History and description of the site:
The camp at Shorncliffe originated from the key position of the site in relation to the Kent
coastline, which was always vulnerable to invasion from the Continent. During the Napoleonic
Wars the coastline was surveyed and the earlier defences found deficient. Shorncliffe Heights
was purchased in 1794 and the construction of a redoubt was begun, designed to provide a
look-out point and battery to defend the bay below. In subsequent years Martello towers and
other key military sites intended to provide additional security were constructed below the
redoubt and the area remained important for military defence. In the early years of the 19th
century, under renewed French threat, Sir John Moore established a training camp for Light
Infantry at Shorncliffe, providing troops who proved crucial to the success of the British against
Napoleon. At this stage the camp comprised little more than an open field, with temporary
buildings, put in place for seasons of training. Permanent training grounds for the army began to
be established in the 1820s (Newsome et al. 2009). From the 1850s, against the backdrop of
the Crimean War, the need for further permanent training grounds was acknowledged – the
first at Aldershot was laid out in 1858, with Shorncliffe and Colchester laid out soon afterwards.
Shorncliffe and Aldershot were first use to accommodate foreign troops (George and George
2004, 74). After the war the temporary wooden huts were retained, and used to provide
accommodation for the army during training exercises. An 1867 map of Shorncliffe shows the
hutting of the original camp laid out in grid patterns around the central parade ground. These
were split into 5 ranges, lettered from A to E. Around the perimeter road a series of ancillary
complexes are also shown, including a set of ‘permanent barracks’ to the north for the Royal
Artillery which was laid out in a courtyard plan, and more buildings to the west of the site –
including a church, the Royal Engineers Department and a complex labelled ‘Barrack
Establishments’. An 1873 shows a similar complex, although further buildings have been added
including the rackets court. The survival of this building, of stock brick, indicates that by this date
the camp was beginning to receive some buildings in more durable materials, perhaps initially
only for communal buildings or those which had more complex constructional requirements.
By the late 19th century the process of replacing the standard wooden accommodation huts
with blocks in a more durable material began. In 1880 Shorncliffe received the first concrete
barrack huts to be constructed in the country (Schofield 2006, 2). By the late 1880s brick
became the preferred construction material and, in a major programme of investment between
1890 and the turn of the century, most of the wooden huts were replaced by permanent
buildings forming Moore Barracks, Napier Barracks, Somerset Barracks, Ross Barracks and the
Royal Engineers Barracks (later Burgoyne; also incorporating some earlier buildings). These
appear to have followed a standardised design, modified in layout to fit the allocated space, with
the provision of parallel rows of barracks with a large officers’ mess and other ancillary buildings.
Despite this investment, the existing scale of the accommodation must have proved inadequate,
as by the first decade of the 20th century a further complex was added on land to the north of
the existing site. This formed Risborough Barracks, with the initial construction of c1904 of
brick service buildings and wooden huts. To the east an Army Ordnance Depot was laid out in
a series of construction phases from 1899 into the first decade of the 20th century.
Further expansion was undertaken in the First World War with the establishment of further
complexes on St Martin’s Plain, comprising Dibgate and St Martin’s Plain Camps. Schofield
(2006) records these as corrugated iron huts, and gives a date of 1915 for their construction.
Other additions around the time of the war include the service block to the east of Risborough
Barracks (dated 1914).
The temporary camps on the St Martin’s Plain site remained in use after the end of the war. St
Martin’s Plain Camp is shown on the 1938 OS, labelled as the Army School of Education. By
this date Risborough Barracks had also been upgraded, with brick blocks replacing the wooden
huts, a larger officers’ mess and a Regimental Institute. Schofield (2006) gives a date of 1933 for
the replacement of the wooden huts. To the west of Risborough Barracks a large building is
also shown on the 1938 map, this is labelled as a garage on one of the undated plans seen on
site. Further garages or stores were also built to the east on what is now Hillside Industrial
Estates (TR 20130 35923), including a large four aisle building with glass roof lights. Around the
outbreak of the Second World War the perimeter of the site was defended by a ring of
pillboxes, a number of which survive, and St Martin’s Plain was used as the base for anti-aircraft
batteries.
The largest phase of redevelopment after the Second World War was the construction of the
new Moore Barracks in the early 1960s. This included a Roman Catholic Chapel (now listed at
grade II), designed by Zbigneiw Piet of Westwood Piet and Partners in 1966-8 (Harwood 2003,
470; Anon 1969).
History of Napier Barracks
The area around the main parade ground was originally laid out with wooden huts in the mid-
19th century, probably reflecting the arrangement of temporary tents in the early 19th century.
