Sandhurst Block at Bourlon Barracks, Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire

Description

1198/0/10005
19-MAY-09

HIPSWELL
BOURLON ROAD
CATTERICK GARRISON
(Off)
SANDHURST BLOCK AT BOURLON BARRACKS

Sandhurst Block (Army barrack block), 1938 by the Designs Branch of the War Office (possibly by AG Sheppard-Fiddler, architect).

MATERIALS
Red brick, laid in stretcher bond with fine mortar joints. Portland Stone dressings. Westmoreland slate roofs. Lead, timber and copper central clock tower. Cast iron rainwater goods, dated 1938.

PLAN
Complex butterfly plan: Mirrored U shaped accommodation blocks linked by a central block with a large dining hall on the ground floor with further accommodation above. To the rear (north side) of the dining hall there is a single storey kitchen block which is a later rebuild of the original. There are principal staircases at either end of the central block with a smaller secondary stairs on the north side of each side wing. These secondary stairs are housed within northward projections that house toilets and ablution facilities. The corridors run along the north side of the wings with rooms on the south side. Originally there was a mixture of room sizes with large barrack sleeping rooms for enlisted men, smaller sleeping rooms for NCOs and other small rooms designed as sitting rooms, or for storage and other ancillary uses. Many of the larger barrack rooms have been subsequently subdivided. At the extremity of each side wing there is a short cross wing originally containing a single barrack room on each floor.

EXTERIOR
The dominant central block is of 21 bays, and 3 stories. The centre breaks forward and is surmounted by the square clock tower. Stone doorcase to centre, with arched canopy over. Rusticated ground floor and angles. Wider, arched windows to the ground floor, rectangular windows above, with rubbed brick arches to the first floor, and soldier courses beneath the eaves to the second. All sash windows have margin lights. Cast iron rainwater goods, marked with the Army crown and the date 1938. Stone impost band to front elevation, runs round side elevations at lintel level. Deep, white-painted eaves. Hipped roof laid in diminishing courses; solitary chimneys punctuate the ridges along each range. The rear of the central block has a projecting ground floor with arched windows, flanking a kitchen block with bathroom facilities over (the later kitchen extension is of no special interest). At either end of this central block is a projecting staircase, lit by tall triple windows.

The attached spurs of the barrack block match the central block in style and materials but are lower. The main south-facing elevations are of 17 bays, the end-most breaking forward and containing larger triple windows, with balconies to the first floor openings. Stone doorcases to centre. North-facing flat-roofed 9-bay extensions to the rear of each block with central paired doors.

INTERIOR
In comparison to the exterior, the interior detailing is simple. Features of note include the ramped handrails to the staircases with iron strip balustrades; the solid brass ironmongery to the windows; and the dining room where the structural beams have been augmented with cornicing to produce a form of coffered ceiling. Original doorways into barrack rooms can be typically identified by the presence of mat wells that are lacking with later inserted doorways.

HISTORY
The Sandhurst Block at Bourlon Barracks was built in 1938 as part of what was known as Catterick's Second Reconstruction Plan, a £1,000,000 scheme which also included extensive building at Gaza Barracks. Earlier reconstruction at Catterick in the late 1920s had been more limited in concept, mainly focused on rehabilitating the huts originally built during the First World War when Catterick Camp was first established. The Sandhurst Block was a new development in army accommodation, providing sleeping, dining, washing and off-duty facilities for an infantry battalion of 646 men all under one roof. Previously such accommodation was divided into a series of separate huts. The Sandhurst Block, costing over £100,000, included modern amenities such as running hot water, central heating and generous lighting. As part of the scheme, a number of additional buildings were also built at the barracks, of which only the Officers' Mess and the much altered Sergeants' Mess still survive. The quality of the construction and the level of architectural detailing demonstrated that these buildings were not an emergency measure in response to the threat of war, but an investment in the future that the Army could be proud of, as was reported at the time (Evans, 1940). Only 20 Sandhurst Blocks were built nationally (all in the period 1938-41), a number of which were smaller and simpler two storey versions. By 2007 over half of these had been either demolished or heavily extended making the largely unaltered survival of six Sandhurst Blocks at Catterick quite remarkable. This is the best example.
The very traditional choice of architectural style, influenced by Sir Christopher Wren, is of historical interest as it shows how the British Army sought to reinforce a sense of tradition. There appears to have been no provision of air raid shelters either in a basement or in the surrounding grounds.
SOURCES
"Catterick Camp - not to be published" Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 map 1939
"Catterick Camp - not to be published - War Department Revisions to December 1940" Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 map 1941
"History of Catterick Camp" Lt Col Howard Cole 1972 (Forces Press, Aldershot)
"The Sandhurst Block: an example of modern military architecture" 1940 Maj Frederic Evans in Building vol. 15, 1940 May, p. 114-115.
"England's Army Camps" John Schofield, 2006 available at http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?armycamp_eh_2006

REASON FOR DESIGNATION

The Sandhurst Block at Bourlon Barracks is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Architectural: as a very good example of the Neo-Georgian official style, developed by the War Office, displaying a high level of architectural accomplishment, and carefully constructed in good quality materials, which survives in good condition
* Historical: as the embodiment of the late expansion of the Army in the pre-WW2 period, showing the Army's retention of a traditional approach to military architecture
* Contextual: as one of the key buildings at the very important Army complex at Catterick, which best exemplifies the nature of inter-war Army expansion, and which is enhanced by its setting of a large parade ground
* Representation: as a leading example representing barrack architecture of this period, little of which has been protected hitherto, showing the national approach to barrack-building and the expansion of the Army

Reasons for Listing

The Sandhurst Block at Bourlon Barracks is designated at grade II for the following principal reasons:

External Links

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