Maresfield Camp

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Maresfield Camp
Maresfield army camp - geograph.org.uk - 3727598.jpg
The camp in March 2005
Site information
TypeBarracks
Owner Ministry of Defence
OperatorFlag of the British Army.svg  British Army
Location
East Sussex UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Maresfield Camp
Location within East Sussex
Coordinates 50°59′38″N0°04′36″E / 50.9940°N 0.0766°E / 50.9940; 0.0766
Site history
Built1914
Built for War Office
In use1914 to c.1970
Garrison information
OccupantsDepot of the Intelligence Corps

Maresfield Camp was a camp of the British Army at Maresfield in East Sussex. It served as the depot of the Intelligence Corps.

History

The camp was established when the southwest part of the Maresfield Park Estate was requestioned by the War Office from Count Alexander Münster in 1914. [1] During the First World War, it served as a training camp for Kitchener's Army and as a riding school for yeomanry units, where they were prepared for deployment to the Western Front. [2]

In 1920, it became the School of Signals and Signal Training Centre and continued to serve in that role until the school moved to Catterick Garrison, in North Yorkshire in 1925. [3] The Royal Signals continued to use the camp and the Band of the Royal Corps of Signals was formed there in August 1938. [4]

A large number of units were accommodated at the camp in anticipation of the Normandy landings during the Second World War and King George VI inspected the troops at the camp shortly before they departed for their ports of embarkation on the south coast. [2] [5] In 1948, the army camp became the depot of the Intelligence Corps. The playwright, Alan Bennett, was one of those who undertook part of their National Service at the camp in the 1950s. [6] The camp continued to serve as the corps depot until the Intelligence Corps moved to Templer Barracks in Ashford, Kent in 1966. [7] [8]

In February 1967, the Queen's Own Hussars arrived at the camp from where squadrons were deployed to Aden in July 1967, to Sharjah in July 1967, to Singapore in October 1968 and to Cyprus in June 1969. [9] After the camp was decommissioned, the site was redeveloped and was made available for use as the training centre for East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service [10] and for use by small and medium sized businesses as Ashdown Business Park. [11]

References

  1. ↑ "History". Maresfield Parish Council. Archived from the original on 31 August 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Design and Heritage Background Paper". Wealden District Council. 1 October 2015. p. 40. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  3. ↑ "Blandford and West Moors" (PDF). p. 70. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 December 2009. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  4. ↑ Lord, Cliff; Lord, Chris; Watson, Graham (24 February 2014). The Royal Corps of Signals: Unit Histories of the Corps (1920-2001) and Its Antecedents. Helion & Company Limited. p. 332. ISBN   978-1874622925.
  5. ↑ "Maresfield – Not Just A Rural Backwater!". Maresfield Conservation Group. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  6. ↑ "Poncy Linguists". London Review of Books. 28 October 1999. Archived from the original on 20 February 2008.
  7. ↑ Clayton, Anthony (1996). Forearmed: A History of the Intelligence Corps (PDF). Brassey's. p. 288. ISBN   978-0080377018.
  8. ↑ "Get Some In!". Friends of the Intelligence Corps Museum. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  9. ↑ "Queen's Own Hussars". British Army units 1945 on. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  10. ↑ "Retained Firefighter Information Pack" (PDF). East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  11. ↑ "Unit 4, Ashdown Business Park" (PDF). Vail Williams. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
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