Warwick Camp (Bermuda)

Warwick Camp
Bermuda
The main gate of Warwick Camp, as it appears today, from the South Shore Road
Warwick Camp Location in Bermuda
Coordinates	32°15′25″N 64°48′56″W / 32.25708°N 64.81559°W / 32.25708; -64.81559Coordinates: 32°15′25″N 64°48′56″W / 32.25708°N 64.81559°W / 32.25708; -64.81559
Type	Barracks
Site information
Owner	Government of Bermuda
Site history
Built	1869
Built for	War Office
In use	1869-Present

'Warwick Camp' was originally the rifle ranges and a training area used by units of the Bermuda Garrison based elsewhere in the colony. Today, the Camp is the home of the Bermuda Regiment.

The base was located on a strip of land obtained during the mid-Nineteenth century by the War Office along the south shore of Warwick and Southampton, in Bermuda. The army garrison in Bermuda was being re-organised, with the headquarters moving from St. George's to Prospect Camp, near Hamilton. Most of the Regular Army infantry relocated to Prospect Camp, also, leaving the St. George's Garrison largely in the hands of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. Prospect Camp was usefully located in the centre of the colony, and near the capital, but had no area suitable for a rifle range.

In January, 1869, F Company of the 61st Foot was moved to Warwick to work on the Military Road (now, the South Shore Road), following which they constructed the rifle ranges at Warwick Camp. Two companies of the 15th Foot continued working on the road, west of Warwick Camp, and also built a new battery for the coastal artillery at Whale Bay (several older forts housing coastal artillery had existed within what became the boundaries of Warwick Camp prior to 1816).

The Camp enclosed Warwick Long Bay and Horseshoe Bay, which, today, are Bermuda's two most popular public beaches, and all the land between. The rifle ranges were placed here, on the south side of the road, and between the beaches. The Camp also included an area to the north of the road where permanent buildings were erected. No barracks were built until after the Great War, however, as the Camp had no permanent establishment of its own. Use of the camp was allotted for different periods throughout the year to any, or several, of the army units comprising the military garrison. The regular troops used the Camp for riflery and for tactical training, as did the Volunteers/Territorials (part-time soldiers), who used it for annual camps.