South East District Headquarters Building Of General Officers Commanding

ALDERSHOT SU 85 SE STEELES ROAD (North East side) 991-0/2/68 South-East District Headquarters 17.4.75 II

Headquarters office. Dated 1895, foundation stone laid 1894 by the Duke of Connaught. Brick with Portland stone, rubbed brick and terracotta dressings, brick stacks to ridge and below the ridge, and slate hipped roof Artisan Mannerist style. Double-depth plan with rear wings enclosing a courtyard. EXTERIOR: 2 storeys; 4:6:3:6:4-window range. Central and end sections set forward with thin outer pilaster strips, paired windows set in shallow raised panels with a string between the floors, and bracketed caves; central section has pilaster strips between windows to tall pediment with stone mouldings, ashlar porch with paired Tuscan columns to entablature and balustrade, double half-glazed doors with overlight and 10-pane sidelights, outer first-floor windows have blind balustrades and terracotta segmental pediments, central tripartite window has a pediment broken by a panel with Royal Coat of Arms inscribed DIEU ET MON DROIT, and an oculus in the pediment with enriched surround inscribed VR,. Windows with rubbed brick heads and hoods for blinds, keyed on ground floor, to homed 6/6-pane sashes. Rear has a large central stair light with 3 tall round-arched windows. INTERIOR: has a central hall with a mosaic floor inscribed VR, 1895, divided by a segmental arch on pilasters, to a rear cast-iron Imperial stair with cast-iron columns forming newels, perforated risers, and iron balusters with a central roundel; axial passage with elliptical arches and pilasters, and 6-panel doors. HISTORY: the Military Headquarters in Aldershot, and associated with many national military figures. A particularly enriched example of a typical late C19 officers quarters building, with notable iron stairs. (Childerhouse T: Military Aldershot, the first fifty years: London: 1990-).

Listing NGR: SU8596151712