Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Former officers quarters, Maidstone cavalry barracks built in 1797-8 now a pub

Monument Types

• BARRACKS (Post Medieval to Modern - 1792 AD to 1963 AD)
• OFFICERS MESS (Post Medieval to Modern - 1797 AD to 1963 AD)
• OFFICERS QUARTERS (Post Medieval to Modern - 1797 AD to 1963 AD)
• PUBLIC HOUSE (Modern - 2000 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

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Officers quarters and mess at cavalry barracks built c.1797-98 by the Barrack Department.(1)

During the 1792-185 war with France timber-framed barracks were frequently constructed as a fast, short-term measure but the building at Maidstone was one of six barrack built by the Barrack Department considered to be permanent. The White House is the only one of these to have survived.. Officers has small rooms with a fireplace in one corner and a built-in cupboard in the other. They are reported to have been issued wirth bedding, a table, bellows, fire irons and a chamber pot.

Used as the Officers Mess until 1963 when it was replaced by Invicta Barracks. After this the building suffered neglect and vandelism. The building was restored and is now used as a pub The White Rabbit since late 2000.(2)

Additional bibliography. (3)

The following text is from the original listed building designation:
TQ 7556 SE MAIDSTONE SANDLING ROAD
(West side)
883/4/335
Officers' Quarters,
Maidstone, Former Cavalry
02.08.1974 Barracks
II*
Officers' quarters and mess at cavalry barracks; disused, c1797 -98, by the Barrack Department; Localisation depot from 1874, Timber balloon frame clad in weather board with brick ridge stacks and rear extension, and slate hipped roof. PLAN: E-shaped plan in 3 sections with double-depth rooms openig each side off transverse stairs and rear services, EXTERIOR: 2 storeys; 9-Window range. A symmetrical front divided into three sections, the middle one 3 storeys with a pediment, each with central doorways with good decorative iron overlights and panelled doors, and 6/6-pane sashes. Right-hand return has a deep canted bay to the mess room, Service bays run back at either end with a C19 brick extension at the right, and a central rear projection has a hipped roof. INTERIOR: not inspected, but reported to contain heated officers' rooms with shelving and boot racks, and dogleg stairs up from each entrance. HISTORY: formed the centrepiece to the cavalry barracks overlooking the square, flanked by the men's barracks which in 1806 held 450 men. The three sections contained the CO's quarters to the left, rooms for some 11 officers and their servants, with right-hand mess and ante rooms. The Department built the first army barracks in England for large numbers of cavalry , infantry , and militia during the French wars; most were dismantled afterwards. This is the only known example to have survived of a large timber barracks, and is the only cavalry officers' quarters from this highly significant period.
Listing NGR: TQ7580856440 (4)

<1> A G MACLAREN, 1993, Conservation Training to acheive the economic repair of a george III building (Unpublished document). SKE6620.

<2> Oxford Archaeological Unit, 1999, THE WHITE HOUSE, MAIDSTONE HISTORIC BUILDING ASSESSMENT (Unpublished document). SKE7410.

<3> Oxford Archaeological Unit, 2000, The White House, Maidstone, Kent. Historic Building Recording and Archaeological Watching Brief (Unpublished document). SKE7621.

Sources and further reading

Related records