Military Life in 1900 London: Barracks

Arthur H. Beavan found much to criticise about the way soldiers were accommodated in London at the turn of the twentieth century in Imperial London, first published in 1901:

Barracks. Not exactly fashionable London, but connected with it.

Compared with Paris, Berlin, Vienna, or any other continental capital, barrack accommodation in London, considering its size and the contemplated increase of its permanent garrison, was in 1900 ridiculously inadequate.

They are easily enumerated.

In the Chelsea-bridge road, over-looking the Royal Hospital grounds, were the Chelsea barracks, a long and monotonous brick structure, broken only by towers in the centre, and faced by a formidable, and apparently unscalable iron railing.

These barracks were chiefly intended for the Foot-guards; and the fine parade-ground at the back witnessed many stirring scenes at the outbreak of the South African War, notably, when King Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, paid a surprise visit there to see the men before they left for the front, and later, when the Duke of Connaught formally inspected them, bringing with him a farewell message from Queen Victoria.

Facing St. James' Park in the Bird-cage Walk, were the well-known Wellington Barracks, first occupied by troops in 1814, the military chapel at the end of the spacious parade-ground, noted for its impressive musical services, being opened in 1813.

These barracks, like those at Chelsea, were intended for the Guards Brigade, which practically, so far as infantry was concerned, furnished the London garrison, and which by seniority took the premier place in the Army Corps whereof it formed a portion in South Africa.

Knightsbridge Barracks, for the Household Cavalry, in 1900 the newest, and externally the most attractive-looking in London, replaced some painfully plain brick buildings that for many years were an eyesore to the fashionable Kensington Gore, close by.

These buildings were erected in 1879-80, and were supposed to be the best of their kind in Europe.

Attached was a fine riding-school; and a handsome wing was devoted to the officers' quarters, whose mess-room, etc, was on the north side, with an imposing frontage to the Park drive.

In the very centre of the main building was an oblong parade-ground, round which, over the stables, were apartments for the troops.

Hidden away off Church Street, Kensington, were two small and very old-fashioned barracks - one for cavalry, the other for infantry.

At the back of the National Gallery in Orange Street was the St. George's Recruiting Department, whither were ultimately led with solicitude begotten of the bounty received for them, the recruits picked up by the indefatigable recruiting-sergeant so constantly seen round about the National Portrait Gallery and Trafalgar Square.

In Ordnance Road, not far from the Eyre Arms in St. John's Wood, were some small barracks.

Nearly at the top of the interminable Albany Street, were the Regent's Park Barracks for the Household Cavalry, who periodically exchanged quarters with the mounted troops at Knightsbridge.

There was a spacious parade-ground, but the buildings were a type of what the Government thought good enough for the troops in the reign of George IV, the rooms low with bare walls, no, paper, no curtains, carpets, or chairs, badly lighted, and with inadequate dining accommodation - in fact "exactly like a barrack."

The officers' rooms, as in other London barracks, were privately supplemented in the way of comforts, the articles supplied to officers' quarters being restricted to "two chairs, one table, one poker, one shovel, and one pair of tongs." (Officially stated in the House of Commons, 1901.)

The Waterloo Barracks for infantry were extensive stone-built erections on one side of the Parade in the Tower of London, with very comfortable quarters for officers, whose mess was famous for its excellence.

Lastly, in Dalston, at Shrubland Road, N.E., near the London Fields, were the Tower Hamlets Barracks.

Next: Military London in 1900: The Trooping of the Colour