Blocks 21 and 23 (HQ Block and Rear Block) is a Grade II listed building in the Brecon Beacons National Park local planning authority area, Wales. First listed on 16 December 1976. Cavalry barracks.

Blocks 21 and 23 (HQ Block and Rear Block)

WRENN ID
riven-truss-primrose
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Brecon Beacons National Park
Constituency
Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe MP: David Chadwick (LD)
Country
Wales
Date first listed
16 December 1976
Type
Cavalry barracks
Address
Blocks 21 and 23 (HQ Block and Rear Block), Powys
OS grid reference
SO 050 282
Coordinates
51.94466, -3.38332
Source
Cadw listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

Blocks 21 and 23, known as the HQ Block and Rear Block, are former Cavalry Barracks built in the 1840s. The building features a long two-storey range with seventeen 12-pane sash windows, along with some smaller later windows. At the center, there is a square stone clock tower topped with a weather vane, and the roof is hipped and covered with slate. Rectangular stone chimneys are present as well. The entrance doorways are flanked by squared stone pilasters in the 3rd, central, and 15th bays, and there are decorative bands at the eaves above the first floor and a plinth at the base.

At the rear, a lower two-storey range connects to the main building via a later corridor. This section also has a stone structure with a slate roof and stone chimneys. The walls are made of squared rubble with ashlar dressings, featuring bands at the first floor sill level and above the ground floor windows. There have been some alterations to the openings, but the majority still retain the 12-pane horned sash windows.

Local climate

Blocks 21 and 23 (HQ Block and Rear Block) sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,260 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 93% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 82% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 56 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 96% of listed buildings. Of these, 32 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.

More on this building

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