The Officers’ Mess and Quarters for Hyderabad Barracks, built in 1904, and is similar in plan form to that for the Meeanee Baaracks (MCC3055). The 1910 and 1911 plans show an identical layout of Mess Room, Ante Room and Billiard Room but the remainder of the building follows a more elongated plan, with a greater element of symmetry. Stairs to the first floor, each with its own external doorway, are located north of the Mess Room and south of the Ante Room. Four officers are housed in the south wing and the First Officer’s suite occupies the north-west corner of the north wing, along with the First Officer’s servant. The rest of the ground floor is given over to service areas and servants’ rooms. The first floor is predominantly occupied by the officers’ bedrooms but there an additional seven servants rooms and a centrally located bathroom that projects from the rear of the main range. As with MEE 17, there is a separate apartment for the Mess manager, located at the north-east corner of the building. The modernisation programme that took place in 1958-61 added an extension to the south wing and removed some of the service areas on the ground floor, although little change was made to the first floor, apart from the removal of the north stairwell. A postcard from the early 20th century shows the west elevation. This shows that the façade (overlooking Mersea Road) has changed little since the Mess was constructed.<1><2>

It is a large two-storey building with its principal range aligned N to S, parallel (and facing on) to Mersea Road, similar in design and layout to mess of the Meeanee Barracks to the north. It has large wings to the north and south and a 1958-61 extension to the south wing. The west elevation has a centrally located main entrance, with a balustraded balcony above, flanked by two bow windows. The entrance has Ionic columns with well-carved capitals. Above this is a central pediment with a cartouche, executed in Portland stone, of the Royal Coat of Arms and the date 1904. The roofs are hipped and covered with asbestos tiles. Two of the original chimney stacks have survived. The building is constructed from red brick laid in Flemish bond. The fenestration of the west and south elevations is predominantly horned sash windows of four-over-four lights with York stone sills and flat brick arches. Exceptions to this are the windows of the main range on the ground floor. These are one-over-one light horned sashes with an inward-opening hopper at the top. The windows on the rest of the building are a mix of four-over-four and six-over-six sashes as well as individual examples with differing numbers of lights. There is a secondary entrance on the west elevation, at the corner of the main range with the south wing. Although some windows have been converted to doorways, externally the original building is in a good state of preservation.

The north wing has a yard in the centre, with the original Mess manager’s apartment to the east. Behind the main range there a series of service buildings projecting east. Small yards are interspersed with these. The yards occupy voids left by the removal of earlier structures.

Thi sbuilding is locally listed: http://www.colchesterhistoricbuildingsforum.org.uk/drupal/node/1531 [accessed 12/0/7/17]