Dale Barracks

Dale Barracks is a military installation at Upton near Chester.HistoryThe barracks are situated in the grounds of Moston Hall, a house built in 1789 for Richard Massey. The house was acquired by the Swetenham family who sold it to the Lockett family in 1918. It later became a military hospital which was converted for civilian use in 1960.The rest of the site was occupied by a house known as The Dale which was built in the 1880s and was bought by the War Office in 1938. The Dale became the depot of the Cheshire Regiment who arrived from Chester Castle in 1939. During Second World War the Machine Gun Training Centre was established there and after the War it became a Primary Training Centre for infantry training. Between 1956 and 1987 the Dale was used as a secure asylum after which it was returned to military use as the officer's mess for the barracks of the 1st Battalion the King's Regiment. The 2nd Battalion Royal Welsh moved out of the barracks in April 2014 and the 2nd Battalion Mercian Regiment arrived in July 2014.In November 2016 the Ministry of Defence announced that the site would close in 2023.