Simpson Barracks (formerly Quebec Barracks) is a former military installation at Wootton in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

History

The barracks were established in 1939, at the start of 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 ...

, under the name of Quebec Barracks as the depot for the

Northamptonshire Regiment The Northamptonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1960. In 1960, it was amalgamated with the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment to form the 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's Ow ...

whose previous depot at Gibraltar Barracks was becoming inadequate. The Northamptonshire Regiment remained at the barracks until it merged with the

Royal Lincolnshire Regiment The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army raised on 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath. In 1751, it was numbered like most other Army regimen ...

to form the 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's Own Royal Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire) in 1960. The

Royal Pioneer Corps The Royal Pioneer Corps was a British Army combatant corps used for light engineering tasks. It was formed in 1939, and amalgamated into the Royal Logistic Corps in 1993. Pioneer units performed a wide variety of tasks in all theatres of war, inc ...

moved to the barracks in 1960, at which time the barracks were renamed Simpson Barracks after General Sir Frank Simpson who served as colonel commandant of the Royal Pioneer Corps. The Corps remained there until they were amalgamated with other units to form the

Royal Logistic Corps The Royal Logistic Corps provides logistic support functions to the British Army. It is the largest Corps in the Army. History The Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) was formed on 5 April 1993, by the union of five British Army corps: * Royal Engine ...

and the barracks closed in 1993. The site was redeveloped for housing in the late 1990s.

References

{{reflist Installations of the British Army Barracks in England Buildings and structures in Northampton