Ancillary building no29, Redford cavalry barracks, Colinton Road, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Edinburgh

Description

Eleven single-storey buildings situated around the main Redford cavalry block which were designed by Harry B Measures and built between 1909 and 1915 as ancillary buildings for the cavalry barracks. They are currently mainly used for stores (2017). The buildings are mostly of either coursed rubble or are rendered and have smooth ashlar margins. Building 39 also has brick elevations. The majority of the buildings have Dutch gables. All have grey graded slates to the roofs and raised skews.

Building 9 (NT22648 69489) is a rectangular-plan, gabled former stable building with a long roof vent and altered openings.

Building 10 (NT22675 69467) is a small, rectangular stable (for sick horses) with a pair of large, boarded timber doors and roof vents.

Building 13 (NT22611 69460) is a 6-bay former cottage with irregular windows and predominantly 6-pane glazing to upper and lower sashes in timber sash and case windows. There are 4 ridge chimney stacks.

Buildings 26 and 28 (NT22536 69371) are gabled buildings forming an L-plan.

Building 28 has a row of high windows and Diocletian windows to the gables.

Building 26 has a run of boarded timber doors to the northeast elevation.

Building 29 (NT22510 69383) is rectangular and gabled with a row of high windows, ridge vents and Diocletian windows to each gable.

Building 39 (NT22452 69371) is irregular in plan with one gabled section and one piended roof section. Some of the openings have been altered and there is a variety of windows and glazing patterns, including some small pane glazing.

Building 40 (NT22411 69400) is gabled with lower sections to the entrance elevation at the northeast. There are Diocletian windows to the gables. The entrance door has been altered.

Buildings 43 and 44 (NT22385 69429) have enclosed courtyards. Building 43 is U-plan with an enclosing boundary wall to the northeast which incorporates a piended roof weighing booth. Building 44 is L-plan and has an enclosing coped, rubble boundary wall to the northeast and northwest. There is a variety of windows including timber sash and case windows and some fixed windows. All have a small pane glazing pattern.

Only part of the interior of building 44 was seen in 2016. It has been divided into rooms with one large brick fire surround with stepped mantel.

In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following are excluded from the listing: building nos 14, 14a, 27, 67, 71 and 72.

Statement of Interest

The ancillary buildings at Redford cavalry barracks (Building numbers 9, 10, 13, 26, 28, 29, 39, 40, 42, 43 and 44) date to between 1909 and 1915 and are an important part of the complex of infantry and cavalry buildings which make up the extensive and largely intact Redford barracks. The buildings have some decorative architectural features in their Dutch gables and Diocletian windows and are little altered to their exterior. The complex as a whole was the pinnacle of military building prior to the First World War and gives an important and rare insight to the way the military was organized at the beginning of the 20th century.

In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following are excluded from the listing: building nos 14, 14a, 27, 67, 71 and 72.

Age and Rarity

The ancillary buildings associated with the Redford cavalry barracks were built between 1909 and 1915 for the services necessary for the efficient running of the barracks. They included stores, stabling, accommodation for non-military personnel, farriers and other related functions. The original purpose of all the buildings is not confirmed. Building 9 was stabling and is the same design as the stables around the main cavalry block (listed at category A, LB28009). Building 10 is a smaller stable and was used to isolate horses that needed veterinary treatment. Building 13 is a residence and may have been used by non-military personnel who worked at the barracks. Building 26, 28 & 29 may have been garaging. It is thought by the owners that building 39 was originally a farriers. A plan of the barracks held by the owners and dating to around 1920 marks building 44 as the R.A.S.C. (Royal Army Service Corps) barracks expense store and yard. This unit was responsible for the distribution maintenance of all supplies, except ammunition. The buildings are now all mainly used as stores or offices (2016).

Redford cavalry barracks was built to replace poor cavalry accommodation at Piershill in Edinburgh. Questions had been raised in Parliament in 1900 about the state of the accommodation at Piershill and, by 1909, the barracks there had been recognised as inadequate. As the military troops based in Edinburgh were also housed in cramped conditions at Edinburgh Castle, the decision was taken by the Government to build a new substantial complex incorporating barracks for both infantry and cavalry and including all the necessary associated buildings on the same site at Redford. Although on the same extensive site, the cavalry barracks (located to the east) and infantry barracks (located to the west) were administered separately.

The cavalry barracks were built to be home to the Royal Scots Greys regiment, who moved to Hounslow as their main base in 1937. Redford Barracks was the largest barracks to be built in Scotland since Fort George in Inverness (1748-1769, Scheduled Monument SM6692). The Redford barracks was the most advanced of its type in Britain at the time and the best equipped, incorporating all the latest developments in training and accommodation. The barracks reflect the military confidence of Britain before the start of the First World War.

The magnitude of the building programme at Redford was so great that the builders, Colin MacAndrew Ltd, built their own railway to transport materials from the main line at Slateford. The Scotsman in 1914 noted 'there is no point at the extensive field at Redford where building operations are in progress which are not served by either the broad or narrow gauge railways'.

All of the cavalry buildings lying to the east of the entire barracks site and include a large barracks block with its associated stables, a guard house with its associated gates and gatepiers, a Commander in Chief's house and stables, (Balaclava House), the Officers' mess and stables, a former Sergeants' mess, a band block, an education block, which was originally a school and other auxiliary buildings including further stables, farriers and stores. The cavalry barracks originally included a riding school to the southeast, which is no longer in situ (2016). There were originally married quarters at the centre of the site, but these were demolished in the 1990s. The infantry barracks and all its associated buildings lie to the west of the site.

