History
The garrison was established in 1904 as the Remount Depot, which supplied the military with horses for both operational and ceremonial purposes. It was operated by the Army Remount Service. The Depot operated throughout the First World War, closing in 1937.
During the Second World War, part of the garrison functioned as the Army Technical School. Since its establishment, the garrison has been the location of a number of Army Apprentices College and technical schools, and has provided apprenticeships to an estimated 50,000 trainees.
The Garrison was also the "Depot" for The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), this was housed at Poperinge Barracks. The Barracks was named after the town of Poperinge in Belgium and was previously located in the south-west of Arborfield Garrison, having been built back in 1939 to accommodate and train reservists. Also during the war the Royal Artillery had units based here until just prior to D-Day in June 1944. Following their departure and up to July 1946, the barracks were then used as an Army depot for the assembly and dispatch of troops bound for service in north-west Europe.
In that month of July 1946, the REME Training Centre was formed and a Regimental Training Tactical Wing was established in the barracks – now to be known as 'Training Battalion and Depot REME'. The Barracks consisted of wooden huts mostly grouped in 'spiders', each spider being made up of six huts joined by corridors to central washing and utility rooms.
In October 1977 Poperinghe barracks closed as a training centre.
today the barracks are awaiting development to be turned in to a huge development of homes called arborfield green.
our visit
after attempting to visit the site late last year and failing to gain access due to literally 100s of people being on site it was time to try again. this time visiting at night access was quickly and surprisingly easy almost too good to be true. furthermore just about every building on site was left unlocked. entering the buildings there was some doubt that there was very much to see anymore however I couldn't have been more wrong and on top of this there was little to no vandalism to any of the buildings with some buildings looking as if they were freshly abandoned. after several hours on site we hadn't nearly managed to see everything and was pleasantly surprised to find no security. definitely worth a visit and a return.
The garrison was established in 1904 as the Remount Depot, which supplied the military with horses for both operational and ceremonial purposes. It was operated by the Army Remount Service. The Depot operated throughout the First World War, closing in 1937.
During the Second World War, part of the garrison functioned as the Army Technical School. Since its establishment, the garrison has been the location of a number of Army Apprentices College and technical schools, and has provided apprenticeships to an estimated 50,000 trainees.
The Garrison was also the "Depot" for The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), this was housed at Poperinge Barracks. The Barracks was named after the town of Poperinge in Belgium and was previously located in the south-west of Arborfield Garrison, having been built back in 1939 to accommodate and train reservists. Also during the war the Royal Artillery had units based here until just prior to D-Day in June 1944. Following their departure and up to July 1946, the barracks were then used as an Army depot for the assembly and dispatch of troops bound for service in north-west Europe.
In that month of July 1946, the REME Training Centre was formed and a Regimental Training Tactical Wing was established in the barracks – now to be known as 'Training Battalion and Depot REME'. The Barracks consisted of wooden huts mostly grouped in 'spiders', each spider being made up of six huts joined by corridors to central washing and utility rooms.
In October 1977 Poperinghe barracks closed as a training centre.
today the barracks are awaiting development to be turned in to a huge development of homes called arborfield green.
our visit
after attempting to visit the site late last year and failing to gain access due to literally 100s of people being on site it was time to try again. this time visiting at night access was quickly and surprisingly easy almost too good to be true. furthermore just about every building on site was left unlocked. entering the buildings there was some doubt that there was very much to see anymore however I couldn't have been more wrong and on top of this there was little to no vandalism to any of the buildings with some buildings looking as if they were freshly abandoned. after several hours on site we hadn't nearly managed to see everything and was pleasantly surprised to find no security. definitely worth a visit and a return.