| Invicta Park Barracks | |
|---|---|
| Maidstone | |
 Park House, currently used as the Officers' Mess | |
  Invicta Park Barracks Location within Kent | |
| Coordinates | 51°17′22″N00°31′23″E / 51.28944°N 0.52306°E |
| Type | Barracks |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Ministry of Defence |
| Operator |  British Army |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1936 |
| Built for | War Office |
| In use | 1936-Present |
| Garrison information | |
| Occupants | 36 Engineer Regiment |
Invicta Park Barracks is a military installation in Maidstone, Kent. It is set to close in 2029.
Permanent barracks were first established in Maidstone as part of the British response to the threat of the French Revolution in 1797. [1] Maidstone Barracks was a major cavalry barracks at a stationing point between London and the Kent coast (along which several more cavalry barracks were established in the 1790s). [2] The barracks buildings were constructed of timber for speedy assembly, an approach taken at a number of other such establishments around the country hastily built (for both cavalry and infantry) at the start of the French Revolutionary Wars. [3]
At the time of its establishment, Maidstone Barracks served as the British Army's Cavalry Depot (for inducting and training new recruits). In 1832, the Cavalry Riding Establishment moved there from St John's Wood. [4] The Riding Establishment had been set up in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars to encourage best practice in equitation: standardised regulations were drawn up, and from 1834, all Riding Masters (responsible for training across the cavalry regiments) were sent on a course of instruction at Maidstone, to ensure that they were schooled in the official way of riding. From 1844, chosen NCOs from each regiment were also sent to Maidstone to be trained according to the prescribed regulations; this enabled them to assist the Riding Master and to serve as squadron Riding Instructors. In the 1860s, the Riding Establishment moved from Maidstone to Canterbury. [5]
By the 1830s, Maidstone was serving as the home depot for all cavalry regiments stationed in India (each of which would leave behind three officers and forty-one other ranks who would be responsible for recruiting). [6] In the 1850s, a second cavalry depot was established at Canterbury Barracks; the two operated in tandem until 1865, at which point the depot at Maidstone was abolished leaving Canterbury alone to serve as depot for the cavalry regiments. [7]
In 1873, a system of recruiting areas based on counties was instituted under the Cardwell Reforms and the barracks became the depot for the 50th (West Kent) Regiment of Foot and the 97th (The Earl of Ulster's) Regiment of Foot. [8] Following the Childers Reforms, the 50th and 97th regiments amalgamated to form the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment with its depot in the barracks in 1881. [8]
By 1936, the old barracks had begun to fall into disrepair, and the regiment began to move to nearby Invicta Park; nevertheless the old barracks were retained by the Army, continuing in use until the 1990s. [9] Although the barracks blocks were demolished in 1991, the Officers’ Mess still survives as the White Rabbit Public House in Sandling Road. [10] Apart from the brick chimneys and slate roof, the building is entirely made of wood, and is the last remaining example of a type of building designed by the Barrack Department in the 1790s to be erected in a hurry, as required to house troops of cavalry or regiments of infantry ready for deployment. [2]
An adjacent site, just a few hundred yards north, was acquired from the Lushington family in 1936 and shortly before the outset of the Second World War a hutted camp (later known as Invicta Lines, reflecting Invicta , the motto of Kent) was built there, [11] initially for the training of militiamen. [12] These new barracks became the regimental depot and headquarters of the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment [13] and it housed the regiment's Infantry Training Centre (13 I.T.C.) for the duration of the war. [9] In 1946, the I.T.C. moved to Shorncliffe. While Maidstone continued as the headquarters of the regiment, only a skeleton staff remained on site (mainly to maintain the Officers' and Serjeants' Messes for occasional functions) until in 1950 the Regimental Depot system was re-established for infantry training. [12] In 1959, however, the depot was demoted to the status of out-station to the new Home Counties Brigade depot at Howe Barracks in Canterbury. In June 1961, following the amalgamation of the regiment with The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), the regimental depot and headquarters closed. [14]
The Regimental Headquarters, 36 Engineer Regiment have been at Maidstone since 1959. [11] They were initially based in the hutted camp at Invicta Lines, but between 1965 and 1966 it was demolished and the regiment moved into new barracks on the site, which was renamed Invicta Park. [15] The regiment had also occupied the old Barracks since the 1960s, but these were vacated in 1994 when new working accommodation was provided on an expanded Invicta Park site. [11]
The following units are based at Invicta Park Barracks: [11]
In November 2016, the Ministry of Defence announced that the site would close in 2027, [16] this was later extended to 2029. [17]
Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in summer 1990 after the end of the Cold War.
