The camp was established in 1794 when the British Army bought over 229 acres of land at Shorncliffe; it was then extended in 1796 and 1806.[2] It was at Shorncliffe that, in 1803, Sir John Moore trained the Light Division that fought under the Duke of Wellington in the Napoleonic Wars.[3] In 1890, hutted camp facilities were replaced with permanent facilities known as Moore Barracks, Napier Barracks, Ross Barracks, Royal Engineers Barracks (later known as Burgoyne Barracks) and Somerset Barracks.[4] Risborough Barracks was established by 1910.[4]
Shorncliffe was used as a staging post for troops destined for the Western Front during the First World War, and in April 1915, a Canadian Training Division was formed there.[5] The Canadian Army Medical Corps had general hospitals based at Shorncliffe from September 1917 to December 1918.[6] The camp at that time composed five unit lines known as Moore Barracks, Napier Barracks, Risborough Barracks, Ross Barracks and Somerset Barracks.[5] On three occasions, there were German air raids which killed soldiers on the camp.[7]
During the Second World War, Shorncliffe was again used as a staging post and Queen Mary visited the camp in 1939.[8]
From 1967, the camp was home to the Junior Infantryman's Battalion (JIB) and later, the Infantry Junior Leaders Battalion (IJLB) until the dissolution of junior soldier recruitment in 1991.[9]
On 2 April 2013, it was announced that land forming part of Shorncliffe Garrison would be sold to create 1,200 new homes. Proceeds from the sale would be reinvested to provide "better facilities for service men and women".
In January 2023, it was reported that so far 547 new homes had been built on the site of the former barracks - and there were 653 more to go. Somerset Barracks were demolished and replaced with new houses and flats, much of Burgoyne Barracks had also been flattened and some of the new properties had been built. The demolition of Risborough Barracks was underway. The former stable block at Shorncliffe Garrison in Folkestone is set to be demolished.[14]
Napier Barracks - which since 2021 has been used to accommodate asylum seekers - will be the final barracks to be demolished, the government has said it will vacate the site on or before March 25, 2025.
The explore
Having pass this late last year we decided to check it again having previously fail as we weren't willing to cut the ties on the fence patch job, returning the fence was still patched although the main gates were wide open after seeing widows wide open from the road ( wich I think we all agree is basically a please come in) 😆 we decided to just chance walking in the front gate while no one was around. We went back again a couple weeks later to find the fence patch cut and a removed wood panel to the second building and some familiar names inside 😒 🦊 although as the site wasn't being worked that day and the gates were shut it did help 😂
We first headed to the taller building having seen the open window from road
The ground floor in this section seemed to be a court of some sort badminton maybe I asume the box was to put the balls in then after squeezing through a hole in the wall we came across the rock wall and trampoline area
Coming out of the building I noticed an air raid shelter so we took a look
Coming out of the shelter i then took the photo of the building we had just come out of and noticed the clock on the front so i had to go check if i could get to it
I noticed some original graffiti inside the clock housing
We then checked out the gym building and offices at the front
Racks with rounders vests reminded me of school sports days
On the second visit we had a quick look in what was the stables as there wasn't any workmen on site but they where stripped out and being used to store some of the stair frames for the new houses
Thanks for looking
Shorncliffe was used as a staging post for troops destined for the Western Front during the First World War, and in April 1915, a Canadian Training Division was formed there.[5] The Canadian Army Medical Corps had general hospitals based at Shorncliffe from September 1917 to December 1918.[6] The camp at that time composed five unit lines known as Moore Barracks, Napier Barracks, Risborough Barracks, Ross Barracks and Somerset Barracks.[5] On three occasions, there were German air raids which killed soldiers on the camp.[7]
During the Second World War, Shorncliffe was again used as a staging post and Queen Mary visited the camp in 1939.[8]
From 1967, the camp was home to the Junior Infantryman's Battalion (JIB) and later, the Infantry Junior Leaders Battalion (IJLB) until the dissolution of junior soldier recruitment in 1991.[9]
On 2 April 2013, it was announced that land forming part of Shorncliffe Garrison would be sold to create 1,200 new homes. Proceeds from the sale would be reinvested to provide "better facilities for service men and women".
In January 2023, it was reported that so far 547 new homes had been built on the site of the former barracks - and there were 653 more to go. Somerset Barracks were demolished and replaced with new houses and flats, much of Burgoyne Barracks had also been flattened and some of the new properties had been built. The demolition of Risborough Barracks was underway. The former stable block at Shorncliffe Garrison in Folkestone is set to be demolished.[14]
Napier Barracks - which since 2021 has been used to accommodate asylum seekers - will be the final barracks to be demolished, the government has said it will vacate the site on or before March 25, 2025.
The explore
Having pass this late last year we decided to check it again having previously fail as we weren't willing to cut the ties on the fence patch job, returning the fence was still patched although the main gates were wide open after seeing widows wide open from the road ( wich I think we all agree is basically a please come in) 😆 we decided to just chance walking in the front gate while no one was around. We went back again a couple weeks later to find the fence patch cut and a removed wood panel to the second building and some familiar names inside 😒 🦊 although as the site wasn't being worked that day and the gates were shut it did help 😂
We first headed to the taller building having seen the open window from road
The ground floor in this section seemed to be a court of some sort badminton maybe I asume the box was to put the balls in then after squeezing through a hole in the wall we came across the rock wall and trampoline area
Coming out of the building I noticed an air raid shelter so we took a look
Coming out of the shelter i then took the photo of the building we had just come out of and noticed the clock on the front so i had to go check if i could get to it
I noticed some original graffiti inside the clock housing
We then checked out the gym building and offices at the front
Racks with rounders vests reminded me of school sports days
On the second visit we had a quick look in what was the stables as there wasn't any workmen on site but they where stripped out and being used to store some of the stair frames for the new houses
Thanks for looking
