Erskine Barracks

Last updated

Erskine Barracks
Fugglestone St Peter
Erskine Barracks.jpg
Erskine Barracks undergoing demolition
Wiltshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Erskine Barracks
Location within Wiltshire
Coordinates 51°5′13″N01°51′5″W / 51.08694°N 1.85139°W / 51.08694; -1.85139
TypeBarracks
Site information
Owner Ministry of Defence
OperatorFlag of the British Army.svg  British Army
Site history
Built1949
Built for War Office
In use1949-2010
Garrison information
Occupants Headquarters Land Forces

Erskine Barracks was a military installation at Fugglestone St Peter, in Wilton parish some 2+3⁄4 miles (4 km) northwest of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England.

Contents

History

The site, which had been farmland [1] until used for temporary army buildings during World War II, was acquired by the British Army for use as a headquarters for Southern Command in 1949. [1] The establishment was centred on Fugglestone Farmhouse [1] and an Ordnance Survey map of 1958 labels it as Fugglestone Camp. [2]

The barracks were later named after General Sir George Erskine, [3] who had been GOC Southern Command from 1955 until his retirement in 1958. [4] The site went on to become in 1968 the headquarters of Army Strategic Command, which was renamed UK Land Forces in 1972 and Land Command in 1995. On 1 April 2008 Land Command amalgamated with Headquarters Adjutant General under 'Project Hyperion' and became Land Forces. [5] Land Forces moved from Erskine Barracks to the former RAF Andover site now known as Marlborough Lines on 23 June 2010, [6] and the site became vacant.

At time, that the site covered 9.6 hectares to the north of the railway line and 3.8 hectares (less fully developed) to the south. [1] The former farmhouse had been demolished by 1968 and all standing structures were from 1950 or later. [1] In 2014 the headquarters building was described as "an impressive example of brutal modernism". [1]

Post-Army use

The site was sold to housebuilder Redrow in March 2013, [7] and all its buildings were demolished in 2014. [1] Besides housing, the site has Erskine House which provides 44 flats for former military personnel, and offers training for their return to civilian work. [8] [9]

Legacy

The National Army Museum has a Bath stone fireplace salvaged during the demolition in 2001 of Bridge End House, a building of c.1900 used as an administrative block by the Army. [10]

During demolition in 2014, a photographic record of selected buildings – including the Sergeants' Mess and the Headquarters – was made by Wessex Archaeology to form a historic building record, as required by Wiltshire Council under a planning condition. [1] No archaeological features were found during a simultaneous watching brief. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wiltshire</span> County of England

Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire and Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to the west. The largest settlement is Swindon, and Trowbridge is the county town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tidworth</span> Human settlement in England

Tidworth is a garrison town and civil parish in south-east Wiltshire, England, on the eastern edge of Salisbury Plain. Lying on both sides of the A338 about 3+1⁄2 miles (5.6 km) north of the A303 primary route, the town is approximately 8 miles (13 km) west of Andover, 12 miles (19 km) south of Marlborough, and 13 miles (21 km) north by north-east of Salisbury. The population of the parish at the 2011 census was approximately 10,600.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grafton, Wiltshire</span> Human settlement in England

Grafton is a civil parish in Wiltshire, England, in the Vale of Pewsey about 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Marlborough. Its main settlement is the village of East Grafton, on the A338 Burbage - Hungerford road; the parish includes the village of Wilton and the hamlets of West Grafton, Marten and Wexcombe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilton, Wiltshire</span> Town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England

Wilton is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. Lying about 3 miles (5 km) west of the city of Salisbury, and until 1889 the county town of Wiltshire, it has a rich heritage dating back to the Anglo-Saxons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larkhill</span> Army Garrison near Salisbury in Wiltshire, England

Larkhill is a garrison town in the civil parish of Durrington, Wiltshire, England. It lies about 1+3⁄4 miles (2.8 km) west of the centre of Durrington village and 1+1⁄2 mi (2.4 km) north of the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge. It is about 10 mi (16 km) north of Salisbury.

