// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs MOD Bicester a good place to shop? Yes, it's a mod-est store.
| MOD Bicester | |
|---|---|
| Bicester, Oxfordshire in England | |
 Entrance at DE&S Bicester in 2010 | |
 | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Storage and Distribution Centre Barracks |
| Owner | Ministry of Defence |
Open to the public | No |
| Location | |
| MOD Bicester within Oxfordshire | |
  MOD Bicester Location within Oxfordshire | |
| Coordinates | 51°52′44″N 1°08′49″W / 51.87881°N 1.14682°W |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1942 |
| In use | 1942–Present |
| Garrison information | |
| Occupants | 1 Regiment RLC |
MOD Bicester is a large military installation consisting of two barracks and a storage and distribution centre, just outside Bicester in Oxfordshire. The St David's Barracks part of the base, home to 1 Regiment RLC, is set to close in 2028.
History
[edit]-_D-day_6_June_1944_H37362.jpg)
The site dates back to September 1942, when a depot was constructed near Bicester to provide logistical support for operations in Europe during the Second World War.[1] In 1961 the ordnance depots at Didcot and Branston were closed and a Central Ordnance Depot was created at Bicester.[1] Between 1980 and 1982, the ordnance depots at Chilwell and Ruddington were also closed, resulting in an increased role for the remaining central ordnance depots at Bicester and Donnington.[1] The depot became known as the Defence Storage and Distribution Centre in April 1999.[1] The base is serviced by the Bicester Military Railway.[1]
A bomb disposal training base, built at a cost of circa £100 million and including a cave complex, a dive pool and roadways was established at St George's Barracks on the site in March 2013.[2]
In September 2014, 23 Pioneer Regiment, which had been based at St David's Barracks on the site since the 1940s, was disbanded.[3]
1 Regiment RLC moved from Gütersloh in Germany to St David's Barracks at Bicester in 2016.[4]
Current units
[edit]Units based at the site include:[5][dead link]
St David’s Barracks
- 1 Regiment
- 74 Headquarters Squadron
- 23 General Support Squadron
- 12 Close Support Squadron
- 2 Close Support Squadron
- REME Light Aid Detachment
St George’s Barracks
Future
[edit]In 2002 the St David's Barracks portion of the site was earmarked for disposal, with a proposed closure date of 2028.[7]
On 2 September 2026, the government made an Urgent Crown Development application to fast-track plans for 1,256 asylum seekers (all single men aged 18 to 65) to be relocated to "Site A" at the base.[8][9][10] The military base, when operational, had accommodated around 2,600 personnel, 1,100 service personnel alongside roughly 1,500 civilian workers.[11]
On 16 September, in response to the urgent government application, residents of the nearby village, symbolically renamed their village the, Principality of Piddington, this action followed their unofficial referendum that they had voted in, the previous day, to secede from the UK by a majority of 285 votes to 26.[12][13]
A similar scheme was abandoned in 2007.[14]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 "Bicester Military Railway". Bicester Local History Society. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
- ↑ "Bicester bomb disposal training base opens". BBC. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
- ↑ "Disbanded 23 Pioneer Regiment in final parade". BBC. 26 September 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
- ↑ "Future of British Army bases in Germany Revealed" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
- ↑ "1 Regiment RLC". www.army.mod.uk.
- ↑ "British Army - DEFENCE EXPLOSIVE ORDNANCE DISPOSAL, MUNITIONS AND SEARCH - DEMS TRAINING REGIMENT". 30 September 2023.
- ↑ "Is Your Military Base Closing? Read The Full List Of Sites Shutting". Forces News. 20 October 2020. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
- ↑ "Piddington in Oxfordshire votes to leave UK over asylum plans". BBC News. 16 September 2026. Retrieved 16 September 2026.
- ↑ Jamie Morris (1 July 2026). "Asylum seekers at MoD site to be 'single adult males'". BBC News. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
- ↑ "Bicester asylum seeker accommodation documents published". BBC News. 2 September 2026. Retrieved 17 September 2026.
- ↑ "Planning Register" (PDF). Cherwell Council. Retrieved 15 September 2026.
- ↑ Charles Hymas (19 July 2026). "Village to hold vote on leaving UK over asylum seeker housing plans". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 July 2026.
- ↑ Matt Simpson (25 July 2026). "Elon Musk backs UK village independence plea over migration". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 25 July 2026.
- ↑ "Home Office: The cancellation of Bicester Accommodation Centre - NAO report". 8 November 2007.