Guardhouse
Encyclopedia
A guardhouse is a building used to house personnel
and security equipment. Guardhouses have historically been dormitories for sentries or guards, and places where sentries not posted to sentry posts wait "on call", but are more recently manned by a contracted security company
. Some guardhouses also function as jails.
, Guardhouses are generally placed at the entrance as checkpoints for securing, monitoring and maintaining access control
into the secured facility. In the case of small to mid-sized facilities, generally, the entire physical security
envelope is controlled from the Guardhouse.
One of the general orders of a sentry
in the United States Navy and Marine corps is to "Repeat all calls more distant from the guardhouse than my own." Guardhouses thus serve as central communications hubs for outlaying sentry posts, being where the Corporal of the Guard is stationed. When sentries are relieved by their replacements, the sentry stationed at the Guardhouse, designated "No. 1", is conventionally relieved first.
Modern guardhouses are manufactured with welded, galvanized steel construction by a guard-booth manufacturer such as Par-Kut International, Inc. Portable buildings are insulated, include heat and light, have 360 degree visibility, and can also be bullet resistant. These guardhouses keep security guards comfortable as well as secure.
in the 18th century, Guardhouses were where sentries were stationed to eat and sleep between periods of sentry duty at the 21 sentry posts around the town. The town had five Guardhouses (the Dauphine Gate, the townside entrance to the King's Bastion, the Queen's Gate, the Maurepas Gate, and the Pièce de la Grave), and whilst not sleeping sentries would be "on call" from those Guardhouses at need.
In the Guardhouse at Fort Scott National Historic Site
, typical funishings for guard quarters included benches, tables, shelves, a platform bed for the men resting between assignments, arms racks, a fireplace or stove, and leather buckets (used for firefighting - another duty of guards). Prison cells were unfurnished, containing simply a slop bucket and iron rings on walls for the attachment of shackles.
- a description of the guardhouse at Arsenal Technical High School, tracing its history from being a combined guardhouse and jail for the U.S. Army barracks through being a school "beanery" to its current function as a school security office - an archaeological report on the guardhouse at the Macquarie Street entrance of the Lancer Barracks in Parramatta, New South Wales
- an extract from the Fort Concho
Medical History Record of May 1871, describing in detail the now nonexistent guardhouse
Security guard
A security guard is a person who is paid to protect property, assets, or people. Security guards are usually privately and formally employed personnel...
and security equipment. Guardhouses have historically been dormitories for sentries or guards, and places where sentries not posted to sentry posts wait "on call", but are more recently manned by a contracted security company
Private security company
A private security company is a for-profit enterprise, sometimes a corporation or a limited liability partnership, which provides armed and unarmed security services and expertise to private and public clients. Private security companies are defined by the U.S...
. Some guardhouses also function as jails.
Modern guardhouses
In 21st century commercial, industrial, institutional, governmental, or residential facilitiesGated community
In its modern form, a gated community is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly-controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences. Gated communities usually consist of small residential...
, Guardhouses are generally placed at the entrance as checkpoints for securing, monitoring and maintaining access control
Access control
Access control refers to exerting control over who can interact with a resource. Often but not always, this involves an authority, who does the controlling. The resource can be a given building, group of buildings, or computer-based information system...
into the secured facility. In the case of small to mid-sized facilities, generally, the entire physical security
Physical security
Physical security describes measures that are designed to deny access to unauthorized personnel from physically accessing a building, facility, resource, or stored information; and guidance on how to design structures to resist potentially hostile acts...
envelope is controlled from the Guardhouse.
One of the general orders of a sentry
General Orders for Sentries
Orders to Sentry is the official title of a set of rules governing sentry duty in the United States armed forces. While any guard posting has rules that may go without saying , these orders are carefully detailed and particularly stressed in the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and...
in the United States Navy and Marine corps is to "Repeat all calls more distant from the guardhouse than my own." Guardhouses thus serve as central communications hubs for outlaying sentry posts, being where the Corporal of the Guard is stationed. When sentries are relieved by their replacements, the sentry stationed at the Guardhouse, designated "No. 1", is conventionally relieved first.
Modern guardhouses are manufactured with welded, galvanized steel construction by a guard-booth manufacturer such as Par-Kut International, Inc. Portable buildings are insulated, include heat and light, have 360 degree visibility, and can also be bullet resistant. These guardhouses keep security guards comfortable as well as secure.
Historical guardhouses
In the Fortress of LouisbourgFortress of Louisbourg
The Fortress of Louisbourg is a national historic site and the location of a one-quarter partial reconstruction of an 18th century French fortress at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia...
in the 18th century, Guardhouses were where sentries were stationed to eat and sleep between periods of sentry duty at the 21 sentry posts around the town. The town had five Guardhouses (the Dauphine Gate, the townside entrance to the King's Bastion, the Queen's Gate, the Maurepas Gate, and the Pièce de la Grave), and whilst not sleeping sentries would be "on call" from those Guardhouses at need.
In the Guardhouse at Fort Scott National Historic Site
Fort Scott National Historic Site
Fort Scott National Historic Site is a historical area under the control of the United States National Park Service in Bourbon County, Kansas, United States. Named after Mexican-American War General Winfield Scott, during the middle of the 19th century it served as a military base for army action...
, typical funishings for guard quarters included benches, tables, shelves, a platform bed for the men resting between assignments, arms racks, a fireplace or stove, and leather buckets (used for firefighting - another duty of guards). Prison cells were unfurnished, containing simply a slop bucket and iron rings on walls for the attachment of shackles.
Further reading
- a description of the guardhouse at Colonial WilliamsburgColonial Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg is the private foundation representing the historic district of the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. The district includes buildings dating from 1699 to 1780 which made colonial Virginia's capital. The capital straddled the boundary of the original shires of Virginia —...
- a description of the guardhouse at Arsenal Technical High School, tracing its history from being a combined guardhouse and jail for the U.S. Army barracks through being a school "beanery" to its current function as a school security office - an archaeological report on the guardhouse at the Macquarie Street entrance of the Lancer Barracks in Parramatta, New South Wales
Parramatta, New South Wales
Parramatta is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Parramatta River. Parramatta is the administrative seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Parramatta...
- an extract from the Fort Concho
Fort Concho
Fort Concho is a National Historic Landmark owned and operated since 1935 by the city of San Angelo, the seat of Tom Green County in West Texas...
Medical History Record of May 1871, describing in detail the now nonexistent guardhouse