Cowley Barracks

Cowley Barracks
Oxford
Cowley Barracks showing the original keep
Cowley Barracks Location within Oxfordshire
Coordinates	51°44′31″N 1°12′09″W / 51.74184°N 1.20243°W / 51.74184; -1.20243Coordinates: 51°44′31″N 1°12′09″W / 51.74184°N 1.20243°W / 51.74184; -1.20243
Type	Barracks
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	British Army
Site history
Built	1876
Built for	War Office
In use	1876–1959
Garrison information
Occupants	Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry

Cowley Barracks (originally Bullingdon Barracks) was a military installation in Cowley, Oxfordshire, England.

The barracks were built in a Fortress Gothic Revival style at Bullingdon Green using Charlbury stone and completed in spring 1876. Their creation took place as part of the Cardwell Reforms which encouraged the localisation of British military forces. The barracks became the depot for the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot and the 85th Regiment of Foot (Bucks Volunteers). Following the Childers Reforms, the 43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) and the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot amalgamated to form the Oxfordshire Light Infantry with its depot at the barracks in 1881.

Following the Haldane Reforms the Oxfordshire Light Infantry became the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in 1908. Many recruits enlisted at the barracks during the early stages of the First World War.

The original proposal for the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry War Memorial was to site it outside the barracks. No suitable site could be found there so instead it was built on Rose Hill at the junction with Church Cowley Road.

The Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Museum was established at the barracks in 1925 and during the Second World War the barracks were used as a base for the Home Guard.

The Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry left the barracks in 1959 and, although the men's quarters were retained, the keep was subsequently demolished. The museum collection moved from Cowley Barracks to the Slade Park Territorial Army base at that time.