Copthorne Barracks was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

military installation in Copthorne, a suburb of

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'S ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

History

The barracks were built between 1877 and 1881 and initially included a hospital, married quarters, stabling and stores. Their creation took place as part of the

Cardwell Reforms The Cardwell Reforms were a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell between 1868 and 1874 with the support of Liberal prime minister William Ewart Gladstone. Gladstone paid little attentio ...

which encouraged the localisation of British military forces. The barracks became the depot for the

43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot The 43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1741. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) to form the 1st and 2nd battalions of ...

and the

53rd (Shropshire) Regiment of Foot The 53rd (Shropshire) Regiment of Foot was a British Army regiment, raised in 1755. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 85th (King's Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot to form the King's Shropshire Light Infantry in 1881. History ...

. Following the

Childers Reforms The Childers Reforms of 1881 reorganised the infantry regiments of the British Army. The reforms were done by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers during 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell Reforms. The reorganisation was ...

, the 53rd (Shropshire) Regiment of Foot amalgamated with the 85th Regiment of Foot (Bucks Volunteers) to form the

King's Shropshire Light Infantry The King's Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in the Childers Reforms of 1881, but with antecedents dating back to 1755. It served in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. In 196 ...

with its depot in the barracks in 1881. The barracks went on to become the regional centre for infantry training as the Light Infantry Brigade Depot in 1960 and was referred to in that period as Sir John Moore Barracks. In 1967 the West Midlands District was established with headquarters at Copthorne Barracks. In the early 1980s West Midlands District became "Western District". In 1991, the first three of the minor districts to be amalgamated were North West District, the former Western District and Wales, to form a new Wales and Western District. The enlarged district was disbanded on the formation of HQ

Land Command Land Command (or 'HQ Land') was a military command (military formation), command and part of the structure of the British Army from 1995 to 2008. Its headquarters was at Erskine Barracks, at Fugglestone St Peter, some four kilometres northwest of S ...

in 1995, when Copthorne Barracks then became headquarters of the 5th Infantry Division from 1995 until the division was disbanded in 2012. The King's Shropshire Light Infantry museum was first established at Copthorne Barracks but moved to

Shrewsbury Castle Shrewsbury Castle is a red sandstone castle in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. It stands on a hill in the neck of the meander of the River Severn on which the town originally developed. The castle, directly above Shrewsbury railway station, is a ...

in 1985. The name of the establishment reverted to Copthorne Barracks when Sir John Moore Barracks, Winchester opened in October 1986. It was also the administrative headquarters of the

's regional

143 (West Midlands) Brigade The 143rd Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service in both the First and the Second World Wars. In the First World War the brigade served on both Western Front and later the Italian Front. During the S ...

which was successively a subordinate part of Western District, Wales and Western District and the 5th Division, until 11 Signal Brigade and 143 (West Midlands) Brigade amalgamated to form

11th Signal Brigade and Headquarters West Midlands 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first attested ...

in November 2014. Following the amalgamation, the staff moved to Venning Barracks at

Donnington, Telford Donnington is an area / housing estate located in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. The population of Donnington Ward was 6,883 at the 2011 Census. History Before the Romans arrived in Britain the a ...

(11 Signal Brigade's base). The barracks also remains the home of two Army Reserve units, E Company, 8th Battalion,

The Rifles The Rifles is an infantry regiment of the British Army. Formed in 2007, it consists of four Regular battalions and three Reserve battalions, plus a number of companies in other Army Reserve battalions. Each battalion of The Rifles was formerly ...

and 202 (Midlands) Field Hospital, whose drill halls are within its perimeter. In November 2014, the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

declared the parts of the barracks left unused by the departure of the 143 Brigade surplus to requirements and officially put it up for sale. The exception is 0.193 hectares of land used by the Army Reserve Centre which will remain Ministry property. In July 2016 the Defence Infrastructure Organisation applied for planning permission to

Shropshire Council Shropshire Council is the local authority of Shropshire, in England, comprising the ceremonial county of Shropshire except Telford and Wrekin. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combi ...

to demolish 40 buildings at the barracks while retaining boundary walls, prior to sale.News Briefing column. The site was sold in May 2018 to builders Bellway Homes who in December 2018 gained approval from Shropshire Council to build 216 homes, and permission to begin demolition work to clear the site. Under this, the acquired buildings were entirely demolished apart from part of the 19th century 'Keep' which was retained for conversion to apartments. The development has been named Copthorne Keep.

References

{{reflist Barracks in England Installations of the British Army Buildings and structures in Shrewsbury