Erskine Barracks

Erskine Barracks
Fugglestone St Peter
Erskine Barracks undergoing demolition
Erskine Barracks Location within Wiltshire
Coordinates	51°5′13″N 01°51′5″W / 51.08694°N 1.85139°W / 51.08694; -1.85139
Type	Barracks
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	British Army
Site history
Built	1949
Built for	War Office
In use	1949-2010
Garrison information
Occupants	Headquarters Land Forces

Erskine Barracks was a military installation at Fugglestone St Peter, in Wilton parish some 2+3⁄4 miles (4 km) northwest of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England.

The site, which had been farmland^[1] until used for temporary army buildings during World War II, was acquired by the British Army for use as a headquarters for Southern Command in 1949.^[1] The establishment was centred on Fugglestone Farmhouse^[1] and an Ordnance Survey map of 1958 labels it as Fugglestone Camp.^[2]

The barracks were later named after General Sir George Erskine,^[3] who had been GOC Southern Command from 1955 until his retirement in 1958.^[4] The site went on to become in 1968 the headquarters of Army Strategic Command, which was renamed UK Land Forces in 1972 and Land Command in 1995. On 1 April 2008 Land Command amalgamated with Headquarters Adjutant General under 'Project Hyperion' and became Land Forces.^[5] Land Forces moved from Erskine Barracks to the former RAF Andover site now known as Marlborough Lines on 23 June 2010,^[6] and the site became vacant.

At time, that the site covered 9.6 hectares to the north of the railway line and 3.8 hectares (less fully developed) to the south.^[1] The former farmhouse had been demolished by 1968 and all standing structures were from 1950 or later.^[1] In 2014 the headquarters building was described as "an impressive example of brutal modernism".^[1]

The site was sold to housebuilder Redrow in March 2013,^[7] and all its buildings were demolished in 2014.^[1] Besides housing, the site has Erskine House which provides 44 flats for former military personnel, and offers training for their return to civilian work.^[8][9]

The National Army Museum has a Bath stone fireplace salvaged during the demolition in 2001 of Bridge End House, a building of c.1900 used as an administrative block by the Army.^[10]

During demolition in 2014, a photographic record of selected buildings – including the Sergeants' Mess and the Headquarters – was made by Wessex Archaeology to form a historic building record, as required by Wiltshire Council under a planning condition.^[1] No archaeological features were found during a simultaneous watching brief.^[1]