![[object Object]](https://images.mhnsw.au/fotoweb/embed/2026/07/c71e62d3fe4843149a84a2a4418456b0.jpg)
NSW Lancer Barracks and Museum
NSW Lancer Barracks and Museum
The oldest continuously occupied military barracks on mainland Australia
About the building
The Royal New South Wales Lancers is Australia’s most decorated unit. The regiment originated as the Sydney Light Horse Volunteers in January 1885 before becoming the New South Wales Cavalry Reserves later that year. It was designated the New South Wales Lancers in 1894 and granted the Royal title in 1935.
The Lancers have occupied Lancer Barracks since 1897. Built between 1818 and 1820 on Governor Macquarie’s orders, the two-storey barracks was designed by Lieutenant John Watts to accommodate a company of around 100 officers and soldiers. Still used today as an Australian Army Reserve training facility, it is the oldest continuously occupied military barracks on mainland Australia.
The 1st/15th Royal New South Wales Lancers established its Regimental Museum in 1957, initially occupying a single room at Lancer Barracks. As the collection grew, a new building became necessary, and Linden House was selected. This sandstone building, constructed in 1828 on nearby Macquarie Street, had served various purposes over the years, including being used by the School of Industry, and as officers’ quarters for a British garrison, a school and an RSL club. To preserve the historic building and provide a permanent home for the museum, Linden House was donated to the Lancers Association, then dismantled in 1963 and rebuilt stone by stone on the same site as the barracks, opposite Parramatta Railway Station. Today, it houses an extensive collection of uniforms, equipment, saddlery, weapons, photographs, paintings, banners and trophies, including the kettledrums and banners once carried by the regiment’s mounted band and the King’s Banner awarded for service in the Second Anglo-Boer War in South Africa.
The collection also has a number of military vehicles once used by the Lancers, including a Covenanter Bridgelayer, a Matilda Close Support tank, a World War II Bren Gun Carrier, a Staghound armoured car, a Ferret scout car and a Centurion main battle tank.
Talks, tours and more
Built
Barracks: 1820; Linden House: 1828
Architect
Barracks: Lieutenant John Watts
Linden House: Unknown
Acknowledgements
NSW Lancer Barracks and Museum’s participation has been made possible with the permission of the Department of Defence.
The Lancers Museum is an incorporated association of past members of the Lancers and others dedicated to preserving the regiment’s history and owns Linden House Museum, the Museum Annexe and vehicle hangars on land leased by the Department of Defence. The property is vested with the Department of Defence. Lancer Barracks is on the list of properties to be sold by the government. The future of the museum is not known at present.
Find out more about this building here
NSW Lancer Barracks and Museum
2 Smith Street, Parramatta
Entry details
Attendees will have access to Lancer Barracks and Museum without the standard admission fee. This includes areas not normally open to the public: the drill hall and workshop
10am–4pm
3.45pm
Talks, tours and more
Need to know
Accessible featuresThe grounds can be traversed along a flat path. The museum building is from 1828 and is not accessible to those using wheelchairs or walkers
Toilets availableAccessible toilets with showers (no baths) are available
Photography allowed
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