Catterick Garrison
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| Catterick Garrison | |
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| Population | 12,000 |
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| OS grid reference | |
| District | Richmondshire |
| Shire county | North Yorkshire |
| Region | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CATTERICK GARRISON |
| Postcode district | DL9 |
| Dial code | 01748 |
| Police | North Yorkshire |
| Fire | North Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| UK Parliament | Richmond |
| European Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire | |
Catterick Garrison is a major Army base located in Northern England. It is the largest British Army garrison in the world with a population of around 12,000, plus a large temporary population of soldiers, and is larger than its older neighbour Catterick (also known locally as Catterick Village). It is said to be the largest army base in Europe and is both the main direct and indirect employer for much of eastern Richmondshire.
It is not a single fenced base like some people envisage, but several separate barracks around which a town has developed. The Garrison gained its first large supermarket, a Tesco, in 2000 along with a retail park including a McDonalds. The road signs have been changed to read "Town Centre" instead of "Camp Centre" (which is actually a roundabout). The Garrison houses both 19 Lt Bde and the Infantry Training Centre (Catterick) where all infanteers receive their basic training. The Garrison has spread out to include three villages which are now almost (generally civilian-occupied) suburbs: Colburn, Scotton, Walkerville and Hipswell.
The siting of the Garrison was first recommended by Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scouting movement, in 1908 whilst he was based at the army barracks at that time located in Richmond Castle [1]. The original name of the base was Richmond Camp before being changed to Catterick Camp in 1915.
Under plans announced by the UK Ministry of Defence in November 2005 the population of Catterick Garrison is expected to grow to over 25,000 by 2020, making it the largest population centre in the local area.
There are several takeaway restaurants and nightspots in the Garrison including Sports Bar 28 and Louis' Bar.
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[edit] HQ School of Infantry, Infantry Training Centre
Catterick is the largest of three Infantry Training Centres in the UK. Infantry Training Centre (ITC) Catterick conducts infantry training combinining Phase 1 and Phase 2 on the Combat Infantryman's Course (although junior soldiers destined for the infantry continue to receive Phase 1 training at Army Training Regiment at Bassingbourn and at the Army Foundation College in Harrogate).
[edit] Barracks
The Garrison is made of many different groups of buildings spread over a wide area and includes a number of individual barracks, most of which are named after historical British Army battles, many of which took place in Northern France during the First World War. They include:
- Waithwith Banks
- Gaza Barracks
- Cambra Barracks
- Bourlon Barracks
- Vimy Barracks, named after the Battle of Vimy Ridge
- Harden Barracks
- Somme Barracks, named after the Battle of the Somme
- Helles Barracks
- Alma Barracks, named after the Battle of Alma
- Jaffa Barracks
Also included in the command of Catterick Garrison is Marne Barracks, located at the site of the former RAF Catterick alongside the A1 on the outskirts of Catterick Village.
[edit] Other units
- Beachhead Lines, 150 Provost Company, Royal Military Police, named after the Normandy Landings 1944. Although a RMP station owned by the MOD, the North Yorkshire Police are also co-located here.