The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army based in the county of Kent in existence from 1881 to 1961. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, originally as the Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), by the amalgamation of the 50th (Queen's Own) Regiment of Foot and the 97th (The Earl of Ulster's) Regiment of Foot. In January 1921, the regiment was renamed the Royal West Kent Regiment (Queen's Own) and, in April of the same year, was again renamed, this time as the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment.
The Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire) was an infantry regiment of the British Army.
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Redford Cavalry and Infantry Barracks is a military installation located on Colinton Road, near the Edinburgh City Bypass, east of the suburb of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland. The barracks are set to close in 2029.
The 97th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1824 and amalgamated into the Queen's Own in 1881.
The Home Counties Brigade was an administrative formation of the British Army from 1948 to 1968. The Brigade administered the regular infantry regiments of the Home Counties of south east England.
The West Kent Militia, later the 3rd Battalion, Queen's Own was an auxiliary regiment raised in Kent in South East England. From its formal creation in 1758 the regiment served in home and colonial defence in all of Britain's major wars until 1918, and supplied thousands of reinforcements to the Royal West Kents during World War I.
In countries whose armies are organised on a regimental basis, such as the army of the United Kingdom, a regimental museum is a military museum dedicated to the history of a specific army regiment.
The Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry was a British Army regiment formed in 1794. It served in the Second Boer War and the First World War. It amalgamated with the Royal East Kent Yeomanry to form the Kent Yeomanry in 1920.
The regimental depot of a regiment is its home base for recruiting and training. It is also where soldiers and officers awaiting discharge or postings are based and where injured soldiers return to full fitness after discharge from hospital before returning to full duty. Normally, a variety of regimental stores will also be kept at the depot. The regimental depot is not the same as the regimental headquarters, though in practice the two will often be co-located in the same place.
In September 1939, the British Army was in process of expanding their anti-aircraft and mobile assets. Among these new changes was the formation of Anti-Aircraft Command which was formed on 1 April 1939, and the 1st Armoured Division formed in 1937. The list below will include the British Army units, colonial units, and those units which were in the process of formation.
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Howe Barracks was a military installation in Canterbury in Kent.
Maindy Barracks is a military installation in the Cathays district of Cardiff in Wales.
The Kent Yeomanry was an artillery regiment of the Territorial Army (TA) formed in 1920 by the amalgamation of the Royal East Kent Yeomanry and West Kent Yeomanry. For the Second World War it was expanded to form two field artillery regiments – 97 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery and 143 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery – which saw active service in North Africa, Italy and North-West Europe, both with the BEF in 1940 and on the Second Front in 1944–45. Post war it was reconstituted as 297 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery before being amalgamated in 1961 with the 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) to form the Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry.
Warley Barracks was a military installation at Warley near Brentwood in Essex.
The 36 Engineer Regiment is a regiment of the Corps of Royal Engineers within the British Army. The regiment trace their history back to before World War II as 36 Army Engineer Regiment. The regiment today is a general support engineer regiment provided force support within 12 Engineer Group.
Queen's Barracks was a military installation in Perth, Scotland.
The page contains the current structure of the British Army. The British Army is currently being reorganised to the Future Soldier structure.
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