Howe Barracks was a military installation in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

History

Permanent barracks were first established in Canterbury when William Baldock initiated construction of "St Gregory’s Barracks", an infantry barracks on Sturry Road, as part of the British response to the threat of the French Revolution, in 1793. Sir Edward Hales completed construction of the cavalry barracks slightly further up Sturry Road in 1795 and artillery barracks were built on land between these sites around the same time. In 1873 a system of recruiting areas based on counties was instituted under the

Cardwell Reforms The Cardwell Reforms were a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell between 1868 and 1874 with the support of Liberal prime minister William Ewart Gladstone. Gladstone paid little attentio ...

and the barracks became the

depot Depot may refer to: Places * Depot, Poland, a village * Depot Glacier (disambiguation) * Depot Island (disambiguation) * Depot Nunatak * Depot Peak Brands and enterprises * Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in Chicago, United States * Of ...

for the two battalions of the

3rd (East Kent) Regiment of Foot The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), formerly the 3rd Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army traditionally raised in the English county of Kent and garrisoned at Canterbury. It had a history dating back to 1572 and ...

. Following the

Childers Reforms The Childers Reforms of 1881 reorganised the infantry regiments of the British Army. The reforms were done by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers during 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell Reforms. The reorganisation w ...

, the regiment evolved to become the

Buffs (East Kent Regiment) The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), formerly the 3rd Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army traditionally raised in the English county of Kent and garrisoned at Canterbury. It had a history dating back to 1572 and ...

with its depot in the barracks in 1881. These 18th century barracks fell into a state of disrepair in the early part of the 20th century, were withdrawn from use in the 1930s and were ultimately demolished in 1967. New barracks were established on a new site, half a mile to the south-east of the old barracks, during the 1930s: these barracks became the new home of the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment). They were named after Lieutenant Colonel Gerard Howe, a former commanding officer of the Buffs, and went on to become the regional centre for infantry training as the

Home Counties Brigade The Home Counties Brigade was an administrative formation of the British Army from 1948 to 1968. The Brigade administered the regular infantry regiments of the Home Counties of south east England. After the Second World War the British Army had fo ...

Depot in 1960. They also became the depot and Regimental Headquarters for the

Queen's Regiment The Queen's Regiment (QUEENS) was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1966 through the amalgamation of the four regiments of the Home Counties Brigade. Then, until 1971 the regiment remained one of the largest regiments in the ar ...

in 1966, for the

Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (PWRR), also known as the Tigers, is the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, second in the line infantry order of precedence to the Royal Regiment of Scotland and part of the Queen ...

in 1992 and for the 5th Battalion, the

Royal Regiment of Scotland The Royal Regiment of Scotland (SCOTS) is the British Army Order of Precedence, senior and only current Scottish regiment, Scottish line infantry Regiment#British Army, regiment of the British Army Infantry. It consists of three regular (form ...

(the

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's) is a light infantry company (military unit), company (designated as Balaklava Company, 5th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland) and was a line infantry regiment of the British Army tha ...

) in 2003. The Queen visited the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders at Howe Barracks in

in June 2013 to mark their relocation to Scotland. The barracks were also the home of reservists serving with 3rd Battalion Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment. The barracks closed in February 2015.

References

{{reflist Installations of the British Army Barracks in England