At the start of WW1 Lord Kitchener, the Secretary of State for War, instigated a mass recruitment campaign. There were not sufficient barracks in existence to train the new recruits and so purpose-built training camps were developed. One of these was at Prees Heath, the Camp opened in 1915 as a training base for the British Army, it had a capacity for 30,000 men for training in trench warfare.
As the war progressed it additionally acted as a store for supplies, with its own railway depot feed by a 1 mile branch line from the LNWR’s Crewe and Shrewsbury Railway. As casualties mounted, it became a hospital with a fully fledged barracks. The scale and size of the camp brought about the appointment of the first female police officers in the Shropshire Constabulary, to manage and restrain local women from heading to the camp
This project aims to document the history of Prees Heath Camp from the planning stage in 1914 through to the last soldier to leave in 1920.
Information has been included on the many aspects of life experienced by both the military personnel and the civilians on site.
Descriptions of buildings, staff, entertainment, training, regiments & battalions have been included. These will take the form of photographic evidence, oral history reminiscences, diary excerpts, official documents and newspaper articles.
Information received from Mike Coggins 03/03/2021 My father, John Bernard Coggins b 5 June 1899 in Blackburn, 6 Bn South Wales Borderers (Pioneers) attended an Instructors Anti-Gas course at Prees Heath between 12 Sep 1918 to the 20 September 1918. … 
Your Voice Sings Not So Soft
Young people use creative and digital media to retell first hand accounts from WW1 to a contemporary audience
As part of MediaActive’s response to the WW1 Commemorations Shropshire Remembers, a team of twelve young people, working with filmmaking mentors, produced this animation based on the history of Prees Heath Common.
For more information about MediaActive please visit: www.mediaactive.org
For more information about the Shropshire Remembers Eyewitness project please visit www.eyewitnessww1.co.uk
A recording of Raynor Taylor describing life at Prees Heath Army Camp in 1916, although not a local resident it provides insight into training at the camp. Topics include Size of camp One legged soldier Hut accommodation and beds Stealing …
Patrolling the streets of Whitchurch, Shropshire during the Great War, Emily Stephings and Isabella Hardy were amongst the first police women in the country. They say there’s something about a man in uniform. The uniformed men certainly acted as a …
This postcard was sent to Walter Fowkes who was the landlord at the Talbot Inn at Gretton, Northamptonshire from a soldier stationed at Prees Heath Camp. Images reproduced with permission of Roger Fowkes …
Image reproduced with permission of Trinity Mirror plc Transcription A large number of troops came to the Prees Heath camp at the end of the week, mostly Scottish and Border Regiments, and between 5,000 and 6,000 have settled into the …
This postcard is an example of what the first soldiers at the camp could send to their friends and relatives.
Image reproduced with permission of Trinity Mirror plc Transcription The work at the Heath now employs nearly a thousand men, and it is expected the hutments and general arrangements will be in order for the first draft to arrive in …
Image reproduced with permission of Trinity Mirror plc Transcription Prees Heath Military Camp Prees Heath, close to Whitchurch, is now covered with long lines of wooden buildings which have been put up by an army of joiners. Already there are …
At Prees Heath the work is, of course, progressing – as one would expect it to do, seeing that there is an army of perhaps six or seven hundred men engaged in one task or another in connection with the …
Image reproduced with permission of Trinity Mirror plc Transcription WANTED – EX-SOLDIERS and CIVILIANS With a knowledge of Storekeeping, are required to fill vacancies as temporary Barrack Wardens and Barrack Labourers for hutments of New Army Divisions at Kimnel Park, …
Image reproduced with permission of Trinity Mirror plc Transcription New Training Camp Army Authorities and Prees Heath Army officers have inspected Prees Heath, near Whitchurch, with a view to its being used as a military training camp for 15,000 men …
