Hillsborough Barracks Hillsborough Barracks is a walled complex of buildings between Langsett Road and Penistone Road in the Hillsborough District of Sheffield , South Yorkshire , England . The complex covers an area of circa and dates from 1848 , replacing an inadequate barracks at Hillfoot at an estimated cost of £94 , 000 . Military requirements . Sheffield has good road and railway links to all points of the compass and is also close to the geographic centre of Great Britain . This makes it a prime location for a large military barracks . A barracks was required to house The buildings . The barracks is divided into three terraces . The first ( top ) terrace faces onto what is now Langsett Road . This contained the Mess establishment , quarters for around 40 officers and a similar number of servants , and a chapel . This building has a length of about and a width and height of about , is three storeys high and has a mixture of gothic and castellated styles . The other buildings of the barracks consisted off : Water supply . The barracks had its own water supply , fed from the nearby Rawson Spring on the facing hillside towards Walkley . The spring kept 21 underground tanks filled with over half a million gallons of water . The smallest tank held 12 , 000 gallons , the biggest 50 , 000 gallons . It was rumoured at the time that this water supply would be for the benefit of Sheffield ’ s gentry who would seek refuge in the barracks in the event of an uprising . With entrances on both the Langsett and Penistone Roads it was considered to be amongst the finest and best arranged barracks in the kingdom , and as a military depot it ranked amongst the largest in the country . The Great Sheffield Flood . On the northern side of the Barracks runs the River Loxley . On the night of Friday 11 March 1864 the ill - fated Dale Dyke Dam further up the Loxley Valley at Bradfield burst and the resulting flood waters breached a stone wall that was three feet thick . The water rose to the height of twelve feet outside the window of Sergeant Foulds ' quarters and drowned two of his children . Army units . Army units to have been stationed include : The last Army unit ( 29th Field ( Howitzer ) Battery left the Barracks in February 1930 . Sale . On 26 July 1932 , an auction was held on the instructions of the War Department by Eadon & Lockwood at Sheffield . However , when bidding reached only £12 , 000 , the auction was terminated and the Barracks withdrawn from sale . In October of that year , the complex was sold to Burdall ’ s Ltd , a manufacturing chemist noted for its gravy salt , and it became known as the " Burdall ’ s Buildings " . Redevelopment . A major redevelopment of the site was embarked upon in the late 1980s . The result is the large retail and business complex seen today , in which all the surviving structures have been cleaned of the grime from Sheffield ' s industrial past . The focus of the complex is the Morrisons Supermarket covering the old Artillery Parade Ground , which has been roofed for the purpose and is fronted by the clock towered stable block . The old Infantry Parade Ground is now a two - storey car park between the Stable Block and the old Officer Mess ( now the headquarters for Sheffield Insulations Ltd ) . The old football ground and rifle range are now a B & Q DIY Superstore . The Married Quarters which served as flats until the end of the 1970s were demolished and the area is now a McDonald ' s Drive - through Restaurant . The Garrison Commander ’ s House was demolished and its site is now covered with a garage and petrol station . The old guard room is now the Garrison Hotel and Jailhouse Bar . The hospital building is now " Skills for Business " , part of Hillsborough College . Hillsborough College is part of Sheffield College . Other buildings within the site serve as a Jobcentre Plus , Clark and Partners and the headquarters of the Coalfield Pensions Scheme . The whole site is once again known as Hillsborough Barracks . As a Grade II listed building , it represents the only surviving example of a walled barracks within the UK . Hillsborough Interchange has been built beside the barracks and provides good transport links .