Higher Barracks were built in 1794 for the cavalry. Designed for 15 officers, 180 men and 202 horses, the barracks covered an area stretching from Red Lane or Howell’s Lane in the south to the edge of the Hoopern valley in the north. The site was surrounded by a high brick wall. Towards the rear of the barracks was the Officers’ Quarters Building, a Georgian style, symmetrically-designed building with a grand central doorway and pediment, and topped with the Royal Arms of England. Along each side there were facing barracks. In the centre was a green for parades and exercising horses. The officers’ quarters and one barrack block were destroyed in a fire in the 19th Century.

In 1907 Britain was going through a peaceful phase and the need for a large army decreased, so the Government decided to cut back on some military facilities. To this end, plans were made for the housing on the west side of Thornton Hill to be extended into the barracks. Housing was built down three new cul-de-sacs, Hillcross Road, Hillside Avenue and Waverley Avenue, but stopped at the wall, before army land was used.

The barracks were used as a military hospital during the First World War while during the Second World War, many a young conscript started their service life there. The United States 500th Medical Collecting Company (60th Medical Battalion) stayed at the Higher Barracks in January 1944 in preparation for D-Day. In 1987 the Royal Army Pay Corp moved from Taunton to the Higher Barracks, and remained until the barracks were closed prior to their redevelopment by Barratt’s in the late 1990’s for residential accommodation, to be named Horseguards.