Summary
Building 55, (former Officers' Mess, 1915); architect Major Bertie Harold Oliver Armstrong RE (1873-1950), renovated and extended in about 1924.
Reasons for Designation
Building 55, (former Officers' Mess), Horne Road, Catterick Garrison, 1915, renovated and extended in about 1924, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* the only surviving example at Catterick of one of the First World War officers' messes, originally a temporary structure but refurbished in the 1920s to improve its habitability and permanence. It retains most of its external appearance and its internal plan form;
* an unusual example of the 'Armstrong Hut' type designed by Major Bertie H O Armstrong RE, in using a steel frame and concrete wall construction, rather than the more usual timber frame, clad in galvanized corrugated steel sheeting.
Historic interest:
* it represents the expansion of the British Army in the First World War and the development of military camps to accommodate and train large numbers of soldiers;
* the 1920s refurbishment and recladding of the building marks the first post-First World War steps to improve the habitability and living conditions of soldiers, which became manifest in the new mess designs built at Catterick during the 1920s and 1930s.
Group value:
* it has strong group value with other listed buildings at Catterick Garrison.
History
The idea for a military training camp to the south of Richmond, North Yorkshire is believed to have been initially considered by Lord Baden-Powell between 1908 and 1910. Eventually, an area of farmland, what is now Catterick Garrison was identified for a large, temporary army training camp in late 1914, with the aid of the Master of the Fox Hounds of the Bedale Hunt. Construction had started on the camp by March 1915 under the supervision of Colonel Simeon Hardy Exham (1850-1927), a retired Royal Engineer. Catterick Camp, as it was known, was initially laid out using the pre-existing road system, with Moor Lane (later Horne Road) and Scotton Road running roughly north-west to south-east, and Catterick and Hipswell Roads running roughly west to east. The camp was divided into two divisions either side of Catterick Road, with Hipswell Division to the north and Scotton Division to the south. Designed to accommodate two Army Divisions (40,000 troops), the first arrived in October 1915, with the initial phase of construction continuing well into 1916.
Around 2000 Armstrong huts designed by Major Bertie Harold Oliver Armstrong RE (1873-1950) and his assistant John D Michel RE, were built for the camp. The usual construction method adopted for an Armstrong hut used a simple timber frame, clad in galvanised corrugated steel sheeting. However, unlike many other hutments constructed during the First World War, the huts at Catterick were constructed in concrete, using one of two non-standard types of construction: pre-cast concrete blocks or cement plastered panels, reinforced with expanded metal lathing. The choice may have been due to the consideration of retaining the camp post-war, or may simply be down to shortages of materials, particularly zinc, which was required for the galvanising process; the supply of which was largely controlled by Germany. The first troops to occupy the new camp in October 1915 were the soldiers of the 101st Infantry Brigade, and more units arrived as additional huts were completed.
Building 55, an officers' mess was built in1915 by Henry Boot and Sons of Sheffield, using either concrete blocks or panel walls set between rolled-steel posts that were raised off the ground on concrete pads and supported the ends of steel roof trusses. Altogether, 39 Officers' Messes were built to the same design across Catterick Camp, each with a central H-plan, comprising a pair of parallel single-storey Armstrong huts, linked by a corridor and central latrine block, and flanked to each side by detached single officer quarters. Historic England Advice Report 17 April 2024 Page 8 of 19 The example on Horne Road originally acted as the Officers' Mess of the Divisional Ammunition Column (DAC), which was associated with Nos 1, 2, and 3 Royal Field Artillery (RFA).
In December 1922, a decision was taken by the Army Council to retain Catterick Camp and to renovate the huts to accommodate a Signals Training Centre, a Tank Battalion, eight Infantry Battalions, eight Artillery Battalions and the appropriate Royal Engineer units, and to provide a Divisional Training Area. Funding was released from 1923 and work commenced in 1924, undertaken by Messrs Laing and Sons of Sheffield, entailing the construction of new buildings, an extensive programme of refurbishment for the First World War huts and the improvement of ablution facilities. The mess adjacent to Horne Road was one of ten that were retained, renovated and extended. The principle range was clad in brick to improve its insulation and water-proofing characteristics, new brick fireplaces were inserted, and the provision of more space was provided by two projecting wing extensions that formed a mess room and a billiards room. The service range was also extended to the rear to include more storage and domestic facilities. In addition to these improvements, the two single officers' quarters were supplemented in about 1925-1926 with a new two-storey officers' quarters immediately to the rear of the mess building which, by that time, had been allocated as the officers' mess for Arras Lines. Facilities for the officers were further improved sometime between 1927 and 1932, by the provision of a squash racket court, about 57m to the east.
From the mid-1930s, the build-up to the Second World War saw an extensive new building campaign that resulted in the replacement of most of the First World War structures; however, several survived the initial demolition scheme, including the Horne Road mess. During the Second World War some additional buildings were built and, since then, new building and extensions to existing buildings have taken place, leaving the former Horne Road mess as the sole surviving example of a First World War officers' mess that was refurbished during the 1920s at Catterick Garrison, and it is one of the last survivors of the original 1915 construction of the army camp. The modernisation of barrack accommodation has continued into the C21, with some of the 1930s barrack buildings that replaced the First World War huts being demolished during the first two decades of the C21 and replaced by modern barrack blocks with 'single-occupancy' rooms, as a part of the Single Living Accommodation Modernisation (SLAM) project completed in 2018. Today (2024) the First World War former Horne Road mess remains in use as a Welfare Office and by the British Forces Broadcasting Services.
