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] The hospital was made available 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 and the Manchester Regiment 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]

References