Jellalabad Barracks, Taunton

Jellalabad Barracks was a military installation in Taunton.

For Jellalabad Barracks at Tidworth, see Tidworth Camp.
Jellalabad Barracks
Taunton
Jellalabad Barracks at Taunton with the Vivary Park Queen Victoria Memorial Fountain of 1907 in the foreground
Jellalabad Barracks
Location within Somerset
Coordinates51.01123°N 3.10132°W / 51.01123; -3.10132
TypeBarracks
Site information
OwnerMinistry of Defence
Operator British Army
Site history
Built1879–1881
Built forWar Office
In use1881-1999
Garrison information
OccupantsSomerset Light Infantry

History

The barracks were built in the Fortress Gothic Revival Style and were completed between 1879 and 1881.[1] Their creation took place as part of the Cardwell Reforms which encouraged the localisation of British military forces.[2] The barracks became the depot for the two battalions of the 13th (1st Somerset) Regiment of Foot.[3] The barracks were named after the Battle of Jellalabad in which the regiment had taken part.[1] Following the Childers Reforms, the regiment evolved to become the Somerset Light Infantry with its depot in the barracks in 1881.[3]

Many recruits enlisted at the barracks at the start of the First World War.[4] The regiment remained at the barracks until it amalgamated with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry to form the Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry in 1959. After the Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry moved out, the barracks were taken over by the Royal Army Pay Corps (RAPC) and became the Regimental Pay Office, Taunton.[5] The barracks were sold for residential development in the early 1990s.[6] Although many of the buildings were demolished in 1999,[7] the keep still survives and is now a Grade II listed building.[8]

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References
  1. "The Keep, Jellalabad Barracks, Mount Street, Taunton". Somerset County Council. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  2. "Echoes of the past in these Army cuts". 8 July 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  3. "Training Depots". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 10 February 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2016.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  4. "Jellalabad Barracks, Somerset: Dad's Army Star's Wartime Experiences". BBC. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  5. "Jellalabad Court". 27 May 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  6. "Bases (Sales)". Hansard. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  7. "Watching brief and photographic recording (1998-1999), Jellalabad Barracks, The Mount, Taunton". Somerset County Council. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  8. Historic England. "The Keep, Jellallabad Barracks (1051986)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
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