Fulwood Barracks is a military installation at Fulwood in

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston local government district. Preston and its surrounding distri ...

, England.

History

The barracks were built between 1842 and 1848 as a base, initially at least, for the 2nd Battalion

60th Rifles The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

following the chartist riots. In 1861 an unfortunate incident took place when Private Patrick McCaffery shot both the Commanding Officer and the Adjutant of the base: he was hanged for the offence. In 1873 a system of recruiting areas based on counties was instituted under the

Cardwell Reforms The Cardwell Reforms were a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell between 1868 and 1874 with the support of Liberal prime minister William Ewart Gladstone. Gladstone paid little attention ...

and the barracks became the

depot Depot ( or ) may refer to: Places * Depot, Poland, a village * Depot Island, Kemp Land, Antarctica * Depot Island, Victoria Land, Antarctica * Depot Island Formation, Greenland Brands and enterprises * Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in ...

for the 47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot and the

81st Regiment of Foot (Loyal Lincoln Volunteers) The 81st Regiment of Foot (Loyal Lincoln Volunteers) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot to form the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment in ...

. Following the

Childers Reforms The Childers Reforms of 1881 reorganised the infantry regiments of the British Army. The reforms were done by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers during 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell Reforms. The reorganisation was ...

, the 47th and 81st Regiments amalgamated as the

Loyal North Lancashire Regiment The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) (until 1921 known as the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1970. In 1970, the regiment was amalgamated with the Lancashire Reg ...

with its depot at the barracks in 1881. The barracks also served as the

of the

East Lancashire Regiment The East Lancashire Regiment was, from 1881 to 1958, a line infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot and 59th (2nd Nott ...

from 1898, when the regiment re-located from

Burnley Barracks Burnley Barracks was a military installation at Burnley in Lancashire, England. Built for cavalry, but later used for infantry and storage, military activities at the barracks declined in the late 19th century. Background The time of the French ...

, until 1939. The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment and the East Lancashire Regiment both returned to the barracks shortly after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The barracks, which went on to become the regional centre for infantry training as the

Lancastrian Brigade The Lancastrian Brigade was an administrative formation of the British Army from 1948 to 1968. The Brigade administered the regular infantry regiments of northwest England. After the Second World War the British Army had fourteen infantry depots, e ...

Depot in 1960, became the depot of the

Queen's Lancashire Regiment The Queen's Lancashire Regiment (30th, 40th, 47th, 59th, 81st and 82nd Regiments of Foot) (QLR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the King's Division. It was formed on 25 March 1970 at Connaught Barracks in Dover through ...

in 1970 as well as Headquarters North West District in 1977 and then the headquarters of 42 (North West) Brigade in 1991. The keep, and 15 other buildings and structures in the barracks, are Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

s. In November 2016 the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

announced that the site would close in 2022; however this was later put back to 2027, and once more to 2030.

Current units

Current units stationed at the barracks include: British Army *

Headquarters North West Headquarters North West is a regional command based in North West England. The command administers the reserve units based in its area and also provides the military support HQ for the police and civilian population in the area. The units under ...

*Regimental Headquarters,

Duke of Lancaster's Regiment The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border) (LANCS) is an infantry regiment of the line within the British Army, part of the King's Division. Headquartered in Preston, it recruits throughout the North West of England. The Du ...

Community Cadet Forces *Headquarters, Lancashire Army Cadet Force **Fulwood Detachment, Lancashire Army Cadet Force

References

{{City of Preston buildings Installations of the British Army Barracks in England Buildings and structures in Preston Grade II listed buildings in Lancashire 1842 establishments in England

History

Current units

See also

References