Yoxter

Yoxter
Mendip Hills, Somerset, England

Yoxter Range
Yoxter
Coordinates 51°17′03″N 2°42′01″W / 51.2842°N 2.7002°W / 51.2842; -2.7002
Type Training Camp
Site information
Owner Wessex Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Association
Operator  British Army
Open to
the public		 No
Site history
Built 1934
Built for War Office
In use 1934-Present

Yoxter Training Camp is a British Army training area and camp owned by the Wessex Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Association and situated on the Mendip Hills in Somerset. It is between the villages of Charterhouse and Priddy. It is adjacent to the Chancellor's Farm biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, and the Somerset Wildlife Trust, Wessex RFCA, Ministry of Defence and Natural England work together to enable conservation grazing on the site.[1]

History

Warning sign on the gate leading from Haydon Grange Farm to the Yoxter training area

The camp was purchased from non-public funds in 1934 to provide a training facility for the Territorial Army.[2] It was used for Regular Army training in the run-up and during the Second World War, and afterwards the camp reverted to the Territorial Army. In 1964 the Royal Anglian Regiment renovated the camp and it has been in use by the Regular Army, Royal Marines, TA and the Army Cadet Force ever since.

Facilities

The training area has 885 acres (3.58 km2) of land. It has an 8 lane rifle range, which is 600 yards (550 m) long and is primarily used for this purpose.[3] When firing is not in progress the training area is also used for fieldcraft exercises as well as helicopter training and the driving of non tracked vehicles. The camp has billet accommodation for 100, store rooms, a kitchen, classrooms and toilet facilities. All accommodation was refurbished or rebuilt in 2012/13.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Somerset Wildlife Trust / MOD / NE – Chancellor's Farm". Grazing Advice Partnership. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  2. ↑ Brown, Donald (1999). Somerset v Hitler. Countryside Books. pp. 189–193. ISBN 978-1853065903.
  3. ↑ "MOD Yoxter ranges". Frome & District Pistol Club. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  4. ↑ "Training Areas Public Information Leaflet" (PDF). Hampshire Scouts' Mountaineering Team. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
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