Tofrek Barrack, Brock Barracks is a Grade II listed building in the Reading local planning authority area, England. First listed on 8 July 1998. Barrack.
Tofrek Barrack, Brock Barracks
- WRENN ID
- hollow-hammer-wind
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Reading
- Constituency
- Reading West and Mid Berkshire MP: Olivia Bailey (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 8 July 1998
- Type
- Barrack
- Address
- Tofrek Barrack, Brock Barracks, Oxford Road
- OS grid reference
- SU 693 736
- Coordinates
- 51.45756, -1.00372
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
Tofrek Barrack, located within Brock Barracks, is a soldier's barrack built in 1877. It was designed by Major H.C. Seddon of the War Office, with supervision from Major Flint, both of the Royal Engineers. The building is constructed of red brick, featuring yellow brick bands for the sills and lintels, along with moulded brick heads on the ground floor and stone heads on the first floor. It has truncated gables, lateral and ridge stacks, and a tiled roof.
The barrack has a single-depth layout with rooms on either side of a central dogleg stair. The exterior is two storeys high and features a symmetrical arrangement with eight windows on the outer sections and three in the middle. The yellow sill and lintel bands, along with a moulded brick band below the window heads, enhance its appearance. The end gables are coped and sit on moulded kneelers, while the central gables are paired and contain paired windows. The upper windows have a two-centre arched tympanum with patterned brick infill, flanking an arched entrance that is topped with a brick balustrade. The word "TOFREK" is inscribed above the entrance. The rear of the building has matching windows and includes a pair of ablution bays in the center.
Inside, the former dormitories are located on either side of the central dogleg stair. Historically, this barrack is an example of a standard design for Localisation depots, implemented by local engineer officers. The Cardwell reforms aimed to redistribute barracks across the country to foster local connections and assist with recruitment. Tofrek Barrack, along with Bodmin, is noted as one of the two most complete surviving depots.
Local climate
Tofrek Barrack, Brock Barracks sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 730 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 80% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 73% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 53% of listed buildings. Of these, 14 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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