Details
Building 55, (former Officers' Mess), 1915, architect Major Bertie Harold Oliver Armstrong RE (1873-1950), renovated and extended in about 1924.
MATERIALS: steel girder frame, concrete walls clad in orange/brown bricks laid in Stretcher bond, painted galvanised steel windows, asphalt and felted gable roofs and brick chimneystacks.
PLAN: H-plan, single-storey structure, comprising a pair of parallel nine-bay Armstrong huts, linked by an off-set corridor. The main range has two projecting end wings, and small storerooms added in about 1924 to the rear. Two small modern brick-built store extensions* and two timber verandahs* to the rear are not of special interest and are excluded from the listing.
EXTERIOR:
MAIN RANGE: the main (north-east) elevation comprises a central five-bay range with a canted entrance porch that occupies the left-hand bay. It is lit by four narrow three-light casements and is approached by a modern timber access ramp* (the access ramp is not of special interest). Each bay has a low-set ventilation brick and the junction of each is marked by a square concrete pad that projects out from the wall surface, forming the base supporting the wall posts of the building's steel frame. Each bay is lit by a 20-light painted galvanised steel window set in a timber frame, with a moulded brick sill and a concrete lintel. The two projecting gabled wings are lit by a pair of similar casements; the eastern wing has a four-bay side elevation, lit by four windows, and the western wing is blind with a modern fire escape door* beneath a brick lintel at its northern end. The rear elevation has two closely set 20-light windows and a door in the southern gable, flanked to the right by three similar windows; the right-hand window is close against the west wall of the connecting corridor link, which is pierced by two modern galvanised and two narrow water closet windows. The east wall of the corridor link has two modern frosted three-light galvanised windows, and the gable of the east wing is lit by two 20-light casements.
REAR RANGE (FORMER SERVICE RANGE): the northern elevation of the rear range has a similar appearance to the main range. It faces north-east into an open courtyard with a raised timber decking platform* with timber hand rails* (the platform and handrails are not of special interest) on the western side of the corridor link. A doorway with a concrete lintel is situated at its western end and is flanked to the left by five casement windows, and two to the east of the corridor link. The west gable has a pair of water closet windows and the east gable has two windows with modern casements. The rear (south-west) elevation has two former single-storey service ranges that project out from it. The eastern service range formerly functioned as the kitchen, storeroom, and pantry, and it has an attached lean-to boiler room to the rear. The boiler room is entered by an external door from the courtyard, and it has a blocked coaling hatch in its rear wall. The western service range has an L-plan and was formerly occupied by the beer and wine storerooms, with an attached coal store. The rear of the west service range and coal store have patched brickwork; attached to the coal store are two small modern store extensions*, which are not of special interest.
The central three-bay length of the rear wall of the rear range faces into a courtyard formed between the two service ranges, which is protected by a modern timber-framed verandah* clad in corrugated plastic sheeting. The western end of the rear wall of the rear range has a three-bay elevation with a central doorway beneath a narrow rectangular fanlight, which has a sixteen-light casement window to either side resting on concrete sills, protected by another modern timber-framed verandah*, clad with corrugated plastic sheeting. The jamb of the right-hand window has some patched brickwork. All roof surfaces are clad in roof felt and are drained by a mixture of cast-iron and plastic rainwater goods. Five brick chimneystacks with terracotta pots rise from the roof of the main range and two from the rear range, along with a cement flue from the boiler room.
INTERIOR: internally there are surviving chimneybreasts in several rooms. Modern suspended ceilings* have been inserted in some rooms and there are modern fire doors* (the suspended ceilings and fire doors are not of special interest). The entrance porch leads into a hallway that spans the width of the main range; the interior has moulded concrete skirting and plain painted walls, and the soffit of the roof is clad in fibre board. There is an exposed steel roof truss against the west wall. A doorway in the hallway's east wall leads into the former mess room within the east wing, latterly occupied by the British Forces Broadcasting Services; 1920s brick fireplaces and a chimneybreast have been removed from this space, and a modern soundproofed partition and integral desk* inserted. A door in the west wall of the hallway leads into an axial corridor that spans the length of the rear of the main range. An open doorway at the southern end of the hallway gives access to the link corridor, which has toilets on one side and a small kitchen on the other. The axial corridor has a pair of doors in the north wall, one that gives access to the former ante room and the other to a former card room. The western end of the corridor turns 90 degrees to the north and gives access to an office and the former billiard room in the west wing.
The link corridor leads into the rear range via a large family welfare room, which was originally sub-divided into a central axial corridor flanked by a bar, a wash-up and a pantry, with a rear door leading to the rear courtyard. The windows in the north wall are barred, the roof is underdrawn, and the tie-beams are encased. A modern double door in the west wall leads into a smaller welfare room which is aligned across the axis of the building, and was formerly occupied by the waiters' day room, plate store, and the beer store. An exposed rolled-steel I-beam wall post, bearing the maker's mark of Dorman Long, stands within this room. A doorway in the west wall of the welfare room leads into the former mess servant’s accommodation area, which has been converted into offices. The eastern room of the rear range, formerly the kitchen and the associated stores and pantry, are accessed externally from the rear courtyard, together with the boiler room attached to the rear of the storerooms.
* Pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas ) Act 1990 ('the Act') it is declared that the aforementioned features are not of special architectural or historic interest, however any works which have the potential to affect the character of the listed building as a building of special architectural or interest may still require Listed Building Consent and this is a matter for the Local Planning Authority to determine.
