3.4 Hulme Barracks, Hulme

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1 3.4 Hulme Barracks, Hulme Historical Background Hulme Barracks represent an often overlooked aspect of life in 19 th -century Manchester. As the local journal The Sphinx observed in 1868, Manchester was a garrison city and yet not a military one. Manchester and Salford had two barracks, one housing a regiment of cavalry, the other a regiment of infantry. In military circles this was considered to be the principal garrison city in the North of England but Manchester s scale as an industrial city was such that these troops were simply swallowed up and lost in our great cottonopolis. 1 The infantry barracks were situated on Regent Road in Salford. The cavalry barracks were constructed on what was then the edge of the built-up area of Hulme, an early suburb of the industrial city. They are sometimes said to have opened in but in 1804 John Aston was able to give a description of the site. According to this, the barracks are situated in Hulme, which is another township, although it appears a part of Manchester. The barracks are built upon an uniform convenient plan, open only to the south, where they are bounded by a brook They are intended for dragoons; the stables are on each side of the yard, and over them are the apartments for the soldiers. The quarters of the officers are in an insulated building near the north end of the yard, which is capacious enough for most manoeuvres which are generally used in exercising a squadron of horse. 3 In 1839 Hulme Barracks were said to contain accommodation for 262 horses, 399 men and 20 officers. 4 Between 1817 and 1895 the barracks were occupied by twenty-seven regiments in succession. 5 Among these were the 15 th King s Hussars who had fought at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and who on 16 August 1819, together with the part-time cavalry of the Manchester Yeomanry, took part in the Peterloo Massacre. 6 Mapping shows that the barracks as described in 1804 remained largely unchanged during their century or so of use. The great rectangular open yard was divided into two parade or training areas, the more northerly of which was flanked by the principal buildings of the barracks and now largely forms the area of Barrack Park. The greater part of its west and east sides were occupied by a two-storey range, with stables on the ground floor and troops quarters above, accessed via a balcony which ran the full length of the building (Ill ). At the north end of the yard were the canteen, riding school and hospital, while fronting these was the central freestanding building which Aston referred to as the officers quarters and which is still described as such on the OS map of 1849 (Ill ). At a later period the officers quarters and mess were located in a detached Georgian house set within a garden which bordered the barracks on the southwest (Ill ). This change seems to have occurred by 1868 when The Sphinx reported that the building in the yard then housed the sergeants mess and, on the floor above this, reading and recreation rooms and a school room for the soldiers children. 1 The Sphinx 25 July 1868, 6. 2 MCL MSC ; Makepeace 1995, Aston 1804, Love 1839, MCL MSC Read 1958,

2 The presence of the barracks had an effect on the character of the surrounding neighbourhood. The Sphinx noted that the main approach to the Hulme Barracks is through a street, which owing to dirt or dinginess, is neither good for the sight or nose. Marine stores, rag and bone shops, public-houses of the lowest class, and tumble-down buildings give the neighbourhood anything but a pleasing appearance. The male population consists principally of old soldiers, discharged from one cause or another, who supplement their pensions (if they have any) by keeping the aforesaid shops and cleaning old uniforms. The female population is composed of soldiers wives, principally those poor things whose husbands have married without leave, and who therefore, have no room in barracks, or any allowances the wives and widows of old pensioners and a class of women who are invariably to be found outside every barracks, and by whose help the British soldier wastes his money, health and character together. There is a strong Irish element about the neighbourhood, and there are more children than one would think could possibly belong to any one locality. A general cast-off military air pervades everything and everybody; the public-houses show signs patriotic and regimental; articles of army clothing abound on lines, in shop windows, on beggars backs, even as playthings for children; nearly every man has a moustache, and holds himself erect from sheer force of old habit; nearly every woman has an independent air upon her; which smacks strongly of the baggage wagon and a roving life But step into the barracks and see the soldier at home. It is literally a step, and a step only, from dirt and wretchedness to the very perfection of cleanliness and order. True, the barrack buildings are old and dingy, but military neatness works wonders, and there is plenty of space for such sun and breeze as can be coaxed into a region so near cottonopolis. On our right as we enter is the guardroom, with a covered way in front, and a sentry pacing up and down; on our left are the Canteen and Barrack-master s office and stores. Beyond the latter again is the Riding School; in front, the Hospital. In the middle distance, to the right and facing the Riding School, is a range of buildings comprising the Sergeants Mess, the mens Reading and Recreation Rooms, the School Room and the Tailor s Workshop. Most of these names tell their own tale. The Canteen is not only the barrack ale-house, but general store where the soldier buys at cheaper rate that could outside all additions to his daily fare, in the shape of eggs, herrings, bacon, and the like 7 Hulme Barracks ceased to be used by the cavalry in 1895 and were instead used by infantry battalions. In 1914 the site was bought by Manchester Corporation which demolished almost all of the buildings and converted the site to playing fields. The main building which had housed the officers quarters and mess in the later 19 th century was retained in as it was being used as a headquarters of the East Lancashire Territorial Division (Ill ). It was later used as a bowling green centre. 8 In the late 1970s the St George s Community Association successfully campaigned to have the building saved and converted to a community centre (Ill ). 9 It is now a Grade II Listed Building. In addition to this building, parts of the north and east walls of the garden which formerly lay to its rear have survived (Ill , 19 & 20). There is also a surviving section of the original perimeter wall of the barracks, constructed by This wall, of handmade brick in an English garden wall bond of 1:3, is also one of the earliest surviving structures built in Manchester during the Industrial Revolution (Ill & 15). 7 The Sphinx 25 July 1868, 6-7. The canteen at the barracks is listed as a licensed public house in a trade directory of 1808 (Potts 1997, 4). 8 MCL Newspaper Cuttings. Miscellaneous: Defence MCL Hulme & Moss Side Newspaper Cuttings

