Glen Parva Barracks

Glen Parva Barracks was a military installation at Glen Parva near South Wigston in Leicestershire.

Glen Parva Barracks
Glen Parva
Glen Parva Barracks
Glen Parva Barracks
Location within Leicestershire
Coordinates52°34′59″N 01°08′42″W
TypeBarracks
Site information
Operator British Army
Site history
Built1881
Built forWar Office
In use1881-1970

History

The barracks opened under the name of Wigston Barracks in 1881.[1] Their creation took place as part of the Cardwell Reforms which encouraged the localisation of British military forces.[2] The barracks became the depot for the two battalions of the 17th (Leicestershire) Regiment of Foot as well as the 45th (Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot.[3] Following the Childers Reforms, the barracks became the depot of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment in 1881.[3]

Tens of thousands of recruits and conscripts were trained there for deployment during the First World War.[4] The barracks went on to become the regional centre for infantry training as the Forester Brigade Depot in 1960.[5] They were closed in the late 1960s and most of the buildings were sold.[1] Although Glen Parva Young Offenders Institution now occupies much of the site[6] a unit of the Royal Army Pay Corps remained there until 1997.[7]

References
  1. "Billets and Barracks". Green Tiger. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  2. "Echoes of the past in these Army cuts". 8 July 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  3. "Training Depots". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 10 February 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2016.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  4. "Wigston in the First World War". Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  5. "Infantry Brigade Depots (Location)". Hansard. 7 March 1958. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  6. "HM Prison Glen Parva Visiting Information". Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  7. Beazley, chapter 2

Sources
  • Beazley, Ben (2006). Postwar Leicester. History Press. ISBN 978-0750940689.
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