Castlehill Barracks was a military installation in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

History

The barracks, which were built on the site of a 12th-century castle, were completed in response to a perceived threat from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

between 1764 and 1796. 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 for the 92nd (Gordon Highlanders) Regiment of Foot and the

93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment of Foot The 93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment of Foot was a Line Infantry Regiment of the British Army, raised in 1799. Under the Childers Reforms, it amalgamated with the 91st (Argyllshire Highlanders) Regiment of Foot to form the Argyll and Suth ...

. 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 was ...

, the 75th (Stirlingshire) Regiment of Foot amalgamated with the 92nd (Gordon Highlanders) Regiment of Foot to form the Gordon Highlanders with its depot in the barracks in 1881. A major extension in the form of a large new block was built to accommodate the new depot between 1880 and 1881. The barracks fell into a state of disrepair in the early part of the 20th century. They were withdrawn from military use in 1935 when the Gordon Highlanders moved to Gordon Barracks at

Bridge of Don Bridge of Don is a suburb in the north of Aberdeen, Scotland. In , the Bridge of Don electoral ward was estimated to have a population of 19,545. Bridge of Don is split into four areas for statistical purposes by Aberdeen City Council and Pol ...

and were used as emergency housing in the 1940s and 1950s. The barracks were ultimately demolished in 1965 to make way for the Marischal Court and Virginia Court flats.

References

{{reflist Barracks in Scotland Installations of the British Army