They show how the garrison grew from its origins as a collection of bleak huts on a weather-swept plain during the First World War into a grand centrepiece of the British army in the 1930s. READ THE NEWS STORY: SIX CATTERICK BUILDINGS LISTED The Sandes Soldiers' Home, of 1928, in Catterick Garrison is now a Grade II* listed building. All pictures courtesy of Historic England One of the buildings, the former Sandes Soldiers' Home, has been listed at Grade II*, placing it among the most important eight per cent of England’s historic sites.
All but one of the six, which include a squash court, date from the 1920s and 1930s when the garrison, as the home of the newly-formed Royal Corps of Signals, was rebuilt ahead of the Second World War. “They were built to a very high standard,” says Roger Thomas, one of Historic England’s military historians. “This was partly because of military pride and about building up an esprit de corps – soldiers would feel better about themselves if they were living in a good building.
“It was also partly because in the early stages of the development of Catterick, the camp itself was in a pretty bad state and a lot of men didn’t want to go there – it was such a bleak, wet, messy place. “And then these buildings were associated with the Royal Corps of Signals, which was a new regiment and they were trying to recruit the best soldiers and officers.” The Signals were formally created in 1920 as cutting edge wireless technology becam.