Brock Barracks

Brock Barracks is a British Army barracks in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. Located on Oxford Road in the district of West Reading. The majority of the buildings and structures within Brock Barracks are Grade II listed.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

Brock Barracks
Reading, England
Brock Barracks Keep
Brock Barracks
Location within Reading
Coordinates51°27′29″N 01°00′12″W
TypeHeadquarters building
Site information
OwnerMinistry of Defence
Operator British Army
Site history
Built1881
In use1881–present
Garrison information
Garrison7th Battalion The Rifles

History

The barracks, which were named after Major-General Sir Isaac Brock,[8] were built in the Fortress Gothic Revival Style and completed in 1881.[9] Their creation took place as part of the Cardwell Reforms which encouraged the localisation of British military forces.[10] The barracks became the depot for the 49th (Hertfordshire) Regiment of Foot and the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot.[11] Following the Childers Reforms, the 49th and 66th regiments amalgamated to form the Royal Berkshire Regiment with its depot in the barracks later that year.[11]

During the Second World War the 401st Glider Infantry Regiment of 101st Airborne of the United States Army were based at the barracks in preparation for the Normandy landings.[12] The barracks ceased to be the home of the Royal Berkshire Regiment when that regiment merged with the Wiltshire Regiment to form the Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment at Albany Barracks on the Isle of Wight in 1959.[13] The Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment retained their administrative headquarters at Brock Barracks until they moved to Cathedral Close in Salisbury in 1982.[14]

The barracks continued in use as a Territorial Army base with D Company (Berkshire), Wessex Volunteers using the base from 1967: this unit evolved as D Company, the Wessex Regiment in 1972,[15] the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Company, the Royal Rifle Volunteers in 1999[15] and HQ Company, 7th Battalion The Rifles in 2007.[16]

The Keep

On 12 May 1980 the Secretary of State for Defence sold the Keep, the Gatehouse and the original Gateway to Brock Barracks to Reading Borough Council. Since then Brock Keep has provided artists studios and exhibition space, and is currently occupied by OpenHand OpenSpace.[17]

References
  1. Historic England, "Former Married Quarters, Brock Barracks (1375594)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 4 February 2018
  2. Historic England, "Former Sergeants Quarters, Brock Barracks (1375595)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 4 February 2018
  3. Historic England, "Officers Quarters and Mess, Brock Barracks (1375596)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 4 February 2018
  4. Historic England, "Former Hospital, Brock Barracks (1375593)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 4 February 2018
  5. Historic England, "Tofrek Barrack, Brock Barracks (1375597)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 4 February 2018
  6. Historic England, "Anson Barrack, Brock Barracks (1375592)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 4 February 2018
  7. Historic England, "Keep and Attached Walls and Gateway, Brock Barracks (1156392)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 4 February 2018
  8. "Brock Barracks". Notes and Queries. 170: 1011. 1936.
  9. Phillips, Daphne (1980). The Story of Reading. Countryside Books. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-905392-07-3.
  10. "Echoes of the past in these Army cuts". 8 July 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  11. "Training Depots". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 10 February 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2016.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  12. "Revealing Reading'sWartime History: Part 3". Reading Museum. p. 17. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  13. "Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment". British Army units 1945 on. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  14. "Museum history". The Wardrobe. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  15. "Royal Berkshire Regiment". British Army units 1945 on. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  16. "Brock Barracks Reading". 2nd Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  17. "OpenHand OpenSpace". Retrieved 14 November 2019.

Media related to Brock Barracks at Wikimedia Commons


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