Horfield Barracks
In 1843 the Government bought some
land from Mr Storey of Court Farm, on the Gloucester Road, in Horfield. They had
the intention of constructing an Army Barracks to accommodate and train 4
companies of infantry and 2 troops of cavalry for the Gloucestershire Regiment.
The Barracks were officially opened by the Duke of Wellington in 1847. The
barracks were capable of housing 500 infantry soldiers and had its own chapel
and Military School for their children. The barracks chapel, which still exists,
but now houses offices, was not licensed for burials, so any troops who died
during their time at the barracks were buried in Horfield Parish churchyard.
When the Barracks were first opened there was opposition to the arrival of so many soldiers in the area and special measures were passed to prevent officers from crossing the common on their horses. However, the arrival of the soldiers did bring some benefits to the area. The number of public houses doubled between 1841 and 1851 to cater for the troops. The Wellington Hotel, which employed a barmaid, cook, housemaid, ostler, boots and general labourer, probably catered for the officers. Dennis Wright’s research into the population of Horfield tells us that many of the first soldiers to inhabit the barracks were Scottish, although he doesn’t explain why. After the passage of the Army Re-Organisation Act, Horfield Barracks underwent a series of alterations in 1873 and became a Local Military Centre. The Barracks stood on the Gloucester Road for over a century, but were demolished after the Second World War, in 1966. Their site was then used by British Telecom for several years. The site was later sold for housing development, and is currently Bartholomews Square. The Barracks were enclosed with thick, tall stone walls which can still be seen today. The barracks were entered through an imposing stone archway. Although this archway has now gone, it is still possible to locate the old entrance to the barracks, opposite the old chapel on road after Wessex Avenue. The entrance was not on the Gloucester Road, as is often thought. Mrs Weight, the mother of a soldier training at Horfield Barracks in 1939, was concerned that her son, and the other troops, were not receiving sufficient nourishment. She wrote a letter to the Mayor’s office expressing her concerns. The Mayor wrote to the Lieutenant-Colonel at the Barracks who responded by providing the Mayor with two weekly meal plans for the soldiers, to pass on to the mother, and an invitation for her to visit the barracks one meal time to see the food available to the troops. The mother was seemingly unsatisfied with her response, but didn’t want to take the Lieutenant-Colonel up on his offer of a visit. The Mayor closed the matter as he was satisfied with the evidence provided. The meal plans indicate that the soldiers received breakfast, dinner, tea and supper daily, and their meals included roast mutton, rabbit pies and macaroni pudding. |