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Catterick Garrison is a major garrison and military town 3 miles (5 km) south of Richmond, North Yorkshire, England. It is the largest British Army garrison in the world, with a population of around 13,000 in 2017[1] and covering over 2,400 acres (about 10 km2). Under plans announced by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in November 2005, its population is expected to grow to over 25,000, making it the largest population centre in the local area.[2][3]

History
At the beginning of August 1907 Robert Baden-Powell, Inspector-General of Cavalry, held his experimental camp for boys on Brownsea Island. In October 1907, he was appointed to command the Northumbrian Division of the newly formed Territorial Army. His headquarters were in Richmond Castle,[4] which was too small to hold the garrison, so he chose as a replacement the site for the Catterick military town.[5] The following year saw the founding of the Scouting movement.[6][7]

On 12 August 1914, the order was issued for the construction of the camp, following the outbreak of the First World War. The original intention was for Catterick to be a temporary camp to accommodate two complete divisions with around 40,000 men in 2,000 huts.[8]


One Mk V 12-inch railway howitzer (foreground) and two Mk III 12-inch railway howitzers at Catterick in 1940
The base was originally named Richmond Camp but was changed to Catterick Camp in 1915, and later modified to Catterick Garrison in 1973. After serving as a prisoner of war camp at the end of the First World War, the idea to make Catterick a permanent military barracks was first suggested after the partitioning of Ireland in 1921, to replace The Curragh. The required land was purchased and building plans were put forward in 1923. Construction was undertaken by John Laing & Son,[9] and by the mid-1930s most of the camp's facilities were complete. During the Second World War the camp was once again used to house prisoners of war.[10]

RAF Catterick closed in 1994 and was transferred to the British Army to become Marne Barracks which falls under the command of Catterick Garrison.[11]

In 2018, to celebrate the centenary of the Armistice and the end of the First World War, four stone monuments, including a steam locomotive and a likeness of Lord Baden Powell, were erected on the town's central roundabout.[12]

Governance
Between 1974 and 2023 it was in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, within the Central Richmondshire electoral division of North Yorkshire County Council and divided between the Hipswell and Scotton wards of Richmondshire District Council.[13]

The town is divided between two civil parishes, the southern part of the town, south of a small stream known as Leadmill Gill, is in the civil parish of Scotton, the northern part forms the greater part of the civil parish of Hipswell. Each parish has its own parish council.[14]

Catterick Garrison was within the Richmond (Yorks) parliamentary constituency, following the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished. Subject to moderate boundary changes, it was reformed as Richmond and Northallerton, first contested at the 2024 general election.[15] These seats have been represented since 2015 by Conservative Rishi Sunak.[16]

Geography
Catterick Garrison is located on the A6136 road, connecting Richmond with the A1(M) at Catterick Village, 4.7 miles (7.6 km) to the east. Nearby are the suburban settlements of Scotton 1.6 miles (2.6 km) south and Hipswell 0.7 miles (1.1 km) to the east, as well as Colburn, 1.9 miles (3.1 km) to the east.[17]

Foxglove Covert, a local nature reserve, was the first of its kind in North Yorkshire and the first to be located on Ministry of Defence (MoD) land in the UK. It covers 100 acres of moorland edge, and was opened in 1992. In 2001 it was declared a Site of Local Nature Conservation Importance