The 43rd Infantry Brigade was a brigade of the British Army during the First and Second World Wars, and later, as 43 (Wessex) Brigade, a regional headquarters from 1985 to 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bemerton</span> Human settlement in England

Bemerton, once a rural hamlet and later a civil parish to the west of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, is now a suburb of that city. Modern-day Bemerton has areas known as Bemerton Heath, Bemerton Village and Lower Bemerton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bulford Camp</span> Military camp on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England

Bulford Camp is a military camp on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. Established in 1897, the site continues in use as a large British Army base. The camp is close to the village of Bulford and is about 2+1⁄4 miles (3.6 km) north-east of the town of Amesbury. The camp forms part of the Tidworth, Netheravon and Bulford (TidNBul) Garrison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Upavon</span>

Royal Air Force Upavon or RAF Upavon is a former Royal Air Force station in Wiltshire, England. It was a grass airfield, military flight training school, and administrative headquarters of the Royal Air Force. The station opened in 1912 and closed in 1993, when it was transferred to the British Army and became known as Trenchard Lines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fugglestone St Peter</span> Human settlement in England

Fugglestone St Peter was a small village, manor, and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, lying between the town of Wilton and the city of Salisbury. The civil parish came to an end in 1894 when it was divided between the adjoining parishes, and today Fugglestone is a largely residential area in the north of Wilton parish; however, the 13th-century parish church survives.

Wilton North railway station is a former railway station serving Wilton, Wiltshire, England. The station was opened in 1856 by the Great Western Railway on its Salisbury branch from Westbury. It was closed to passengers in 1955 and completely in 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Command (United Kingdom)</span> Military unit

Southern Command was a Command of the British Army.

Land Command was a military command and formation and part of the structure of the British Army from 1995 to 2008. Its headquarters was at Erskine Barracks, at Fugglestone St Peter, some four kilometres northwest of Salisbury in Wiltshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Signal Brigade (United Kingdom)</span> Military unit

The 1st Signal Brigade, formerly known as the 1st Signal Group, is a brigade of the British Army. The group was first formed in 1968 as a result of the 1966 Defence White Paper which expanded support for NATO and the British Army of the Rhine. In 1987, the group was disbanded and merged into the 2nd Signal Brigade. In 1995, the brigade was reformed and has since deployed on operations across the globe in support of NATO and HQ Allied Rapid Reaction Corps.

Waterloo Lines is a British Army barracks on Imber Road in Warminster, Wiltshire, England. It is currently home to a number of Army specialist training schools and a sizeable portion of the Headquarters Field Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tidworth Camp</span> Military installation at Tidworth in Wiltshire, England

Tidworth Camp is a military installation at Tidworth in Wiltshire, England. It forms part of the Tidworth, Netheravon and Bulford (TidNBul) Garrison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Structure of the British Army</span> Organisation of the British Army

The structure of the British Army is being reorganised to the Future Soldier structure. The Army is commanded by the Chief of the General Staff (CGS), with Army Headquarters which is located in Andover, Hampshire. Subordinate to that post, there is a Commander Field Army, and a personnel and UK operations command, Home Command.

South West District was a district command of the British Army between 1967 and 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Headquarters South West (United Kingdom)</span> Military unit

Headquarters South West is a Colonel's command of the British Army formed to oversee the area of South West England.

Equipment Support, Theatre Troops was an ad-hoc group of maintenance and equipment support units of the British Army's Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Wessex Archaeology (July 2014). "Erskine Barracks, The Avenue, Wilton, Wiltshire: Historic Building Record andArchaeological Watching Brief Report" (PDF). Archaeology Data Service. Wessex Archaeology. doi:10.5284/1052624 . Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  2. ↑ "SU13 - Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 maps of Great Britain, 1945-1969". National Library of Scotland. 1958. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  3. ↑ "Homes Fit For Heroes". Wilton Hill & Erskine Park Community Association. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  4. ↑ "Sir George Watkin Eben James Erskine]". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. King's College London. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013.
  5. ↑ HQ Land Forces on the move Archived March 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Drumbeat, June 2008
  6. ↑ "Andover becomes HQ Land Forces on 23 June". Andover Advertiser. 29 April 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  7. ↑ "Redrow to develop former Salisbury barracks site". Construction Index. 29 March 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  8. ↑ "Veteran's Village Groundbreaking". Alabaré. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  9. ↑ "Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex officially opens Wilton's Entrain Space". Entrain Space. 14 October 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  10. ↑ "Fireplace, from Bridge End House, Erskine Barracks, Wilton, 1900". National Army Museum, London. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.