York Historic Environment Record

After the Crimean war (1854-56) the government decided to establish a training base in the north of
England. Between 1876 and 1884 the War Office bought 1800 acres of land on Strensall and Towthorpe
Commons from the then Lord of the Manor, Leonard Thompson and various other landowners. In 1884 this arrangement was enshrined in the Strensall Common Act (Abramson, 2005).
The act allowed for the enclosure of 250 acres for storehouses and buildings. In 1901, the camp was first
supplied by the York Waterworks Company with a fresh water supply; the village obtaining the same
supply in 1905. Rifle ranges were constructed at the site during the 1880s and continue to be in existence to the present day, depicted on Ordnance Survey mapping. For much of the period since the Second World War, the barracks was an Infantry Depot and the home of the Yorkshire, Lancashire and Irish Regiments. Today the barracks is the home of HQ 2nd Medical Brigade, 34th Field Hospital and other smaller units. Sports and recreational facilities were constructed within the enclosed training area, and a tennis court was shown on the 1930s Ordnance survey map. The installation of temporary accommodation blocks (known as spider blocks) are known from the 1958 Ordnance Survey map.

The training area is 770 hectares in area. 579 heactares is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Defence Estates, 2003, Strensall Training Area (Unpublished document). SYO457.

Mott Macdonald, 2014, Queen Elizabeth Barracks Strensall (Unpublished document). SYO1524.

WYAS, 2015, Queen Elizabeth Barracks, Strensall Camp (Unpublished document). SYO1647.