Leighton House

[mojo]

For anyone interested:

As announced today by Defence Minister Mark Lancaster, Leighton House otherwise know as the RCB or Army Officer Selection Board is being put up for sale along with nine other MOD sites.

From Wikipedia

"Leighton House
Located Near Westbury, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom
Coordinates   51.252501°N 2.192197°W
Type   Manor
Site information
Owner   British Army
Controlled by   British Army
Site history
Built   1800
Built by   Henry Phipps
Garrison information
Occupants   Army Officer Selection Board
The estate on which Leighton House stands was bought by the Phipps family, a prominent family in the local cloth industry Westbury was known for, in 1585. In 1800 Henry Phipps, father of businessmen and politicians John Lewis and Charles Paul Phipps, built a Neoclassical box house, naming it Leighton House. William Laverton, who ran a wool mill inherited from his uncle Abraham Laverton, bought out the entire estate in 1888. He extended the house and planted trees, including a row of Araucaria araucana (Chilean pine) which still stands there today. Laverton ran his own in-house cricket team which played at W. H. Laverton's Ground and a home cinema until money ran out in 1921. The house briefly became a prep school before the War Office bought the estate in 1939. It previously housed a selection board for National Service. Since 1949 the Regular Commissions Board, later Army Officer Selection Board, has been based there.

The 40 acres (16 ha) of land behind Leighton House comprises of a 19th-century manor house (Leigh House), a trout lake and an assault course where potential officers are put through their paces.

In 1978 Leighton House was named a Grade II listed building for its architectural significance as it features designs from two different periods"

Cheers

Mojo

[Michael]

Oh well another new housing estate for Westbury, selling off the family jewels comes to mind, but on the other hand perhaps it's just a shrinking of the British Army.

[Mike Hawkins]

Oh well another new housing estate for Westbury, selling off the family jewels comes to mind, but on the other hand perhaps it's just a shrinking of the British Army.

Michael, I suspect both!

[Silverthreads]

  oh, lets hope it isn't sold for housing!! Westbury has far too many houses and not enough facilities  as it is!
I remember going there to a youth club in the 'fifties'. A lot of fun was had by one and all. Down to the jug and bottle at The Bell.  Such good memories. It could be adapted into a fine Wedding Venue!

[johnnyTheFox]

Looks like it will be sold for housing

http://www.cityam.com/237537/uk-house-prices-ministry-of-defence-names-new-sites-for-thousands-of-home-as-it-releases-land-in-london-essex-kent-and-hampshire

[Silverthreads]

As well as a Wedding Venue it could also house  some much needed SHOPS!  Not Estate Agents or Charity Shops!!!!  It could be called 'Phipps Precinct'. Whatever happens to it the House and walls should be kept!   Please not more houses. Westbury will end up being one big housing estate and nothing but cars parked all over the place. Talking of which Oldfield Road is horrendous! Cars parked both sides of the road and some halfway on the pavement, making it impossible for pedestrians, pushchairs, wheelchairs and scooter users to pass by. An accident waiting to happen I fear. Cars accelerate  trying there best to drive through the middle of the humps, they certainly don't bring the traffic down to 20mph! 

[Al]

Talking of which Oldfield Road is horrendous! Cars parked both sides of the road and some halfway on the pavement, making it impossible for pedestrians, pushchairs, wheelchairs and scooter users to pass by. An accident waiting to happen I fear.

Same on Eden Vale, where there was a crash yesterday, and Leigh Road, where there was a crash on Friday. Too many parked cars for the volume of traffic using the roads given the patience of most drivers. Needs more tolerant driving standards and less cars.

[Debs]

Surely with more proposed housing on the rcb site and the new ones on the mead  shouldn't we be getting better amenities  here too ??  The high street is full of estate agents and charity shops and 2 empty units ....    The surgery i woukd say is struggling ...   I waited 6weeks to see my own doctor  a few weeks ago ...  And from what ive read on fb spotted westbury page a lot of others have hd the same problems.   If you want people to shop local and have the buzz words USE US OR LOSE US. You have to provide the right shops ...  There is nowhere in town to buy clothes or shoes from..  So you can't  blame people for doing the rest of their shopping out of town at the same time .   I just don't see the point of squeezing in more houses if there isn't the services needed to keep everyone safe and happy .



And talking of Oldfield Rd  ...I was in a queue of traffic waiting to go through the traffic calming as it was our right of way but we didn't seem to be moving well because of parked cars and one impatient driver in a dark car coming from then opposite way decided he couldn't wait any longer and mounted the pavement and drove through the traffic calming the wrong side ... which is for bike cycle path ....   Saw this twice in recent weeks

[johnnyTheFox]

Westbury's Army training base to be sold for housing http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/14395503.Westbury_s_Army_training_base_to_be_sold_for_housing/

[Debs]

Shame its to be sold for housing .....  Was a beautiful building in its heyday     as well people losing their jobs ...I see the mod in bath is also going the same way ...  All been knocked down already and ready for building .. There was a report on the TV news last night funnily enough that I watched .  some aren't going to move despite them trying to be bought out .. One chap is digging his heels in and staying put so he says ..   He said they can build around him ..he isn't budging ...wonder how desperate they want his land and how much they will be forced to go to


Like I said ...shame to be houses that we don't need ..we haven't got the amenities to cope with what we have already  ..

[Michael]

Shame its to be sold for housing .....  Was a beautiful building in its heyday     as well people losing their jobs ...I see the mod in bath is also going the same way ...  All been knocked down already and ready for building .. There was a report on the TV news last night funnily enough that I watched .  some aren't going to move despite them trying to be bought out .. One chap is digging his heels in and staying put so he says ..   He said they can build around him ..he isn't budging ...wonder how desperate they want his land and how much they will be forced to go to


Like I said ...shame to be houses that we don't need ..we haven't got the amenities to cope with what we have already  ..

Yes all gone in Bath, Warminster Road, Fox Hill, at Combe Down, and Ensleigh, which was Landsdown, also gone is HQ Land at Wilton.
The closure of these sites will have had a significant effect on local economies, despite the fact that they have been replaced by housing.

[Maxi]

I have heard that this is not closing now, does anyone know if this is true.

[baldy]

I've not heard anything and I can't find anything online mentioning this.

The current ongoing process to update the Wiltshire Council local development plan with new housing land allocations has, quite remarkably, managed to leave Westbury out altogether apart from some very small areas far from the Leighton House estate.

So, the MOD would not get planning permission for the land south of the A350 (which is protected from development within a special landscape area designation which is all about the Salisbury Plain escarpment and surrounding landscape) and the value of the land on the northern side (within the tall stone walls) would be limited anyway by the time lots of trees are protected and bearing in mind the listed status of Leighton House itself.

Also, I've noticed that some Ministers have started to talk up the need to spend 3% of GDP into our military defence forces rather than stay at 2%, albeit taking 10 years to reach the higher burn rate.

And, there is a need to improve recruitment overall including getting new Army officers through the system.

So, I am just guessing when I think that it may not be any surprise if Defence Estates thinks any time soon that selling its Leighton House House estate (which focuses on Army Officer selection) may not be such a bright idea afterall ...

[mojo]

The disposal date is currently 2024 according to the DIO.

Cheers

Mojo

[Maxi]

Thanks to both of your replies.