Somme Barracks, Sheffield is a military establishment situated on Glossop Road in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, England. The building is owned by the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

and serves as the base of the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Firth C ...

Officers' Training Corps The Officers' Training Corps (OTC), more fully called the University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), are military leadership training units operated by the British Army. Their focus is to develop the leadership abilities of their members whilst ...

which is part of the

Army Reserve A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...

. It is 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 I ...

History

The present building was opened in 1907; however, a military presence had existed on the site since 1882 when the 1st West York Royal Engineer Volunteers moved from their previous headquarters at John Street in the suburb of Highfield, into a large house with adjoining piece of land at the corner of Glossop Road and Gell Street. The house was used to accommodate the

officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

and

NCOs A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

while a

drill hall A drill hall is a place such as a building or a hangar where soldiers practise and perform military drills. Description In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, the term was used for the whole headquarters building of a military reserve unit, ...

was built on the spare land. The new headquarters were soon found to be too small and a decision was taken to build larger premises on the same site. On 11 July 1906 an appeal was launched by the Corps Commander Lieutenant Colonel Edward Tozer to help finance the new building. The new building was designed by the Corps

Quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In ...

Alfred Ernest Turnell who was a practising

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is c ...

with offices at Foster’s Buildings in

High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym ...

. The land was purchased for £3,000 while the building itself cost £6,500. A temporary headquarters was set up in nearby Victoria Street while the new building was being constructed. The new facility provided offices for the Commanding Officer and Adjutant, a large armoury, an armoury Sergeant’s workshop, a surgery, an orderly room, a lecture room, a canteen and waiting rooms on the ground floor. The first floor housed the officers’ quarters and mess, the NCOs quarters and mess, a dressing room and a

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . There are three major subdivisions ...

room. The quartermaster’s stores were in the roof space, with the band room and stores in the basement. The barracks were opened on Saturday 7 December 1907 by Laurence Oliphant Commander-in-Chief of Northern Command. The West York Royal Engineer Volunteers' ownership of the new building was brief, as the

Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 The Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (''7 Edw. 7, c.9'') was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the auxiliary forces of the British Army by transferring existing Volunteer and Yeomanry units into a new Territori ...

had been passed by Parliament earlier in the year and came into effect on 1 April 1908. Under the new act all volunteer forces would become part of the new Territorial Army and their drill halls would be taken over by 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 (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence (MoD ...

. The War Office paid only a fraction of the true value of the building when they took it over in 1908. In 1910 a covered Riding School was constructed there, again financed by the men of the corps. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

the Engineers were formed into the 1st West Riding Divisional Royal Engineers (T) commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Sir Albert E. Bingham and saw action at the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

in 1916. The headquarters on Glossop Road became known as Somme Barracks in remembrance of this. The drill hall at the barracks has been used for various exhibitions over the years and also hosted regular

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

matches at one time.''"From Bailey To Bailey - A Short History Of Military Buildings In Sheffield"'', Stephen Johnson, self published, , Pages 40-43, Gives historical details. Up to the early 1990s the barracks were the headquarters of both the 106 (West Riding) Field Squadron Royal Engineers (Volunteers) and the

. However the Field Squadron moved out and relocated to the newly built Bailey Barracks at Greenhill in Sheffield in 1994 leaving the University Officers' Training Corps as the only unit at Somme Barracks.

Architecture

Turnell built the barracks in the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...

style, with the main materials being red brick with

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitr ...

stone dressing. The building is L-shaped, with the two-storey wings running along Glossop Road and Gell Street. The main entrance on the corner of the two streets features a large gatehouse with a five-light window above with frieze featuring the Royal Cypher and the inscription 1st WYRE (VOLS). Most of the windows are stone-crossed

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...

s. The Glossop Road frontage features a plaque as a

War Memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

which remembers men of the corps killed in World War One. Inside the barracks is an ante room of the Officers’

Mess The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is a designated area where military personnel socialize, eat and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the o ...

known as the “Allen VC Room”; this commemorates William Barnsley Allen winner of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, who was from Sheffield and attended the University of Sheffield. Chris Hobbs website
Gives details of William Barnsley Allen. Gives architectural details of hall.''"Pevsner Architectural Guides - Sheffield"'', Ruth Harman & John Minnis, Yale University Press, , Page 129, Gives architectural details.

Current unit

Only one unit continued to reside at the location. * Sheffield University Officer's Training Corps

References

{{Reflist Drill halls in England Government buildings completed in 1907 Grade II listed buildings in Sheffield