3 Archaeological Potential and Suitability The area of Barracks Park contains the site of the northern half of Hulme Barracks within which were most of the barracks principal buildings. This area is now grassed with paths and some trees along its periphery and a football pitch within the centre (Ills & 16). Of the two long ranges of stables which flanked the central drill and parade ground, the site of the northern range is now partly covered by a path and trees. The site of the southern range is for much of its length flanked on the west by a hedge but is mostly grassed (Ills & 8). The buildings which lay at the east end of the site, the guardhouse and cells, the canteen, the riding school and the hospital are all crossed by paths and these sites also have some tree cover, but mostly they again comprise grassed areas (Ills ). The site of the original officers quarters building is now occupied by the football pitch. To the west, an annexe to the park includes the site of the gardens which lay to the rear of the building later used for the officers quarters, This area is also grass-covered, with a path along its south and west sides which crosses the site of an outbuilding within the garden (Ills & 18). While the extent of archaeological below-ground remains would need to be confirmed by evaluation, the potential for survival is good. The site is not known to have been built on since demolition of the barracks in 1915 and the northern perimeter wall of the barracks and the northern and eastern boundary walls of the gardens of the later officers quarters still stand in part. Below-ground remains are likely to include wall footings and floor surfaces, and there is the potential for this site to be finds rich, with material from demolition layers from the time of the buildings destruction and levelling layers from the time of the barracks construction. This site would lend itself to a large-scale community excavation which could target several of the barracks buildings to provide comparative material. It could also be supplemented by an educational programme, including such topics as Peterloo, and a research programme, examining, for example, the demographic makeup of the barracks occupants through the census returns. Summary This is a site with a high potential for a large-scale community excavation tied in with an educational programme and research into local social history.

4 Ill : Location of site of Hulme Barracks in Barracks Park based on OS mapping of Scale 1:2500. Reproduced from modern OS mapping by permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of The Controller of Her Majesty s Stationery Office. Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. Licence number

5 Ill : Hulme Barracks on OS 60in to 1 mile mapping surveyed 1849 (Lancashire Manchester sheet 37, published 1851). Scale 1:2500. Ill : Stables at Hulme Barracks during demolition, 1915 (Manchester Central Library).

6 Ill : Hulme Barracks on OS 1:2500 mile mapping surveyed (Lancashire sheet CIV.I0, published 1896). Scale 1:2500. Ill : Hulme Barracks, Officers Quarters, following partial demolition, 1915 (Manchester Central Library).

7 Ill : Hulme Barracks, undated sketch plan (Manchester Central Library MSC ).

8 Ill : Hulme Barracks, site of southern stables, viewed from the south-east. Ill : Hulme Barracks, site of hospital (foreground) and southern stables (rear), viewed from the north-west.

9 Ill : Hulme Barracks, site of hospital (foreground), riding school and canteen (rear), viewed from the south-east. Ill : Hulme Barracks, site of the riding school, viewed from the south-west. Ill : Hulme Barracks, site of the canteen, viewed from the south.

10 Ill : Hulme Barracks, site of the guardhouse and cells, viewed from the south. Ill : Hulme Barracks, site of the northern stables, viewed from the south-west. Ill : Hulme Barracks, surviving length of northern boundary wall, inner face, viewed from the south-east.

11 Ill : Hulme Barracks, surviving length of northern boundary wall, outer face, viewed from the north-west. Ill : Hulme Barracks, site of central drill/parade ground, viewed from the south-east. Ill : Hulme Barracks, former Officers Quarters, viewed from the east.

12 Ill : Hulme Barracks, former gardens to rear of Officers Quarters, viewed from the east. Ill : Hulme Barracks, (left) remains of eastern boundary wall of former Officers Quarters, viewed from the south-west. Ill : Hulme Barracks, surviving section of north wall of garden of the Officers Quarters, viewed from the south-east.