Piershill Barracks

Piershill Barracks
Piershill, Edinburgh, Scotland
Remains of a wall tower of Piershill Barracks
Piershill Barracks
Coordinates 55°57′22″N 3°08′46″W / 55.956°N 3.146°W / 55.956; -3.146
Site history
Built 1793
Built for War Office
In use 1793-1934

Piershill Barracks was a military installation in Piershill in Edinburgh.

History

The barracks were built as part of the British response to the threat of the French Revolution and were completed in 1793.[1] Built along three sides of a quadrangle,[2] they were occupied by various cavalry regiments who would exercise their horses along Portobello Beach.[3]

A General Court Martial was convened at the barracks on 25 September 1820 by order of Major-General Sir Thomas Bradford, Commander in Chief, Scotland, to try all such prisoners brought before it, with Colonel Sir William Williams K.C.B. (later Major-General William Williams (1776-1832)) as presiding officer.[4]

They became the home of the Royal Scots Greys in the late 19th century[5] but were condemned as insanitary and unfit for occupation by cavalry regiments in the early 20th century; this gave rise to concerns that the Royal Scots Greys would be disbanded leaving Scotland without a cavalry regiment.[6] In practice the Royal Scots Greys moved to Redford Barracks and Piershill Barracks continued to be used on a much smaller scale by the Royal Horse Artillery.[6]

The barracks were vacated in 1934 and demolished in 1938, shortly before the start of the Second World War.[1] The site is now occupied by the Piershill Square tenement blocks which were constructed using stone from the old barracks.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 "Piershill Barracks". Canmore. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  2. ↑ Coghill, Hamish (2008). "Lost Edinburgh: Edinburgh's Lost Architectural Heritage". Birlinn. ISBN 978-1841587479.
  3. ↑ "Portobello Beach". Portobello heritage trust. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  4. ↑ The Caledonian Mercury, 21 September 1820
  5. ↑ "The defence of Edinburgh during the great war of 1897". Victorian military society. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Piershill Barracks, Edinburgh". Hansard. 3 December 1906. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  7. ↑ "Piershill Square, Listed Building Report". Historic Scotland. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
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