1807. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. History A committee of Nonconformis ...

. The memorial was unveiled at 2.30pm on 4 November 1922, by

The Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers o ...

(the late

Duke of Windsor Duke of Windsor was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 8 March 1937 for the former monarch Edward VIII, following his abdication on 11 December 1936. The dukedom takes its name from the town where Windsor Castle, ...

). Sixty years later the Duke of Windsor's niece, The Queen, unveiled a life-size statue entitled ''Letter from Home'', which stood outside the Guard Room, on her visit to the barracks in 1982. The statue was moved to

when the barracks were vacated by the British Forces Post Office (the successors of the Home Postal Depot RE) in 2007. The statue depicts a

soldier (a 'Tommy') reading a letter and is a replica of the statue by sculptor

Charles Sargeant Jagger Charles Sargeant Jagger (17 December 1885 – 16 November 1934) was a British sculptor who, following active service in the First World War, sculpted many works on the theme of war. He is best known for his war memorials, especially the Royal ...

(1885-1934) which stands on Platform 1 at Paddington Station, London. The statue was simply called ''Soldier Reading a Letter'' and was erected as a memorial to the men and women of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

who lost their lives during the First and Second World Wars.

References

{{reflist

External links

Postal & Courier Services Branch ('PCS') Branch Royal Engineers Association ('REA') website (contains photographs of the barracks)
Installations of the British Army Barracks in London Mill Hill Military history of Middlesex Military installations closed in 2007