Greater London, Westminster, Hyde Park Cavalry Barracks,officers' Mess (Block H)
Barracks (20th Century), Mess (20th Century)
Site Name Greater London, Westminster, Hyde Park Cavalry Barracks,officers' Mess (Block H)
Classification Barracks (20th Century), Mess (20th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Knightsbridge Barracks; Hyde Park Barracks
Canmore ID 286802
Site Number TQ27NE 12.08
NGR TQ 2725 7970
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/286802
- Council Not Applicable
- Parish Westminster
- Former Region Greater London
- Former District Westminster
- Former County Greater London
Building Notes
The officers' mess block (Block H) is situated at the narrowest end of the site and is the smallest building on the complex. Originally the Officers Mess was planned for the top of the tower but this could not have accommodated the annual tradition of riding a horse into it and so it was subsequently placed on the first floor. It is made up of a dining room and anteroom.
The practice employed a number of techniques within the block to create a sense of space. For example, the rooms are double height and a picture gallery links the spaces at the upper level. The picture gallery could also be used as a minstrel gallery during special events.
The anteroom has large, panoramic windows, which provide expansive views across Hyde Park. There is also a coat of arms, believed to have survived from the very first barracks, installed above the fireplace.
Private bedrooms are provided for two field officers and nine junior officers on the upper floors of the Block. A wardrobe room is accommodated in the basement level.
Archive Details
The Sir Basil Spence Archive holds some interesting details for this block showing Spence's designs for door handles and plinths, which were to hold busts salvaged from the old barracks.
Correspondence in the Archive shows that Spence considered this to be the most prestigious block on the site and he made a special request to design furniture for the building, rather than use the regulation army furniture specified for the other blocks.
Archive Summary
The Sir Basil Spence Archive holds 598 drawings specifically on the Officers Mess Block. The building is also shown on a number of drawings for the whole scheme. The Archive holds 182 manuscript folders and 809 photographs relating to Hyde Park Calvary Barracks. The photographs include a series of construction photographs, taken month-by-month, of the whole site.
This text was written as one of the outputs of the Sir Basil Spence Archive Project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, 2005-08.
