There are four buildings remaining from the old compound, the Stone Barracks (1826), Guard House (1828), Militia Arms Store (1832) and Officers' Quarters (1840 and 1853). the compound housed the British garrison at Fredericton from 1784 until 1869. At one time there were over fifty buildings in the compound, many of which were lost to a fire in 1925. All extant buildings were built after said fire, the earliest being the 1826 Stone Soldiers' Barracks.
In the intervening years the City of Fredericton has grown around the compound, which now finds itself in downtown Fredericton. Today the site contains another 6 buildings historically associated with the three levels of government, civic park space, a statue of Lord Beaverbrook and canons, all surrounded by an iron fence. Fredericton was made the capital of the new colony of New Brunswick in 1784, at which time a British military garrison was stationed in the city to protect the new colony from invasion via the American border. The British military remained on the site until 1869, after which the Canadian government continued military activities at the Military Compound. A Drill Hall was constructed in 1885 which is still in use by the Canadian military.
The second oldest remaining building in the compound is the old 1828 Guard House, once used as home to a 12 man guard unit and a lock up, complete with solitary confinement "pit" in the basement. Read the following then be thankful you were never an inmate of this jail.
Guard House
Completing the group of Military Compound buildings, this 1828 sandstone, wood and slate-roofed structure was designed by a Captain Graydon of the Military Engineers and housed various essential bureaucratic and security functions; including an orderly room and guard room (both facing the colonnaded porch), lockup cells, and a solitary confinement pit in the basement. The restored orderly room looks as it did in 1829 when it was occupied by the 1st Battalion of the Rifle Brigade. The guard room was home to the 12-man Main Guard, and a private in an infantry regiment of 1828-1869 could expect to be detailed for Guard duty at least twice a month. The room looks as it did in 1866, when the 15th Regiment used the muskets, uniforms and equipment on display. The rear cellblock originally contained seven cells - windowless with an air-hole of about 10 inches diameter in the outer wall. In very cold weather, the luckless inmates were provided with wooden plugs to reduce the winter blasts. In 1847, the cellblock was modified to contain five enlarged cells, barred windows and an escape-proof ventilation system. The restored cell block reveals the conditions as they were in 1848. Although functional by design, the Guard House’s hip roof with central chimney, corner stone quoins, slender Neoclassical columns and overall proportions demonstrate the British Military’s combined sensibilities of efficiency and elegance.
From the Fredericton Heritage Trust
FREDERICTON MILITARY COMPOUND
This building is one of four remaining structures of the British establishment which housed the garrison at Fredericton from 1784 until the withdrawal of Imperial troops in 1869. Occupying the area between York and Regent Streets, the Compound enclosed over fifty buildings. The Soldiers' Stone Barracks (1826), Guard House (1828), Militia Arms Store (1832) and Officers' Quarters (1840 and 1853) survive as reminders of an important military establishment and its contribution to the early character and development of New Brunswick.