Somme Barracks And Drill Hall

Territorial army barracks and a drill hall, dating from 1907, with alterations in the late 20th century. The building is constructed of red brick with ashlar dressings and has hipped and gabled concrete tile roofs. Two brick ridge stacks feature lozenge-shaped double flues. The architectural style is Tudor Revival. The plan is L-shaped, comprising the barracks with an angled corner incorporating the entrance, and an attached drill hall to the left return.

The exterior has a plinth, impost and sill bands, an eaves string course, a coped parapet, and gables. It is two storeys high, with a basement and attics, and contains six windows by nine. The windows are mostly stone mullioned with 20th-century casements; those on the ground floor have segmental heads and linked hoodmoulds. The corner entrance bay features a slightly projecting tower porch topped with octagonal corner turrets and ogee domes with ball finials. A 5-light window sits under a segmental pediment on the first floor, with a frieze inscribed "1st. WYRE (Vols)", flanked by single-light windows, all under a common label mould. Below this are two 2-light windows. The Royal arms are positioned above. A round-arched carriage entrance has voussoirs and a keystone, with a hood mould carried on banded Doric columns topped with obelisks. Double board doors are topped with metal grating, flanked by small 2-light mullioned windows. The left return, to West Street, has a gabled central bay with two 3-light windows under segmental pediments, topped by a shallow 4-light window above. Other windows include a mix of 2-light and 3-light designs. A moulded square war memorial panel, dated 1918, is situated on the left return, alongside other 3-light, 4-light and basement windows. The right return, to Gell Street, features a central gable with a pedimented 4-light window and a shallow 4-light window above. It has a mix of 3-light and 4-light windows on each floor, and a smaller window in the gable. The basement has several small openings. The attached drill hall has a shallow hipped roof behind a plain parapet. Its end wall is divided into four bays by shallow pilasters, each with a single upper window and three ground floor windows, all similarly detailed. The interior of the building was not inspected.