The Barracks

The Barracks is a historic building located in Upnor, constructed between 1717 and 1718 for the Board of Ordnance. Originally serving as barracks, it is now used as a store and museum. The structure is made of red English bond brick and features ridge and gable stacks, along with a tiled valley roof. It has a double-depth plan divided into three separate sections by spine and central rear transverse walls.

The building stands three storeys high with an attic and has a symmetrical front with five windows. It includes a plinth, rusticated brick quoins, a cornice at the second floor, and an attic with wooden eaves cornice, a parapet, and paired, coped gables. The flat-roofed porch has a cornice and parapet, with steps leading up to round-arched doorways on either side. There is a small segmental-arched window at the front and a segmental-arched doorway with panelled double doors. The windows are segmental-arched 6/6-pane sashes, with smaller second-floor windows, the outer ones paired with a lead downpipe and a dated hopper between. The left side features double basement doors in the plinth. Cornices extend to the returns, which have paired gables, two attic sashes on the front gable, and two oculi at the rear, each with a doorway. The rear left-hand gable is topped with a weather vane.

Inside, there is an entrance lobby leading to a dogleg stair with uncut string and a plain rail, which leads to a first-floor landing with a trap door. Each of the rear sections has dogleg stairs from the side entrances. The roof features a collar truss design with through purlins. There are cast-iron fireplaces from the 19th century and wooden clothes racks in the former bedrooms.

Historically, the Barracks accommodated the garrison for Upnor Castle, which became one of the largest powder stores in the country starting in 1668. In the early 19th century, it housed two officers in the front section and 64 soldiers in the rear. It is recognized as one of the first purpose-built barracks in England, reflecting the architectural style associated with Hawksmoor and the Ordnance Board at that time, and is part of a group with Upnor Castle.