Catterick Garrison Cantonment

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Catterick Garrison is a major garrison located in Northern England. It is the largest British Army garrison in the world with a population of around 12,000, in addition to a large temporary population of soldiers, and is larger than the neighbouring village of Catterick.

It is not one single enclosed site, but consists of several separate barracks around which a town has developed. The Garrison is made of many different groups of buildings spread over a wide area and includes a number of individual barracks: Waithwith Banks, Gaza Barracks, Megiddo Lines, Cambrai Barracks, Bourlon Barracks, Vimy Barracks, (HQ School of Infantry), Harden Barracks, Somme Barracks, Helles Barracks, Alma Barracks, Duchess of Kent's Barracks, Piave Lines, Wathgill Camp (6 miles from the Garrison), Munster Barracks, Marne Bks.

The Garrison gained its first large supermarket, a Tesco store, 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 a roundabout). The Garrison houses both 4 Mechanised Brigade and the Infantry Training Centre (Catterick)—where all infantry soldiers receive their basic training.

The siting of the Garrison was first recommended by Robert Baden-Powell, who founded the Scouting movement, in 1908 whilst he was based at the army barracks—at that time located in Richmond Castle.The area was originally named Richmond Camp before being changed to Catterick Camp in 1915.

Under plans announced by the 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.
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Coordinates:   54°22'12"N   1°43'53"W
This article was last modified 5 years ago