Building 147 (First World War Barracks), North Camp

Building 147, First World War Barracks, is a barracks block dating from 1918, constructed by Lieut. J.G.N. Clift of the War Office’s Directorate of Fortifications and Works. The building is constructed of rendered brick with asbestos-cement slating on timber trusses.

The plan is a long, narrow block with a raised central area and clerestory, divided longitudinally with entrances in the short gable ends. It is organized into eight bays, each measuring 13ft (3.96m).

The exterior presents a gabled form, with a raised centre and lower sides all in the same plane. The gabled ends feature a pair of tall plank doors flanked by two-light small-pane steel casements. The long sides have a series of horizontal small-pane casements set close to the upper eaves, above later replacement casements with side-hung lights and ventilating openings, without glazing bars. Shallow flat buttresses separate the bays. A small projection to the first bay on the east side incorporates a small eight-pane light.

Internally, some partitions remain.

Historically, this building is a rare surviving example of a standard barracks hut from the First World War, originally built as single officers' quarters. There were at least four identical huts originally, located to the north of the Officers' Mess. Station plans from 1918 to 1933 show these huts in place, paired together. It lies immediately north of the current Officers' Mess, forming a significant group with it and the Squash Court. This represents the only surviving building from 1917 on the domestic site at the Training Depot Station at Duxford, alongside the more complete technical buildings on the south side of the A 505. Duxford is considered the finest and best-preserved example of a fighter base representative of the period up to 1945 in Britain, with significant associations with the Battle of Britain and American fighter support for the Eighth Air Force.