xenith | Paterson Barracks

I uploaded these photos last year and haven't done anything with them so....

Now as I've probably said before, Launceston likes to pass itself as a respectable late Victorian city, and we don't talk about the older days, do we?

Obviously that's different these days, and of course the older buildings are there, if not always obvious. There's St Johns church, the synagogue and some pubs. (Looks at that combination and laughs.) A couple of public buildings, but I really haven't done much on Launceston, have I?

The most prominent of the older buildings is the former commissariat store, now part of Paterson Barracks. (What is it about commissariat buildings that encourage their survival? Large, prominent buildings that can be adapted to many uses?) I took these photos during the Doors Open Day in September last year, so of course I can't remember anything. Therefore I shall have to cheat and use the text from the Department of Environment's Heritage Database (in italics).

Although Governor Lachlan Macquarie had the main centre moved to George Town, by 1824 Launceston was the government headquarters in northern Tasmania. By this time the early commissariat building was in a dilapidated condition. The replacement building (the present structure) was designed by David Lambe and built by contractors Robert Waddington and John Sprunt. As construction proceeded, some changes were introduced and built to designs by William Kenworthy. The building was completed in 1828.

The Commissariat supplied food, clothing and other goods to the military and convict establishments. Although it was part of the military system, it was run by civilians. It played a central role in the development of early Launceston, a role increased by it being an agent of the British Treasury. Further, the Ordnance Department and the Colonial Storekeeper's Department also used the building. In 1843 the building was granted to Ordnance, although by the mid 1850s Ordnance use was declining and the Colonial Government started using the Commissariat for the Public Works Department and the Immigration Department. The building remained in the ownership of the British Government, and was finally given to the Colonial Government in 1880.

From the Australian War Memorial, the caption reads: "Tasmania, 1902. Launceston volunteer artillery, siege gun section: 40 pounder Armstrong b. L. Siege guns at Paterson Barracks, Launceston. Two of those guns were issued to the battery in 1884 and were in use until the disbandment of the siege section in 1908."

Due to fears of Russian aggression, a volunteer defence force was formed in Tasmania and in 1860 the Commissariat Stores became the headquarters for the Launceston Volunteer Artillery Corps. After Federation the Corps became part of the Commonwealth defence forces. After various re-organisations, the unit today is the 16th Field Battery, Royal Australian Artillery which lays claims to being the oldest artillery unit in the Australian Army and the oldest volunteer movement with continuous history in Australia.

The other buildings on the site. The brick one is in the photo above and long one to the left is the "Sergeants Mess", which I think is used for a different purpose now.

During the twentieth century the rest of the military allotment was developed and the whole was named paterson barracks in 1948. Despite being badly damaged by fire in February 1970, the Commissariat Store remains in use and today has several functions: it houses the quartermaster's store for the 16th Field Battery on the ground floor, Defence recruiting and the officers' mess on the first floor, and offices and training rooms for the 2nd Force Support Battalion (incorporating the 10th Field Ambulance) on the second floor."

I seem to recall the use of the building has changed recently, but how, I don't remember.