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King's Royal Rifle Corps/Rifle Brigade/HRH Prince Christian Victor Memorial Cottage Homes, Green Jacket Close, St. Cross, Stanmore, Winchester.

8 x two bedroom semi-detached houses, constructed in 1904, as cottage homes in memory of the 44 officers and 550 men of the King's Royal Rifle Corps (1 pair of semi-detached houses) and Rifle Brigade (2 pairs of semi-detached houses) and H R H Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein (1 pair of semi-detached houses) who were killed in action or died of wounds or disease in the 2nd Anglo Boer war.

These memorial cottage homes were built at a cost of £6,000, on an acre of farmland at St. Cross, Winchester and secured for 999 years from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The homes were intended to provide rent-free accommodation for injured/disabled servicemen, who had been selected by the regiments, and their families. (They are still occupied by former members of successor regiments.) Funds for the scheme were secured from the Prince Christian Victor Memorial Fund, the regiments and public donations. One pair of memorial cottage homes was given by the Duke of Connaught.

Constructed of red brick walls with the upper storey tile hung (Bishop's Waltham tiles), with decorative banding, tiled roofs and open eaves. Single storey outshuts/privies and open tiled porches. Each pair of cottages has a bronze badge affixed to a slab of Bath stone on the principal elevation. (The first pair has the crest of Prince Christian Victor, the second and third pairs the crest of the Rifle Brigade, the fourth pair the crest of the King's Royal Rifle Brigade and all have inscriptions.) Originally, white painted timber windows and Rifle Green doors with iron roadside railings (since removed). The architects were Messrs. Cancellor and Hill of Winchester and the building contract/tender was awarded to Messrs. C Grace & Son of Clatford, Andover. Described at the time as "pretty as well as useful design ... and substantially built." The cottages were laid out in a quadrangle with a centre circle. (It was originally intended to erect an obelisk with the names of the fallen in the centre of the site.) Whilst the original layout is still clearly discernible, 8 regimental flats/maisonettes (Nos. 9-17) were provided in the centre of the site and on part of the gardens, probably sometime during the 1960s.

I believe these to be the largest group of 2nd Anglo Boer War memorial cottage homes to have been built in the UK.

The memorial cottage homes were opened on 15th July 1904 (during Green Jacket Week), by Field Marshall H R H Duke of Connaught, Colonel in Chief of the Rifle Brigade, and H R H Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein.

Regarding the Batley homes & Augustine Davenport. Afraid I did not keep a copy of what I previously posted. From memory I made two points - why did Augustine & family qualify for the charity of a rent free home when he seemed to be capable of holding down a job and with an army pension he was probably better off than many of his undamaged former comrades. In 1911 he was an Insurance Agent and in 1921 a gas meter reader working for Batley Corporation. Also on both census returns he claimed to have been born in Wombourne, Worcestershire. He was correct with Wombourne but it has always been in Staffordshire.

Good morning Redvers, your post regarding the cottage homes in Winchester and the KRRC reminded me I had not mentioned two recent discoveries regarding Cottage Homes:

(1) I have now discovered the present day whereabouts of one of the plaques that once adorned one of the pair of OLI cottage homes that stood in Cowley, Oxford - unfortunately it is the less interesting of the pair being dedicated to Prince Christian Victor rather than the men of the OLI who lost their lives in SA. However, I am now in pursuit of the other and hopefully I might be able to post side by side photos in the not too distant future. The information on these cottages has become rather bitty and spread out in this thread and needs adding to. Having a personal interest in them I am proposing to bring it all together in a new post if that is OK with you?

(2) Are you aware of the pair of DLI cottages in the Western Hill area of Durham? - they don't appear on your original list and I don't think you have posted about them since - they appear to be still standing and bear their original plaques:



One being dedicated to Prince Christian Victor and the other to the men of the regiment who fell in SA seems to be a fairly common theme.

Regards, David.

Thanks David.

The information on the whereabouts of the OLI's plaques is interesting. It would be good to eventually know where they now reside. More than happy for you to put this all together in a new post.

I have made requests to both Oxford City Council and the owners of Between Towns Court (the site of the former OLI memorial cottage homes in Cowley) for a plaque to be erected on one of the external walls of the student housing. It probably will not happen, but if you don't ask.

I became aware of the DLI memorial cottage homes when I discovered the existence of the DLI memorial cottage home at Manfield. The site is: Infantry Cottages, Back Western Hill, Durham. Built in 1903. Unusually, this pair of cottage homes already had a Historic Environment Record with Durham County Council, as well as being on the IWM War Memorials page and was part of the North East War Memorials Project. It seems the good folk of Durham recognise the importance/value of such heritage assets.

Yesterday, with the kind assistance of a member of a local history group, I believe I may have located the 18th Hussars memorial cottage homes near Chepstow. When I've checked a few more things I will post what I have. It has been very difficult trying to locate cottage homes that were built for regiments like the Hussars and Lancers.

The Cowley Cottages plaque (above) is now on display in the Rifleman’s Museum in Winchester. The photo was supplied by current staff member Meg Boreham. She suggested I contact the Soldiers of Oxfordshire (SofO) Museum, which I did, and they are currently looking for the other plaque.

The OBLI Museum used to be housed in the Slade Barracks, Cowley but when the Slade Barracks became a housing development in 2008 all the museum material was transferred to the Rifleman’s Museum. When the SofO Museum opened in 2014 the OBLI material was moved there with the exception of the plaque above which was retained by the Rifleman’s Museum because Prince Christian Victor served in the KRRC.

The above plaque is made of wood and measures about 62 cm wide & 54 cm tall. The wood has been treated with something to help it cope with the elements but if you examine it closely you see there is some minor (erosion?) damage and it is indeed made of wood.

In the google street shot below Betfred’s and the barbers have now been demolished. In my day the vets (i.e. Cowley OLI Cottages) stood to the left of Betfred’s separated by a similar width passage way which you used to exit the car park at the back. Thus a plaque to the left of the brown grille on the student accommodation would be an exact hit. The plaque could be the same shape as the original ones. If SofO Museum do find the missing one, the question arises of whether they should be reunited and where? - the original occupants were both men of Buckinghamshire.

Many thanks David. That is really helpful.

I'll let you know if either the Council or landowner respond to my request.