During the last quarter of the 19th century, the expanding British Empire required more personnel for its administration and its security. To help with the recruitment and training of soldiers, the Secretary of State for War, Edward Cardwell, introduced the Military Localisation Bill in 1872, which introduced new recruiting and training centres around Britain. The majority of the architectural design and planning was carried out by the Director of Design, Major H C Sneddon, and a number of standard types of barracks resulted. Local variations were possible, for example at the Cameron Barracks at Inverness, listed at category B (LB35340) where Scots Baronial architectural features are used. During this period the overall planning and layout of a barracks complex changed from a strict symmetry of buildings around a parade ground to placing the various buildings in the most sensible position according to function.

Up until the beginning of the 20th century, all military fortifications, including barracks were the responsibility of the Royal Engineers. This was reviewed from 1902 and as a result, a civilian department was formed in 1904 under the direction of the Director of Barracks Construction which was responsible for War Department buildings. The new director was Harry Measures. Measures had his own ideas about the design of barracks buildings and he instigated the bringing of various functions under the same roof which had previously had separate buildings. His first project was new cavalry barracks at Norwich, which he designed with all the ancillary and recreational functions in the ground floor of the building with residential accommodation above. This was never built but his ideas on design were realised at Redford.

Following the First World War and over the course of the 20th century, the practice of warfare and the organisation of the military changed. Military accommodation was updated and smaller residential units became standard. Horses were replaced by machinery and Redford Cavalry Barracks, was amongst the last of its type to be built on such a large scale. Only the Hyde Park Barracks in London, built by Sir Basil Spence in 1970 for the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment are comparable in size and scale. A number of cavalry barracks in Scotland were demolished in the 1960s, including at Maryhill in Glasgow and at Perth.

The ancillary buildings at Redford cavalry barracks form part of a largely intact complex of infantry and cavalry buildings which make up one of the largest barracks sites ever built in Britain. The buildings, while largely simple in their design have some architectural features which are in keeping with the group of buildings at this site. Redford barracks was the pinnacle of military building prior to the First World War and the complex as a whole is a rare survival.

Building nos 14, 14a, 27, 67, 71 and 72 are not considered to be of special interest in listing terms and are proposed to be excluded from the listing.

Architectural or Historic Interest

Interior

The interior of building 44 was partially seen. The brick fire surround is standard. The other interiors were not seen at the time of the site visit (2016).

Plan form

The buildings have a variety of plan forms which are likely to relate to their original functions. At building 44 the buildings are grouped around a central open courtyard, which would be consistent with a large military supply and distribution and also includes a weighing scale.

Technological excellence or innovation, material or design quality

The buildings are either of course rubble or rendered to their exteriors, but all share the same light sandstone margins which are seen in the other buildings at the complex.

Some of the buildings also share the same Dutch gable decorative feature that can be seen in other buildings within the complex.

Harry Bell Measures (circa 1862-1940), was based in London and was the first (and only) holder of a new civilian post, Director of Barrack Construction, which was created in 1904 in order to free the Royal Engineers for other, more military, duties. He designed a number of stations for the Central London Railway, several of which survive as current London Underground stations, including Oxford Circus (listed at Grade II). In terms of barracks buildings, however, Douet (1998) suggest that Measures rethought the layout of barracks buildings and 'abandoned the long-entrenched principles of subdivision and separation of the various elements and functions'. Redford Barracks appears to be one of the few barracks sites he completed with his only other large military building the New College at the royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, listed at Grade II (Ref no 1390374).

Setting

The ancillary buildings at Redford cavalry barracks are situated to the southeast and southwest of the main cavalry barracks block. They lie close to other buildings on the site and retain their connection to it. Buildings 9, 10, 26, 28 and 29 lie at the current south eastern edge of the complex. The barracks complex originally extended beyond these buildings, but this land was sold in the late 20th century and has since been developed.

Buildings 39, 40, 42, 43 and 44 are situated towards the centre of the site and prominent buildings within the site. On the Ordnance Survey map, published in 1934, these buildings are shown as lying between the cavalry barracks and the married quarters, which would place it in the centre of the cavalry barracks and easily accessible for all the personnel. Some of the earliest buildings in the Redford site, including the married quarters which lay to the east of this building have been demolished and replaced with modern military accommodation. While there have been some later alterations to the group of buildings at the barracks site, the majority of the 1909-1915 buildings remain, however, and the integrity of the site continues to help our understanding of the organisation of the military in the years leading up to the First World War.

The building is located within the Colinton Conservation Area.

Regional variations

There are no known regional variations.

Close Historical Associations

No close historical associations known at present.

As a major military base in Scotland, Redford barracks has provided accommodation and services for a number of Regiments which have been involved in the defence of the United Kingdom over the course of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Statutory address and listed building record revised in 2017 as part of the Redford Barracks Listing Review. Previously listed as Colinton Road, Redford Cavalry Barracks With Officer's Mess, Balaclava House, Guard House, Gates, Gatepiers, Sergeant's Mess, Former Band Block, Education Block, Former Stables, Stores And Other Ancillary Buildings.

REDFORDCAVALRY9, REDFORDCAVALRY10, REDFORDCAVALRY13, REDFORDCAVALRY26, REDFORDCAVALRY28, REDFORDCAVALRY29, REDFORDCAVALRY39, REDFORDCAVALRY40, REDFORDCAVALRY42, REDFORDCAVALRY43, REDFORDCAVALRY44.

External Links

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