Former Married Quarters (Building 16), Hounslow Barracks

TQ 1175 NE BEAVERS LANE, Hounslow (North side) 787/41/10028 Former married quarters (Building 16), Hounslow Barracks

GV II

Married quarters on barracks, now disused. Dated 1860. Yellow stock brick with red brick dressings, brick axial stacks and slate roof. Single-depth plan single-room apartments off verandah with end ablution rooms in towers. EXTERIOR: 3 storeys; 2:18:2-bay range. Symmetrical front has ends set forward, connected by full-width iron verandah with round columns encased in concrete and plain railings, with a round-arched central through passage with dogleg iron stair , and red rubbed brick lintels to 6/6-pane sashes. Returns and rear have a moulded second-floor and eaves band, early C20 square ablution towers, added either side of a 5-bay central range with a round archway and panel dated 1860. INTERIOR: not inspected; plan shows single-rooms apartments. HISTORY: one of the first purpose-built married quarters, which were introduced at barracks following the post Crimean War army reforms. Each single-family room contained a bed for adults and a crib, two cupboards and a range; shared ablutions were in the end projecting sections. Comparable with the large philanthropic housing projects by bodies such as the Peabody Trust, in attempting to provide compact improved housing. Included for historic interest both in its military context, and as an example of early social housing. (Watson Colonel Sir H M: History of the Corps of Royal Engineers: Chatham: 1954-: 157-160; Inspector General of Fortifications office: Plans and elevations: 1860-: PRO, WORK43/1405).

Listing NGR: TQ1207675579