Thank you for your interest in this story
To continue reading this article, sign up today to unlock exclusive content and be part of our community discussions
- Exclusive discounts
- Enjoy commenting on local issues
Already a subscriber? Log in here.
15
May 2024
Under threat: Britain's last surviving pre-war militia camp
This is part of a series of articles by Michael Furse, a trustee of the charity Ripon Military Heritage Trust, explaining the significance of some of the city's military heritage sites — and why the trust is fighting to preserve them as part of the the 1,300-home Clotherholme development.
The Stray Ferret is backing the trust’s campaign to save the heritage, as reported here. Please sign the petition here. If it gets 500 signatures it will be debated by North Yorkshire Council’s Skipton and Ripon planning committee.
During the spring of 1939, Neville Chamberlain’s government was preparing for a possible war against Nazi Germany.
Plans to conscript single men aged 20 to 22 were given parliamentary approval in the Military Training Act on 25th April 1939. These men were required to undergo six months of military training, and around 240,000 registered for service; these first conscripts were known as ‘militiamen’.
Existing barracks and camps were extended, but a number of new camps had to be hastily constructed.
The new camps were characterised by wooden huts of standard designs. These accommodation huts of six dormitories all linked to a central ablutions block were quickly christened ‘Spiders’, and were always situated around parade grounds.
The militia hutting scheme consumed an enormous quantity of timber and when war was declared in September 1939, stocks in the country were almost exhausted. Subsequent phases of hutting had to utilise different building materials.
The huge scale of building these militia camps indicated to central government that only major contractors could handle the work and an initial list was drawn up of 18 firms.
It is still unclear how the architectural plans were developed. Due to the speed of contracts being issued between the spring and autumn of 1939 it is probable that the War Office did not produce them, with the firm of Watkins & Coombes of Lincoln the possible architects.
In July 1939, the Ministry of Labour Gazetter published that the contractors, Sir Lindsay Parkinson & Co Ltd. had won the contract for the ‘erection of Hutted Camps’ at Ripon. This confirmed press reports from May which reported that the company had been awarded a contract to build five militia camps at a cost of over £1,750,000.
Pic: Halifax Evening Courier
At Ripon, the company would construct the two barracks which would make up the camp — Deverell and Harper. The militia camp was in fact two camps in one: Harper and Deverell Barracks. Deverell for the Engineers and Harper for the Infantry. Each was self-contained, apart from one, common ‘reception station’ and hospital with a single large camp hall which could seat 1,000 men and was furnished with cinema equipment.
Harper Barracks was demolished in the 1960s and replaced by Claro Barracks, a typical example of 1960s barracks architecture.
These camps were not intended to be permanent barracks for a static garrison – they were there for soldiers to rotate through for training, which is what Deverell Barracks went on doing until it closed in 2015.
One of the spider huts threatened with demolition. Pic: Ripon Military Heritage Trust
During its time, Deverell housed many different units, starting as a Royal Engineer militia barracks, before being occupied by the School of Military Engineering between late 1940 and early 1949. The continuation of National Service until the early 1960s saw Deverell used by the King's Division as a training camp for junior soldiers, amongst others.
Harper Barracks was occupied for a period by the Royal Signals for motorcycle training and as the home of the White Helmets motorcycle display team.
A total of 260 militia camps were built, we believe, of which Deverell Barracks is the last (and only partial) survivor.
If you wish to find out more about our plans and aspirations, do please review the other articles on the Stray Ferret site, or visit our website www.riponmht.org.
Read more:
- Stray Ferret backs campaign to save Ripon's military heritage
- Councillors approve 1,300 homes in Ripon
- Gallery: Tears amid military decorations as Ripon gets ready for D-Day 80th anniversary
0