Smith-Dorrien House

By Paul H. Vickers, Friends of the Aldershot Military Museum

At the southern end of Queen’s Avenue, by the junction with Hospital Road, stands Smith-Dorrien House. This fine Italianate-style building was originally the Smith-Dorrien Wesleyan Soldiers’ Home, and is one of the few surviving buildings from Edwardian times.

The soldiers’ homes and institutes were established to provide recreational facilities for off-duty soldiers, and a number were built in the camp and in the civilian town in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Mainly established by various church denominations and other religious groups, the aim was to provide an attractive alternative to the pubs and beer-halls of the town, where soldiers could relax without recourse to alcohol.

The foundation stone was laid on 4 March 1908 by Lieutenant-General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, General Officer Commanding in Aldershot from 1907 to 1912. Smith-Dorrien was born in 1858 and joined the Army in 1876. He had a distinguished military career, during which he fought in the Zulu War (1879), Egypt (1882), and the Tirah Campaign in India (1897-98). He commanded a Sudanese battalion at the battle of Omdurman (1898), and a brigade in the Second Boer War (1899-1902). During his time as GOC in Aldershot, Smith-Dorrien gained a reputation as a reformer, an outstanding trainer, and a commander who cared about soldiers’ welfare. In 1914, on the outbreak of the First World War, he was appointed to command II Corps of the British Expeditionary Force, and he has been praised by modern historians for his leadership skills at the Battle of Mons. Smith-Dorrien frequently clashed with his superiors, and his criticisms of the conduct of the Second Battle of Ypres led to his dismissal and return to Britain. In 1918 Smith-Dorrien was appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Gibraltar, a post he held until 1923 when he retired from active service. Smith-Dorrien died as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident in 1930, aged 72.

The building was designed by architect Robert Curwen (1850-1915), who was best known for his many church designs, mostly for the Wesleyans, in the Gothic Revival style with later Arts and Crafts influences. Among his few non-church buildings were the Methodist Sailors’ Home at Eastney, Portsmouth (now demolished) and the Smith-Dorrien, one of his last commissions before he retired in 1909. The builder was William J Snuggs, of Aldershot. The total cost of the project, including interior fittings and decoration, was £6,500 (worth around £800,000 in present day values), raised from the Wesleyan community and supporters. The Wesleyan Army and Navy Board contributed the significant sum of £3,000.

The home was opened on 8 October 1908 by Lady Smith-Dorrien, accompanied by her husband. A service of dedication was led by Sir George Hayter Chubb, chairman of the Wesleyan Army and Navy Board, and attended by officers and clergy of all denominations.

Although this was a Wesleyan project, in common with all the soldiers’ homes it was open to all soldiers and sailors irrespective of creed or religion. On the ground floor the large main hall housed a refreshment bar (strictly non-alcoholic), and another spacious room contained two full-sized billiard tables. There was also a games room exclusively for boys, a reading room, baths, and a kitchen. On the first floor was a large lecture room with a stage, which could also be used for music and entertainment, a “soldiers’ parlour” where men could relax, and a prayer room.

Shortly after the opening, Lloyd’s Weekly News reported that this “beautiful Soldiers’ Home ... has now become a great factor in the lives and future welfare of the soldiers of the First Army Corps ... A more truly imposing building could not well have been provided for the troops ... the institution is replete with every possible comfort, and can compare with any of the best civilian clubs in the district.”

Although the soldiers’ homes were always popular, it was during the world wars that they were particularly appreciated. In the First World War, as the Camp became crowded with thousands of new recruits and official facilities were stretched, the soldiers’ homes provided a welcome alternative to the barracks and supplied small but important comforts such as hot baths, and writing paper and envelopes so the men could write home to their families. Private John Jackson of the Cameron Highlanders was in Aldershot in 1914, and remembered:

“A well known building in Aldershot was the Smith-Dorrien Soldiers’ Home, which contained a billiard-room, reading and writing room and a good library. In it were also a post-office, private baths and a buffet, where light refreshments could be purchased. The ‘Home’ was always crowded when men were off duty, and many thousands of men will have pleasant recollections of happy evenings at the Smith-Dorrien Home.”

During the First World War the manager of the Smith-Dorrien was Charles Rumble, who had been a regular soldier and had served in the Second Boer War. As an indication of the esteem in which he was held, in 1918 Rumble was presented with a scroll inscribed: “As a mark of appreciation for the sterling services rendered by Mr Charles Rumble in the promotion and management of entertainments for the troops at the Smith-Dorrien Soldiers’ Home ... and to commemorate the 200th entertainment held there since the outbreak of the Great War; and also to record the widespread feelings of personal esteem and regard for his unfailing courtesy and kindness at all times”. After the war Rumble managed Saint Andrew’s Soldiers Home for some 30 years. He died in 1952, aged 81.

After the Second World War the building was no longer needed as a soldiers’ home and was used by the Ministry of Defence for offices. With the rebuilding of the garrison at the beginning of the twenty-first century, Smith-Dorrien House was given up by the Army and taken over by Grainger plc, the lead company for the Wellesley civilian housing development, as their offices in Aldershot. Grainger undertook a restoration of the building, removing the internal additions which had been done by the MOD and revealing many of the surviving original features, so now the elegance and attention to detail of the original design can be appreciated once again.

Credits

Article originally published in the The Garrison, Winter 2023

Copyright © Paul H. Vickers. This article, including the accompanying pictures, may not be reproduced or republished, in whole or in part, either in print or electronically, including on any websites or social media sites, without the prior permission of the author.