Hillsborough Barracks

Hillsborough Barracks
Sheffield
Hillsborough Barracks
Hillsborough Barracks Location within South Yorkshire
Coordinates	53°24′05″N01°29′41″W
Type	Barracks
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	British Army
Site history
Built	1848
Built for	War Office
In use	1848–1930

Hillsborough Barracksis a walled complex of buildings between Langsett Road and Penistone Road in theHillsboroughDistrict ofSheffield,South Yorkshire,England.

Early history

The complex, which covers an area of circa 22 acres (89,000 m²), dates from 1848, replacing an inadequate barracks at Hillfoot.

The barracks is divided into three terraces. The first (top) terrace faces on to what is now Langsett Road. This contained theMessestablishment, quarters for around 40 officers and a similar number of servants, and a chapel. This building has a length of about 354 feet (108 m) and a width and height of about 40 feet (12 m), is three storeys high and has a mixture ofgothicandcastellatedstyles. The other buildings of the barracks consisted of a large five-bedroomed house serving as theGarrisonCommander’s Quarters outside the walls, a 58-patient two-storey hospital incorporating abarracksforRAMCpersonnel, a Dental Clinic and a facility for treating women, infantry soldiers' quarters, a clock tower building, withcavalrysoldiers' quarters on the first floor and stabling for 260 horses on the ground floor (total accommodation for 918NCOand other ranks). There was also aFivesCourt, a Riding School, a school for 80 children and accommodation for the schoolmistress, married quarters flats for 50 families provided outside the walls, a Gun Shed housing sixField guns,the Barracks Store with living quarters for theBarracksSergeant,a Guard Room incorporating a Police Room, Detention Cells, and an exercise yard, a Vehicle Shed (built in 1903) which could house 26 motor cars, a Veterinary Infirmary large enough to house 18 horses, aGranary,four cookhouses and various workshops.

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  Cavalry quarters
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  Main building, Langsett Road
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  Infantry Quarters
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  Guardhouse
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  Chapel
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  Site plan

On the northern side of the Barracks runs theRiver Loxley.On the night of Friday 11 March 1864 the ill-fatedDale Dyke Damfurther up theLoxleyValley at Bradfield burst causing theGreat Sheffield Floodand the resulting flood waters breached a stone wall that was three feet thick. The water rose to the height of twelve feet outside the window of Sergeant Foulds' quarters and drowned two of his children.

On 26 July 1932, an auction was held on the instructions of theWar Departmentby Eadon & Lockwood at Sheffield. However, when bidding reached only £12,000, the auction was terminated and the Barracks withdrawn from sale. In October of that year, the complex was sold to Burdall’s Ltd, a manufacturing chemist noted for its gravy salt, and it became known asBurdall’s Buildings.

Redevelopment

former cells now hotel rooms

A major redevelopment of the site was embarked upon in the late 1980s. The result is the large retail and business complex seen today, in which all the surviving structures have been cleaned of the grime from Sheffield's industrial past. The focus of the complex is theMorrisonsSupermarket covering the oldArtilleryParade Ground, which has been roofed for the purpose and is fronted by the clock-towered stable block. The oldInfantryParade Ground is now a two-storey car park between the Stable Block and the old Officers' Mess (now the headquarters forSheffield Insulations Ltd). The old football ground and rifle range are now aB&QDIYSuperstore. The Married Quarters which served as flats until the end of the 1970s were demolished and the area is now aMcDonald'sDrive-throughRestaurant. The Garrison Commander’s House was demolished and its site is now covered with a garage and petrol station. The old guard room is now the Garrison Hotel and Jailhouse Bar.

External links

• Garrison HotelIntro is worth watching