Dale Barracks

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Dale Barracks
Chester
Military Training Ground - geograph.org.uk - 124965.jpg
Military Training Ground near Dale Barracks
Dale Barracks is located in Cheshire
Dale Barracks
Dale Barracks
Location within Cheshire
Coordinates53°13′31″N 02°53′42″W / 53.22528°N 2.89500°W / 53.22528; -2.89500Coordinates: 53°13′31″N 02°53′42″W / 53.22528°N 2.89500°W / 53.22528; -2.89500
TypeBarracks
Site information
OwnerMinistry of Defence
Operator British Army
Site history
Built1939
In use1939-1956
1987-Present

Dale Barracks is a military installation at Upton near Chester, England.

History[]

The barracks are situated in the grounds of Moston Hall, a house built in 1789 for Richard Massey.[1] The house was acquired by the Swetenham family who sold it to the Lockett family in 1918.[2] During the First World War, the house was used as a military hospital.[3][4]

The rest of the site was occupied by a house known as The Dale which was built in the 1880s and was bought by the War Office in 1938.[2] The Dale became the depot of the Cheshire Regiment who arrived from Chester Castle in 1939.[5] During Second World War the Machine Gun Training Centre was established there and after the War it became a Primary Training Centre for infantry training.[5] Between 1956 and 1987 the Dale was used as a secure asylum after which it was returned to military use as the officer's mess for the barracks of the 1st Battalion the King's Regiment.[5]

The 1st Battalion Royal Welsh moved out of the barracks in April 2014[6] and the 2nd Battalion Mercian Regiment arrived in July 2014.[7] The 2nd Battalion Mercian Regiment itself left in Summer 2018 and was replaced by 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment which arrived in November 2018.[8]

In November 2016 the Ministry of Defence announced that the site would close in 2023.[9] This was later extended to not be before 2027.[10]

References[]

  1. ^ "Moston Hall". Parks and Gardens. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Moston Hall". History of Upton by Chester. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  3. ^ "Chapel of the Military Hospital (Moston Hall)". National Archives. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  4. ^ "Faculty of Health and Social Care Riverside Museum". Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  5. ^ a b c "Military & Wartime Activities during the 20th Century" (PDF). History of Upton by Chester. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  6. ^ "Royal Welsh bids farewell to Dale Camp". Chester Chronicle. 4 April 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  7. ^ "Dale Barracks Chester welcomes 2 Mercian Regiment". Chester Chronicle. Ministry of Defence. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  8. ^ "How the Army moved an entire battalion from Cyprus to Chester". Cheshire Live. 28 November 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  9. ^ "A Better Defence Estate" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. November 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  10. ^ "Closure of Chester's Dale Barracks delayed by four years". Chester Standard. 1 March 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
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