Building 69 (Guardhouse), North Barracks

Building 69, known as the guardhouse, is an early 19th-century structure located on the northeast side of North Barrack Road in Deal. It is constructed from yellow stock brick with rubbed brick headers, Portland stone dressings, and features a slate hipped roof, although the stacks have been removed. The building has a single-depth plan and is a single storey with a two-window range. The central door is flanked by sash windows, and there is a rendered late 19th-century extension to the left of the front (northwest). A 20th-century verandah, supported by reused 19th-century cast-iron columns, has been added to the front. The outer end facing the street includes a rubbed brick round-arched window that has been bricked up, set in a matching recess, with a single ashlar quoin and a cart stone at the base. There is a straight joint connecting the guardhouse with perimeter walls that extend to the rear of Buildings 65-68. The interior has not been inspected, but the only pre-20th-century feature that remains is a late 19th-century cast-iron fireplace, which is not original. Historically, this building is part of an important group of structures associated with the military hospital at Deal, linked by a wall to the officers' houses (Buildings 65-68), which form the southeast corner of the former hospital. It is included for its group value.