new railings for the former Sergeants’ Mess

Last week (on the 7th July), a team from Cox Landscapes started to remove the old railings around the garden of the former Sergeants’ Mess, next door to the Roman circus centre, and replace them with new railings. The garden of the former Sergeants’ Mess is enclosed by an earthen bank which is planted with protected mature trees, as well as by railings. The garden was originally the officers’ tennis courts and it is the site of the circus starting-gates, which are now represented above-ground by replica stumps of Roman wall, and it is open to visitors to the Roman circus centre. The garden is bordered by Le Cateau Road, which is now a private road but which was part of the Artillery Barracks here.

The former Sergeants’ Mess was originally the Officers’ Mess of the Artillery (Le Cateau) Barracks. It stood at the centre of the south front of the barracks and overlooked the Abbey Field to the front and the barracks parade ground to the rear. It was where the unmarried officers of the barracks lived and it would have been the principal building in the barracks. It later became the Sergeants’ Mess. The former Sergeants’ Mess is Grade 2 listed but, sadly, it was seriously damaged by fire in April 2014. It is currently unoccupied and awaiting reinstatement works. Two short lengths of railings, which are on each side of the building and which may date to 1875, are being retained: the railings which are being replaced were later in date. They are having to be replaced because they are in a state of disrepair. The site of the Roman circus is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and so the work on the railings is being monitored by a Trust archaeologist!

2015 is the 140th anniversary of the Artillery Barracks which, we think, were completed in March 1875. They were renamed the ‘Le Cateau Barracks’ after WW1, because the Royal Field Artillery brigade which was stationed here in 1914 – the 14th Brigade RFA – was sent to France in August 1914, only a couple of weeks after Britain joined the war, and took part in the Battle of Le Cateau on the 26th August 1914. (This was a famous battle.) The Roman circus centre, and the Trust’s offices, are housed in the later NAAFI building of the barracks, next door. The new railings at the Sergeants’ Mess will really enhance our visitors’ experience of the gardens and the site of the Roman circus.

The Roman circus site, centre and café are open Tuesday-Saturday, 10.00am-4.30pm. Admission is free.

The railings are being replaced by landowner Taylor Wimpey.

The images show some of the team and some of the work on the railings today (17th July): dismantling the old railings; the old railings in process, with the Sergeants’ Mess in the background; and the new railings, with members of the team working inside the garden.

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