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
EuropeIt is not a single fenced base, 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 a
roundabout). The Garrison houses both 4 Mech Bde and the Infantry Training Centre (Catterick) where all infantry soldiers receive their basic training. The Garrison has spread out to include four villages which are now almost (generally civilian-occupied)
suburbs:
Colburn,
Scotton,
Hipswell and Brough With St Giles
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.
army.mod.uk 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...
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