Barrack
Buildings purposefully built to hold soldiers, and occasionally their dependents. Early Roman examples are on Hadrian's Wall at the forts. Only from the 1650sAD was there a full-time standing army that required housing. Barracks were built at Berwick upon Tweed after complaints from local residents who had troops sharing their houses.
These buildings would act as home, school and washhouse as the situation demanded. They might be graded - so that higher-ranking officers and non-commissioned officers would have bigger, or separate, space within the barrack buildings - often called barrack blocks.
To explore more glossary entries click on a letter.