Dale Barracks

Dale Barracks
Chester
Dale Barracks
Location within Cheshire
Coordinates 53°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
Type Barracks
Site information
Owner Ministry of Defence
Operator  British Army
Site history
Built 1939
In use 1939-1956
1987-Present

Dale Barracks is a military installation at Upton near Chester.

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] It later became a military hospital[3] which was converted for civilian use in 1960.[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 2nd Battalion Royal Welsh moved out of the barracks in April 2014[6] and the 2nd Battalion Mercian Regiment arrived in July 2014.[7]

In November 2016 the Ministry of Defence announced that the site would close in 2023.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Moston Hall". Parks and Gardens. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  2. 1 2 "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. 1 2 3 "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. ↑ "A Better Defence Estate" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. November 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
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