BUSHFIELD Camp has laid unused for more than four decades, but it was once was a thriving military base.
Seventy-one years ago, in 1950, the then King of England George VI visited the barracks where he inspected the 1st Battalion King's Royal Rifles.
In this video clip shared online by British Pathé, an online video service for documentaries and old clips, the monarch can be seen saluting at the march past of soldiers.
King George is also seen talking to veterans and raw recruits in civvies, whilst wearing a mourning band for King Gustav, the King of Sweden, who died in October 1950.
Bushfield Camp, or Bushfield Barracks as it is referred to in the clip, has come to the forefront in recent months over its future as Winchester City Council draws up its new local plan.
The military camp was earmarked for a ‘knowledge park’ but the economic situation makes that highly uncertain.
Meanwhile, a campaign is growing for the adjacent Bushfield Down to be preserved.
The question has arisen as to whether Bushfield Camp, the former Army base, can still be considered ‘brownfield’ land now that nature has been reclaiming it since the 1970s. The definition of brownfield land from the Department of Communities and Local Government says it excludes “land that was previously-developed but where the remains of the permanent structure or fixed surface structure have blended into the landscape in the process of time.” Only the parade ground is still in good shape.
