Timber Barracks by Floormat Doormat
Local history interest piqued by the fact that nearby Warren Hill Road used to be called Deadman’s Lane. I learned that a garrison of over 5000 soldiers and their families were stationed right where I live in Woodbridge from 1804-1814 during the Napoleonic War. Martello towers like the one at nearby Bawdsey provided lookout across the East Coast. Tar barrels like the one atop St Mary’s Church on Market Hill, which would be lit to alert the lookout on Drybridge Hill that the enemy was coming. Next to Deadman’s Lane, a small military cemetery where 669 soldiers are buried, marked by a single stone, predating the known old cemetery with it’s two chapels, built in 1857. I sat wondering what a night out at The Theatre Royal, built for the soldiers entertainment on what is now Theatre Street, was like. What impact would the garrison being here have had on the town.
Playing around with a stylophone through a bunch of pedals and fx, the sounds and stories started to feel connected in a strange and unexplainably cosmic way. So in early January 2023, I recorded spontaneous live takes of drones and melodies for a couple of evenings one over the top of the other, sat in my shed, here on the land their Timber Barracks had stood.
All compositions by Gary James as Floormat Doormat.
Massive thanks to Paul at Wormhole World and Elizabeth at Woodbridge Museum.
Tracklist
| 1. | Timber Barracks | 5:20 |
| 2. | Drybridge Hill | 4:41 |
| 3. | Tar Barrel On St Mary's | 2:25 |
| 4. | Cemetry Lane | 2:21 |
| 5. | 669 Soldiers In A Mass Grave | 7:44 |
| 6. | By Deadman's Lane | 5:15 |
| 7. | The Knights Of Malta Lodge No 309 | 5:11 |
| 8. | A Night At The Theatre Royal | 3:02 |
| 9. | Found Tower, Bawdsey | 3:13 |
| 10. | End Of Slaughden Quay | 4:25 |
