. racks.

Canterbury and  

OR those who relish the
assault of nostalgia in its
m o s t melancholy, gnawing
form. a stroll is recommended
up Military Road, through the
first ‘gap in the towering,
prison-like wall on the left, and
around the august. slabs of red
brick and their tatty, corru-
gated attendants that are
spread among hard open spaces
tona distance of over half a
In e.

These were the barracks, once
so sparkling, bustling and im-
maculate, at their peak the
home of over 1,000 soldiers and
500 horses, magnet of visits
from the great and the gazes
of the multitude source of
trade for the people of Canter-
bury and a conspicuous contri-
butor to the flow of life through
her streets.

By GREGORY BLAXLAND

Now they no longer be-
lon to the Arm y. With
bro en windows —— although
many have been preserved by
the military passion for putting
up bars——with paint flecked,
hedges and trees run wild, and
grass weed sprouting with
dumb insolence round the
edges of the squares, and yet

-with a. certain forlorn and im-

pressive dignity, they undergo
the end that has been hanging
over them so long, despatch by
the demolition men to make

way ‘for the humdrum, un-
romantic, unmilitary new.
The first -entrance. is into

what Was the home of The
Buffs, the Old Infantry Bar-
Once past the. guard-

'as oiiice block, lecture

room- and its so obvious

   

the lay-out is cosy‘,-witl1:~‘thc
buildings facing each er

around the square. On the ast
side are the oiiicers’ mess ‘and
senior married officers’

ters, both fine Georgian tyle
buildings of warm mat rity-and
square solidity, undeser edly
obscured by the growth of
their privet hedge. '

On the south are the en's
barracks, long, less elegenti and
built of harsher brick, wit,-ino
trace remaining of such s uad
names as Morgan, Sidney-and
Churchill, those father-founders
of The Buffs. On the Wes are
the old cookhouse and dning
hall and an austere little lulld-
ing, on which the remnai,t of
the letters M.S.Q. denotes :that
it was occupied by soldiers’
families. On the north, similar
in style to the men's barx,acks,
are the office block, and
sergeants’ mess.

l

The Buffs established ‘their
depot here in 1873, unde '
Cardwell reforms in 1872, M
stabilised regimental depos It
appears that most of the 'uild-
ings were already there, f. r we
learn:
gentlemen genera
scribed money in 17 ,
the stimulus of war,
construction of ,bari-ack .»

l
I
v.

 
  
   

2,000 privates adjacent t the
existing cavalry ones..
The Buffs reckoned 400 , ,s the

capacity of their barrack
no doubt they packed th
tighter of yore and the,!.ie_ .
have been no need _,'-to /have
wasted space on such-_1u uries

  

and sergeants’ mess. 3,

Incidentally. The .13’urfs.?
visit to Canterbury was

  

from I-lasted that, two-

Air-my leer.”

one in ‘,the winter of 1702 im-
mediately on their , return ‘from
plunderingcadiz and Vigo as
an opening venture in the War
of the Spanish Succession. Prob-
ably they were billeted on the-
oi-tizens and. the imagination
soars at. the thought of these
lusty heroes rushing from
scenes of domestic‘ conquest to
fall in. with their cumbersome
muskets and their newly-
invented bayonets as the streets
throbbed with beat ot"drum_

Irish Buffs

- The Buffs made other visits
in 1736-37 and, also on return
from war, in 1748, but were
away in the West Indies, re-
cruited mainly with Irishman,
when the regiment was ordered
to "take the county name of
Third or East Kent," appar-

ently for the haphazard reason

that the Colonel, Major-General
V/Villiam Style,‘ lived in Kent.-

'l“his was part of a scheme
introduced in 1782, and as re-
gards the “gentlemen and con-
siderable inhabitants" of East
Kent, Style was instructed that
“nothing can so much tend to
consiliate their affections as an
orderly and polite behaviour to-
wards them."

The Buffs were denied the
chance to prove this until their

depot came permanently to
Canterbury in 1873, and, of
course, it was much easier for

recruits and their instructors to
“conciliate affections” than
hardened warriors returned
from a campaign.

An advance in this direction
may have been made in 1881.

w h e n C'anterbury’s citizen
soldiers of the East Kent
Militia became part of The

r§_ui‘fs. The Militia, of course,
ad a history older even than
that of The Buffs, though the
East Kent dated only from
1759, when the Kent Militia was
divided. ‘

To South Africa.

Normally embodied for a
month's training each year, The
3rd Buffs (as they became) had
their moment of glory in -the
South African War, their return
from which was the cause of
great celebration in Canterbury.

Alas for the Militia, in 1908

they were turned into the
Special Reserve, which spelt
their eventual doom, and the

two Volunteer battalions (clat-
 W u.......‘ -um-.n\ -lumw-. fiullw oh.

