Yoxter Cadet Training Camp

Yoxter Training Camp
Mendip Hills, Somerset, England
Yoxter Range
Site information
Type	Training Camp
Owner	Wessex Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Association
Operator	British Army
Open to the public	No
Location
Yoxter Training Camp Shown within Somerset
Coordinates	51°17′03″N2°42′01″W / 51.2842°N 2.7002°W / 51.2842; -2.7002
Site history
Built	1934
Built for	War Office
In use	1934-Present

Yoxter Cadet Training Camp ^[1] is a cadet training area and camp owned by the Wessex Reserve Forces and Cadets' Association and situated on the Mendip Hills in Somerset. It is between the villages of Charterhouse and Priddy. It is adjacent to the Chancellor's Farm biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, and the Somerset Wildlife Trust, Wessex RFCA, Ministry of Defence, and Natural England work together to enable conservation grazing on the site. ^[2]

History

Aerial view of Yoxter training camp.

The camp was purchased from non-public funds in 1934 to provide a training facility for the Territorial Army (now the Army Reserve). ^[3] It was used for Regular Army training in the run-up and during the Second World War, and afterward, the camp reverted to the TA. In 1964 the Royal Anglian Regiment renovated the camp and it has been in use by the Army Cadet Force ever since.

Facilities

Warning sign on the gate leading from Haydon Grange Farm to the Yoxter training area

The training area has 885 acres (3.58 km²) of land. It has a 600 yards (550 m), 8 lane, rifle range. ^[4] When firing is not in progress the training area is also used for fieldcraft exercises as well as helicopter training and the driving of non-tracked vehicles. The camp has billet accommodation for 100, store rooms, a kitchen, classrooms, and toilet facilities. All accommodation was refurbished or rebuilt in 2012/13. ^[5]

References

1. https://venues.wessex-rfca.org.uk/home/yoxtercamp/
2. "Somerset Wildlife Trust / MOD / NE – Chancellor's Farm". Grazing Advice Partnership. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
3. Brown, Donald (1999). Somerset v Hitler. Countryside Books. pp. 189–193. ISBN   978-1853065903.
4. "MOD Yoxter ranges". Frome & District Pistol Club. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
5. "Training Areas Public Information Leaflet" (PDF). Hampshire Scouts' Mountaineering Team. Retrieved 23 August 2010.