The huts were organised in a series of ranges, labelled A to E, with Napier Barracks covering the
area that was originally D range. By the late 19th century the wooden huts were clearly
inadequate, and following the 1890 Barracks Act, and the availability of funds to build
permanent barrack buildings the wooden huts were systematically replaced. A block plan for the
layout of Napier Barracks survives in the National Archives (WO 78/3078) dated 1901. The
construction of the barracks seems to have taken place slightly earlier than this date however,
with the barrack blocks visible on the OS map of 1898, although some hutting is also shown.
This suggests the complex was in the process of being constructed at around that date, the
block plan perhaps recording the finished layout. When constructed Napier was one of three
almost identical complexes at Shorncliffe, with Moore Barracks and Somerset Barracks utilising
very similar standardised designs. The surviving elements of these other complexes, most
notably the Officers’ Mess of Somerset Barracks, confirm the matching detail of the buildings, as
well as the similar plan form which can be observed from historic maps and plans. There are
however some differences, most notably in the layout of the barrack blocks. The Somerset
barrack blocks, none of which survive, are shown on plan to have been similar in form to those
at Burgoyne of the 1880s, with a central doorway giving access to two rooms (NA WO
78/3553). The block plan for Napier does not show the internal layout designed for the
barracks there, but it is clear from the surviving buildings that they were designed with entrance
doors in the gable ends. This may have been an updating of the earlier plan form, although the
form and detailing of the buildings seems to have been very similar. In particular the surviving
school buildings next to the Somerset Officers’ Mess have identical window lintels, and matching
brick detailing to the eaves courses and corners.
As constructed Napier Barracks was designed to provide accommodation for 1 Commanding
Officer, 4 Field Officers, 16 officers, 2 Quartermasters, 2 Warrant Officers, 16 Sergeants and
768 NCOs and men. It provided sleeping accommodation in blocks containing 2 rooms, each
sleeping 24 men, with drill hall, cookhouse and recreation establishment. It also provided a large
officers’ mess, incorporating, at one end, a house for the Commanding Officer, and a Sergeants’
Mess and canteen.
Description
Napier Barracks is arranged in an L-shape around the northwest corner of Sir John Moore Plain.
To the south is the Officers’ Mess, which now falls within the MoD defined Burgoyne Barracks
area, but is discussed here with its associated barracks buildings, to the northwest are the
barrack blocks, with ancillary structures and to the northeast are the Sergeants’ Mess and
communal buildings including the Drill Hall and Dining Hall.
A) Officers’ Mess (NGR TR 19818 35767) Built circa 1900 to a standard plan. Large brick twostorey
building, designed to incorporate a house for the CO at the southern end.
B) 16 barrack blocks, with ancillary structures (central NGR TR 19374 35832) Built 1897-9.
Single-storey brick blocks with entrances in gable ends in which are stones recording a number
and date of construction. Decorative detailing to the eaves courses and corners. Detail
identical to that on the surviving school building from Somerset Barracks. Surviving ancillary
structures include the stores buildings, similar in form to the barrack blocks.
C) Dining Hall and Bar (NGR TR 19459 35778) Built 1937. Single-storey brick building with
some decorative detailing in tile. Steep pitched roof with former dormer windows.
D) Former Sergeants’ Mess and Canteen (NGR TR 19529 35793) Built c1900. Single-storey
brick building with decorative detailing to eaves course and corners. Modern uPVC windows.
E) Former Quartermasters’ Quarters (NGR TR 19571 35785). Built c1900. Semi-detached
pair of houses, brick two-storey.
F) Offices (NGR TR 19521 35831) Built c1900 as Drill Hall (at western end), Regimental Stores
and Workshops. Long single-storey brick building with some alteration, including creation of
office space and modern uPVC windows.
G) Guardhouse (NGR TR 19491 35863) Built 1900. One and one-and-a-half storey brick
building with veranda (possibly later?) to the western side, original sliding sash windows. No
surviving associated gates.
H) Former stables. (NGR TR 19542 35866) One and half storey brick building with some
original surviving windows. Some modification to allow use as open garaging?
I) (NGR TR 19548 35842) Building not seen on visit. A large brick building with a pitched slate
roof with roof lights on all four sides.
Within the complex there is an empty plot associated with a recently demolished building
(NGR TR 19485 35807) which formed part of the original complex, and was built as a
recreation establishment. (1)

<1> English Heritage, 2012, Napier Barracks, Shorncliffe camp (Unpublished document). SKE56220.