1

Then, at the end, we come to
that former military showpiece
of Canterbury, the Old Cavalry
Barracks, later re-n amed
Wemyss. The lay-out is linear,
with four bloi_l:.;*. of varying
antiquity coverfnfg a frontage
of at least 300 g,'.;:'ds, and what
a splendid sight they must have
made from the Sturry Road be-
fore their western foreground
was besmirched by huts and
sheds and the eastern one by
the more salubrious Belishzv
style buildings that now contain
the staff of former Territorials,
atavisticly styled Volunteers.

In the centre, with pillarecl
porch. is that mellow paragon
of Georgian symmetry and
solidarity, the officers’ mess. It
is adorned with the most flam-
boyant coat of arms that can
ever have been designed; the
lion is chocolate with great roll-
ing eye, the unicorn white and
gold, and both loll nonchalantly
beneath various standards and
the royal arms‘ themselves.
which are topped by a. visor
and plumed crown.

Granville Baker, in his “Old
Cavalry Stations," gives 1794 as
the year in which these bar-
racks were built and occupied
by the Romney‘ Light Dragoons.
Possibly the mess may have
been built earlier, but the block
beside it, known as the West
Wing, was presumably built in
this year. It is in the verandah
style, with a long, flowing line
marking the floor between the
stable stalls down below and
the troopers‘ quarters above,
and one can almost hear the
stamp of hoof and jingle of bit.
On the other, eastern, side of
the mess are two Victorian
blocks bearing the date 1892
and titles Waterloo and Bala-
clava. They are taller than the
other block, rather more pom-
pous but nonetheless imposing.

Cromwell's Ironsides

Cromwell had brought
Ironsides to Canterbury and,
they are believed to have had
requisitioned quarters ,
Artillery Street is today. 1_Sub-
sequently, ihe 3rd King's Hus-

sars came in 1698. finding billets ,

and stables over a. wide area,
and cavalry became a perma-
nent part of the population.

A book of rhyming profiles,
called “Ball Room Votarles,"
written in 1810 by a certain
Hunter oi‘, the Queen's Bays.
throws vivid light on the social
nuH».~.a- nrnmmi. \r i-hi:i.1_-up-impnt‘

his ‘

  

where .

5
v

andiwthey caused a great stir,-‘
for ‘not only was the present
Du,e of Gloucester —- "M .,
Prince-I-Ienry-Sir” in sergeani;
major par-lance——among their
oflivéers, but they had 8. band 0;
g're't magnificence. Thlety werei,
followed by the 6th ragoon.
Guards (Carahiniers) who afiter
amalgamating with the 3rd left ~

Canterbury for Colchester -in \-

1926, never to be replaced. It
was" the end of a
lustrous association
Since then the Royal Corps of
Signals would appear to have
hciin longest in n‘:c'upo.tio_n of I
the, cavalry barracks, and it’
was after their Colonel C'om-
maindant, Sir Henry V'ifemyss,;
that the barracks were re-;
nained in 1948. ‘

But now Miliinrv Road is:
military no lom._>.'oi' imcl the only‘
Army property l(.1‘t are such‘
adjuncts as lip Garrison,
Church, a solid. clean and pleas-. 1
ing emblem oi’ Vlcmriama, the}

l
i

very much less pl(‘..‘..».‘i.n;Z§ rows of
married quarters known as the
80‘ M.S'.Q., the old gymnasium
better known as the Cavalry

Tlieatre, and such lesser monu- \

merits as the windowless Militia
Barrack, which is said to have
been built on the personal
order of Queen Victoria to
house officers in convalescence
from the Crimea. ’

Canterbury still has ‘her
soldiers, but they no longer
proudly display themselves on
pay night in their scarlet, blue
orr razor-creased kha~kl,"a‘.nd the
city surely is the duller for it.
Whether or not they‘ have en-
d ared themselves to the in-,
11 bitants, I can vouch for the '
1' ct that they have themselves
asliways regarded -this as a most
desirable station, the more so
for its comparative isolation in
military tor s. And many.
b ought to Ianterbury by the
1 ttery of military service, have
s' ce made’ it their home. I
s eak as .,one myself. ’

_,,, ,,__.-.,_,, __,_ ,/ .

. .\ ‘V:

l
long and I


. ,_ peciai

  

4' s-ah

' it!-was

on speu;
and» the-
 dat-

rceserve, ‘wni
’ Ve\.17e.M.113~l,C100iYl. .

     
   

    
    

_ .é, , w
_ rand
'talions.

, These enthusiasts had in
their early days been great
‘figures of fun in their rifle
~green uniform, and even if
they could not match the hilar-
ity raised by the band of the
Royal‘ East Kent Yeomanry
;when their borrowed horses dis-
persed them, at first beat of
drum, to all parts of the city,
they, nonetheless, had to endure
‘such indignities as being pelted
by urchins on drill parade.

