Ripon Barracks: 'Mind-blowing' plans to turn historic military barracks in Yorkshire into tourist attraction

Ripon’s three barracks are set to close by 2025 in order to build 1,300 homes but there have been question marks over what will happen to some of the site’s historic stuctures with some dating back to the First World War.

Jane Furse and Guy Wilson from Ripon Military Heritage Trust, which recently registered as a charity, gave a presentation to councillors on Ripon City Council about the group’s campaign to save seven training huts which are believed to be some of the last remaining of their type in the country.

They argued that if the huts are saved, as well as rare training bridges, it could put the city on the map as a military tourist destination. Mr Wilson is an experienced heritage expert and helped to spearhead the creation of the Royal Armouries museum in Leeds during the 1990s.

He said it was “critical” that the huts are saved: “We want to preserve as much of it as we possibly can. It’s an opportunity to get Ripon on the map as a military heritage area.”

Ripon’s barracks were originally built as a convalescent camp for troops during the First World War. Thousands of troops were housed there, including the wartime poet Wilfred Owen, who wrote some of his famous works at the site. It continued to be used by troops training for the Second World War and the Cold War and is still in use today by the Royal Engineers.

The government’s housing agency Homes England is developing the site and has said it is committed to working with Ripon Military Heritage Group on studies to resolve what happens to the buildings. However this does not guarantee that the huts will be saved, with demolition potentially taking place as early as next year.

Ms Furse added: “[If they are saved] it means it won’t be just a housing estate, it gives it a military legacy that everybody in Ripon so clearly wants to see. We see it as a scheme that would allow military buildings to be retained and the legacy to continue.”

The plan to save the huts were enthusiastically backed by councillors at the meeting.

Coun Stuart Flatley said: “The plans are absolutely mind-blowing for Ripon. This heritage should never be buried. Never. This is a unique site and it needs to be promoted so. The use would be for the full Ripon community. Military history is massive in this country. The rewards for Ripon would be enormous.”

Coun Pauline McHardy said: “It’s extremely important for Ripon, not just for its past, but a lot of people who live in Ripon now served in that camp. It’s our history. It’s important that the children of Ripon don’t forget what our lads from Ripon did.”