Glen Parva Barracks

Glen Parva Barracks
Glen Parva
Glen Parva Barracks
Glen Parva Barracks Location within Leicestershire
Coordinates	52°34′59″N 01°08′42″W / 52.58306°N 1.14500°WCoordinates: 52°34′59″N 01°08′42″W / 52.58306°N 1.14500°W
Type	Barracks
Site information
Operator	British Army
Site history
Built	1881
Built for	War Office
In use	1881-1970

Glen Parva Barracks was a military installation at Glen Parva near South Wigston in Leicestershire.

History

The barracks opened under the name of Wigston Barracks in 1881.^[1] Their creation took place as part of the Cardwell Reforms which encouraged the localisation of British military forces.^[2] The barracks became the depot for the two battalions of the 17th (Leicestershire) Regiment of Foot as well as the 45th (Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot.^[3] Following the Childers Reforms, the barracks became the depot of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment in 1881.^[3]

Tens of thousands of recruits and conscripts were trained there for deployment during the First World War.^[4] The barracks went on to become the regional centre for infantry training as the Forester Brigade Depot in 1960.^[5] They were closed in the late 1960s and most of the buildings were sold.^[1] Although Glen Parva Young Offenders Institution now occupies much of the site^[6] a unit of the Royal Army Pay Corps remained there until 1997.^[7]

References

1. "Billets and Barracks". Green Tiger. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
2. "Echoes of the past in these Army cuts". 8 July 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
3. "Training Depots". Regiments.org. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
4. "Wigston in the First World War". Retrieved 10 April 2014.
5. "Infantry Brigade Depots (Location)". Hansard. 7 March 1958. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
6. "HM Prison Glen Parva Visiting Information". Retrieved 18 April 2014.
7. Beazley, chapter 2

Sources

• Beazley, Ben (2006). Postwar Leicester. History Press. ISBN 978-0750940689.