| Warley Barracks | |
|---|---|
| Warley, Essex | |
 The Essex Regiment Chapel | |
  Warley Barracks Location within Essex | |
| Coordinates | 51°35′57″N00°17′52″E / 51.59917°N 0.29778°E |
| Type | Barracks |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Ministry of Defence |
| Operator |  British Army |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1804–1805 |
| Built for | War Office |
| In use | 1805-1958 |
| Garrison information | |
| Occupants | The Essex Regiment |
Warley Barracks was a military installation at Warley near Brentwood in Essex.
The local common was used as a military camp in 1742, with thousands of troops camped there during the summer months. It was an ideal base, as it was less than a day's march to Tilbury, where the troops would leave for foreign service. In the 1778 encampment, King George III came to inspect the troops, and Dr Samuel Johnson stayed for five days. Warley Barracks was made permanent in 1804, with space for 2,000 cavalry. 116 acres (0.47 km2) of land were bought and used for two troops of horse artillery – 222 horses, with 306 soldiers of varying ranks and ten officers – a hospital, and half a battalion of the Rifle Brigade. [1]
In 1842 the East India Company's barracks at Chatham became inadequate, and they purchased the land to move their troops in. Accommodation was created for 785 recruits and 20 sergeants with new buildings for the officers. Married family housing was also provided, and a chapel. In 1856 further building work was carried out, and a total of 1,120 men were housed there every year. After training they were deployed to India. [1] The area and men were absorbed into the British Army after the Indian Mutiny in 1857, and in 1861 the barracks was bought by the War Office. The barracks became the depot of the Brigade of Guards in the 1860s. [2]
In 1873 a system of recruiting areas based on counties was instituted under the Cardwell Reforms and the barracks became the depot for the 44th (East Essex) Regiment of Foot and the 56th (West Essex) Regiment of Foot. [3] Following the Childers Reforms, the 44th and 56th regiments amalgamated to form the Essex Regiment with its depot in the barracks in 1881. [3]
The regiment saw active service in the Second Boer War and both World Wars. Following the amalgamation of the regiment with the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment to form the 3rd East Anglian Regiment in 1958 the site was sold to the Ford Motor Company. [2] The Essex Regiment Chapel is located in Eagle Way. The chapel was built in 1857 and is a Grade II listed building. It was originally built for the East India Company, but with the establishment of the Essex Regiment Depot at Warley, the chapel became the regiment's "home" church. The chapel's interior contains displays of regimental history, memorials, heraldry and regimental colours. The chapel is open by appointment, and on regimental heritage days. [2]
The chapel is nearby to the Warley (Brentwood) Army Reserve drill hall, which is the headquarters of 124 (Essex) Transport Squadron, part of 151 Regiment RLC. [4]
The site of the old regimental depot and barracks became the headquarters of the Ford Motor Company, a housing estate and a Depot for Brentwood District (now Borough) Council. With the departure of the Ford Motor Company in 2019, [5] the majority of the remaining site was developed for housing. The chapel, the officers' mess (now Marillac Nursing Home) and one of the regimental gyms (Keys Hall) remain. [6]
The Essex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958. The regiment served in many conflicts such as the Second Boer War and both World War I and World War II, serving with distinction in all three. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 44th Regiment of Foot and the 56th Regiment of Foot.
The Royal Anglian Regiment is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It consists of two Regular battalions and one Reserve battalion. The modern regiment was formed in 1964, making it the oldest of the line regiments now operating in the British Army, and can trace its history back to 1685. The regiment was the first of the large infantry regiments and is one of the three regiments of the Queen's Division.
The 3rd East Anglian Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army.
Warley is a suburb of Brentwood in Essex, situated to the south of the town. It was notable for being home to the British headquarters of Ford Motor Company prior to their office closure.
The 44th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment in the British Army, raised in 1741. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 56th Regiment of Foot to form the Essex Regiment in 1881.
The 56th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment in the British Army, active from 1755 to 1881. It was originally raised in Northumbria as the 58th Regiment, and renumbered the 56th the following year when two senior regiments were disbanded. It saw service in Cuba at the capture of Havana in the Seven Years' War, and was later part of the garrison during the Great Siege of Gibraltar in the American Revolutionary War. During the French Revolutionary Wars it fought in the Caribbean and then in Holland. On the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars the 56th raised a second battalion in 1804 as part of the anti-invasion preparations; both saw service in India and in the Indian Ocean, with the first capturing Réunion and Mauritius. A third battalion was formed in the later years of the war, but was disbanded after a brief period of service in the Netherlands.
The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army raised on 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath. In 1751, it was numbered like most other Army regiments and named the 10th Regiment of Foot. After the Childers Reforms of 1881, it became the Lincolnshire Regiment after the county where it had been recruiting since 1781.
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The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment was the final title of a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was originally formed in 1688. After centuries of service in many conflicts and wars, including both the First and Second World Wars, the regiment was amalgamated with the Essex Regiment in 1958 to form the 3rd East Anglian Regiment. However, this was short-lived and again was amalgamated, in 1964, with the 1st East Anglian Regiment and 2nd East Anglian Regiment, and the Royal Leicestershire Regiment to form the present Royal Anglian Regiment.
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The East Anglian Brigade was an administrative brigade of the British Army from 1946 to 1968, that administered the regiments with recruiting grounds in East Anglia, and the East of England.
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