, Proud of their status and con-
.scious of the contempt of most
xreg‘ulars,.many opted out rather
':th'a_n be dressed as Buffs. But
with the aid ‘of two world wars
the, relationshi between full-
.time and c viiian soldiers
showedflgteat improvement, and

ting that in 1948 Can-
terbury should confer her high-
est honour on her adopted regi-
ment, the -Freedom of the City.

Swallowed up

The Buffs had by now moved
into their fine new barracks on
St. Martii‘1fs'Hill, since named
-Howej‘ after a revered depot
commander, now alas dead/and
more ‘recently selected as the
home of the re iment that has
swallowed up e Buffs (and
five tothers), The Queen's Regi-
men . ‘

The‘ Old Infantry Barracks,
evacuated by The Buffs in,19-17,
had, meanwhile, been filled by
a unit of‘the Royal Army Pay
Corps.~ This corps also has long
association V» with Canterbury
and-is now resident in a block
-within Chaucer Barracks, The
‘main building h_ere,.mature and
;imposing, was built as a mili-
tary hospital and bears the date
1810, but has.since .‘ become a
white elephant and, sadly,
seems likely to share the fate
of those on "the other side of
Military Road.

‘Journeying on‘ eastwa-rds
from the Old Infantry Barracks
one comes to a,jumb'Ie ofhuts
and undistinguished-brick build-
'lngs known as the Old RE’.
Lines. Originally, and for many
years, there were horsed gun-
ners here, in support of the
cavalry. On. their departure in
the late Twenties adetachment
of Foot» Guards came for a

.5.“

5th Territoria Ba t-

while. and T they were followed-

in ,1,93D_f-by,5i2 Field Cognpany, ‘of
the 4th Divisional Royal Engin-
1._e,ers,. who -remained until going

, to‘ we‘;-Min 19,89. "These barracks‘

‘suffered 5'-badly ‘fro-m bombing
‘gahql « have ;si?n,ce' served , merely
“ gari A-overflow.   _ .
 - ' '» ‘— ...‘k;- -.

  
  

I
‘,1 w: «

. .‘ }‘fi¢a‘.,'.
'?"ie ‘gnaw

w.ritl_'.e,n ~i-n . 1810 by - a certain
  -

‘b,ws'y  . ’ on: also 
 — 3:." ~ -uni.”-~ 7”

. — ‘fl  *i' ‘”-<.*  _
with hg ball‘: they]orgai?i;¥se a ‘E
the assembly rooms, -Then in.
March, 1815, came the great;
departure and the cavalry par-.
aded outside Chaucer Barracks!
(according to a 'painting) to]
ride away to‘ join the army Wei-1
lington was fast assembling in!
Belgium. If the "Bays went, they
missed the Battle of Wate_rloo.

For‘ a period, astride the
arrival of our present century,‘
the Cavalry Depot was estab-l
lished at Cjantei-bury in place of)
a regiment, and at one time it‘
was under command of Colonel]
French,» who was to becomek

 
 
   

Viscount French of Ypres.
Along the north side of Military
Road, where now there are‘
flats, the recruits first sat on

wooden horses in one shed and

then progressed through the

tribulation of the covered rid-

ing school next door to the far

spread outdoor jumping man-

eges; where many a loose-

horse bucked and farted while

the sergeant roared at e pros»,-
trate trooper. “Who told‘ you to

dismount?" - r

I

Array of ‘coioui-' ‘

In the evenings (in any case
on Fridays) there would be a,
glorious array of colour as the,-'
troopers stepped out in their;
pill-box hats, their burnishers
shining on their« shoulders, and
their double-breasted coats of
blue with fronts of many differ-
ent colours, yellow, white, grey,
cherry, scarlet, according _ to-,
regiment.’ to mingle with buff-’
faced redcoats and gold-em-V
broidered gunners.

There was many a scuffle——
woe_ beticle the Buff who sought
to enter the Royal Dragoon-
and it was not unknown for a-
trooper to be wheeled home on.'
the large rowelled spurs, '
mashed to make them jingle,’
that he wore with his overalls:

Sometime in the 1900s the?
Cavalry Depot went elsewhere‘
and Canterbury became the
station for the regiment next‘
on the rota for service in India..5
There were wild scenes, 3. con!
respondent has recalled, when
the time came for embarkatiori
and the “swadis” ‘(or -‘~‘swad~‘
dies,"- as pronounced) had their]
last fling round the town, Wisei
tradesiglilen pfitld thieir sléiuttekilisl
up;oers a see ote,
barracks tnext day, giemandingj
compensa ion. ‘ .

' The 10th Royal I-Iussars came)
to Canterbury on the.r'eturn‘ to?
peacetime soldiering‘ in,’ 1919,!‘