THE BARRACKS
Military quarters are thought to have been established on the site of the later barracks as early as
1720. (fn. 1) The cavalry barracks were built as part of the
barrack-building programme launched by William
Pitt in 1792; (fn. 2) land in Fulford Field was purchased
in 1793 (fn. 3) at a cost of 100 guineas an acre (fn. 4) and the
buildings erected in 1795 and 1796. (fn. 5) Three troops
of the Ancient British Fencibles had already moved
in by October 1795. (fn. 6) The buildings were designed
by the official barrack architects, James Johnson and
John Sanders, (fn. 7) and the total cost was about £25,000. (fn. 8)
The 19-acre site included a barrack nursery garden
of 7 acres, probably originally intended as a cavalry
drill ground. (fn. 9)
The establishment of the barracks was 232 men
in 1796, (fn. 10) and 264 in 1849. (fn. 11) During the year 1 April
1846 to 31 March 1847 the barracks were in fact
garrisoned by 10 officers and 210 men of the 5th
Dragoon Guards; from 9 April to 25 May 1846
2 officers and 60 men of the 69th Regiment were
also in residence. (fn. 12)
Drainage improvements were carried out in 1852
and 1853, and a gas main laid in 1854; (fn. 13) and by 1853
the scale of accommodation had been increased to
18 officers and 276 other ranks. (fn. 14) Considerable additions were made to the barrack buildings in 1861-5
and the area of the site was increased to about
20 acres by the inclusion and development of the
barrack nursery. (fn. 15) In 1854 a new military hospital
was built on the opposite (west) side of Fulford Road
to replace the first which had stood in the corner of
the barrack site and had housed only 24 patients in
1853; the old building was demolished in 1862. (fn. 16)
The new hospital was enlarged in 1878, and in 1893
it accommodated over 100 patients and 20 men of
the Army Hospital Corps. (fn. 17) It could accommodate
120 patients in 1906. (fn. 18) A church was built on the
barrack site in 1867, and a prison in 1884; the prison
accommodation was supplemented in 1900 when
York castle was used for military prisoners. (fn. 19) A small
prison was still maintained at the barracks in 1906. (fn. 20)
By 1890, cavalry drill was carried out on a field
behind the adjacent infantry barracks. (fn. 21)
The result of these changes was a greatly increased
establishment. The regulation number of men was
308 in 1861; (fn. 22) by 1884 there was accommodation for
30 officers, 510 other ranks, and 46 married soldiers. (fn. 23)
The site had not been enlarged by 1921, but further
building had taken place and the barracks then accommodated 25 officers, 564 other ranks, and 31
married soldiers. (fn. 24) Actual strength may frequently
have exceeded establishment: in 1909 24 officers
and 705 other ranks were in residence. (fn. 25)
With the exception of two short periods in 1859
and 1886, the barracks were continuously occupied
from 1859 to 1893. During that time 8 Hussar,
7 Dragoon, and 4 Lancer regiments had been
garrisoned there. (fn. 26) The barracks continued to be
occupied by cavalry units, with horses, until 1939,
the last occupants being the 15/19th Hussars. In
January 1939 a farewell parade to the horses was
held and the regiment was equipped with armoured
cars. From 1939 to 1945 the barracks were used by
a succession of war-time units, and since the war
they have housed units of, for example, the Royal
Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and the Royal
Army Service Corps. (fn. 27)
In 1855 the depot of the 2nd West York Light
Infantry was situated in Lowther Street, on the
north side of the city; the depot companies were
then billeted in the city. (fn. 28) By 1876 a site of about
35 acres on the south side of the cavalry barracks
had been acquired by the War Department, (fn. 29) and
infantry barracks were built between 1877 and
1880. Designs for the buildings were furnished by
the War Department; (fn. 30) the site had cost over
£22,000 and building costs totalled about £150,000. (fn. 31)
Equipment and staff quarters were moved to the
new barracks from the Lowther Street depot in
December 1880. (fn. 32)
The barracks accommodated 55 officers, 1,058
other ranks, and 99 married soldiers in 1884, (fn. 33) and
49 officers, 1,123 other ranks, and 98 married soldiers
in 1908. (fn. 34) These numbers were unequally divided
between an infantry battalion stationed in the area,
and occupying the south side of the barracks, and
the depot of the 14th Regimental District of the
West Yorkshire Regiment, occupying the north
side. (fn. 35) The barracks were continuously occupied
between 1880 and 1893: during that period the
battalion quarters were occupied by units of 12
different regiments. (fn. 36)
With the amalgamation of the West Yorkshire
and East Yorkshire Regiments, Imphal Barracks, as
they were named in 1951 in commemoration of
exploits in Burma, (fn. 37) were in 1958 closed as the depot
of the West Yorkshire Regiment; their future use
was uncertain. (fn. 38)
An expansion of military property followed the
removal of the Headquarters of the North-Eastern
Military District from Manchester to York in 1878;
York became the Headquarters of Northern Command in 1905. (fn. 39) A headquarters office-block was
built and opened in Fishergate by October 1878. (fn. 40)
In 1882 Bootham House was purchased for £5,000
and, as 'Government House', became the residence
of the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief. (fn. 41) It
was vacated in 1936 when Claxton Hall, about 8 miles
north of York, became the new residence. (fn. 42)
Many existing buildings were taken over, among
them Fishergate House for the Ordnance Survey
Department. In 1890 workshops were completed
between the military hospital and the Ouse for the
Royal Army Ordnance Corps, and a wharf was constructed on the river bank. Subsequent additions
have been a barrack block near the hospital for the
Royal Army Mechanical Corps in 1924, and a temporary hutted camp between the barracks and Walmgate Stray during the Second World War. (fn. 43)
Extensive married quarters have been provided
since 46 such quarters were built in 1861 during the
additions to the cavalry barracks and 90 were built
at the infantry barracks in 1877-80. Between 1892
and 1895 3 blocks of flats were built, and a third
was added in 1903. Four blocks of married quarters,
known as Hospital Fields, were built near the hospital in 1924; 11 blocks of 4 houses each, known as
Moorland Fields, were erected on the south side of
the infantry barracks in 1938; and semi-detached
houses, known as Broadway Grove, were built in
1954. (fn. 44)
Several Territorial Army units have premises in
the city. Among them are Lumley Barracks, opened
in Burton Stone Lane in 1911; the architect was
W. H. Brierley. (fn. 45) There are drill halls in Colliergate
(opened in 1872), (fn. 46) and Tower Street (opened in
1885). (fn. 47)