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Bank of England
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Famous Fraud Cases
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Dockers in 1900 London
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The Custom House
The Tower of London
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Gastronomic London - 1900
Railways & Tramways
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Publishers in 1900 London
Art in London, 1900
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Fashionable Clubs in 1900 London
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London Barracks in 1900
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Enjoy this London Barracks in 1900 chapter from "Imperial London", a unique view of London and its inhabitants, first published in 1901, by Arthur H. Beavan...

London Barracks in 1900

Wellington and Blucher at the Battle of Waterloo - Allposters.com

Wellington and Blucher at the Battle of Waterloo - Allposters.com

Barracks.

Not exactly fashionable London, but connected with it.

Compared with Paris, Berlin, Vienna, or any other continental capital, barrack accommodation in London, considering its size and the contemplated increase of its permanent garrison, is ridiculously inadequate.

They are easily enumerated.

In the Chelsea-bridge road, over-looking the Royal Hospital grounds, are the Chelsea barracks, a long and monotonous brick structure, broken only by towers in the centre, and faced by a formidable, and apparently unscalable iron railing.

These barracks are chiefly intended for the Foot-guards; and the fine parade-ground at the back witnessed many stirring scenes at the outbreak of the South African War, notably, when King Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, paid a surprise visit there to see the men before they left for the front, and later, when the Duke of Connaught formally inspected them, bringing with him a farewell message from Queen Victoria.

Facing St. James' Park in the Bird-cage Walk, are the well-known Wellington barracks, first occupied by troops in 1814, the military chapel at the end of the spacious parade-ground, noted for its impressive musical services, being opened in 1813.

These barracks, like those at Chelsea, are intended for the Guards Brigade, which practically, so far as infantry is concerned, furnishes the London garrison, and which by seniority took the premier place in the Army Corps whereof it formed a portion in South Africa.

Knightsbridge barracks, for the Household Cavalry, the newest, and externally the most attractive-looking in London, replace some painfully plain brick buildings that for many years were an eyesore to the fashionable Kensington Gore, close by.

The present buildings were erected in 1879-80, and are supposed to be the best of their kind in Europe.

Attached is a fine riding-school; and a handsome wing is devoted to the officers' quarters, whose mess-room, etc., is on the north side, with an imposing frontage to the Park drive.

In the very centre of the main building is an oblong parade-ground, round which, over the stables, are apartments for the troops.

Hidden away off Church Street, Kensington, are two small and very old-fashioned barracks - one for cavalry, the other for infantry.

At the back of the National Gallery in Orange Street is the St. George's Recruiting Department, whither are ultimately led with solicitude begotten of the bounty received for them, the recruits picked up by the indefatigable recruiting-sergeant so constantly seen round about the National Portrait Gallery and Trafalgar Square.

In Ordnance Road, not far from the Eyre Arms in St. John's Wood, are some small barracks.

Nearly at the top of the interminable Albany Street, are the Regent's Park barracks for the Household Cavalry, who periodically exchange quarters with the mounted troops at Knightsbridge.

There is a spacious parade-ground, but the buildings are a type of what the Government thought good enough for the troops in the reign of George IV, the rooms low with bare walls, no, paper, no curtains, carpets, or chairs, badly lighted, and with inadequate dining accommodation - in fact "exactly like a barrack."

The officers' rooms, as in other London barracks, are privately supplemented in the way of comforts, the articles supplied to officers' quarters being restricted to "two chairs, one table, one poker, one shovel, and one pair of tongs." (Officially stated in the House of Commons, 1901.)

The Waterloo barracks for infantry are extensive stone-built erections on one side of the Parade in the Tower of London, with very comfortable quarters for officers, whose mess is famous for its excellence.

Lastly, in Dalston, at Shrubland Road, N.E., near the London Fields, are the Tower Hamlets barracks.

Except on very special occasions, such as a Jubilee, a Royal funeral, or a "Welcome Home" from war, military spectacles in London are few and far between.

There is, however, one such, though on a small scale, that is religiously observed every year - the Trooping of the Colour on the Horse Guards' Parade, followed by the Massing of the Bands at St. James' Palace.

They are attractive sights, and are the culmination of fashionable militarism in London.

It is uncertain when the Trooping of the Colour in honour of the Sovereign's birthday began, but it probably originated with George I, who delighted in watching his grandson, the Duke of Cumberland, drill a regiment of boys on the Horse Guards' Parade-ground, a locality associated with martial displays ever since the Restoration of 1660.

The Colour is "trooped" with many stately and time-honoured details, too numerous to mention here, and after a march past the Royal spectators, the line of troops is re-formed, a Royal salute is given, and the "trooping" closes; when the united bands of music march off to Friary Court, St. James' Palace, and there discourse sweet sounds for some time until the guns in the Park boom forth a Royal salute, and "God save the King" winds up the pleasant function.

There is also an annual and very interesting Trooping of the Colour, usually in June, on the ground of the Hon. Artillery Company at Finsbury.

Next:

Metropolitan Theatres - Variety Theatres - Concert Rooms - Exhibitions: Theatrical London in 1900


An actor who knows his business ought to be able to make the London telephone directory sound enthralling...
Donald Sinden

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