Gloucester Rural District Ex-Service Camps used for housing after World War Two

The housing situation was very desperate after the end of the Second World War so much so that extensive use of service camps – RAF and Army bases – was made by the civilian population. In most cases they were originally “squatted” but in most cases the occupation was legitimised by the camps being managed by local authorities, who were able to access Government grants to effect temporary improvements to enable them to provide slightly more adequate accommodation in advance of council housing being built.

Talking about the two camps being used in 1946 Dr. D.L. Sutcliffe the Gloucester Rural Medical Officer of Health commented: –

These camps require a great deal of supervision, and although by no means ideal as civilian dwellings from the Housing and Public Health aspects they are fulfilling an urgent demand for accommodation, which is at least, reasonably healthy, and in any case an improvement on the occupants’ previous living conditions. They are however very far from being an asset to this Council and involve a very considerable amount of supervision on the part of the Council’s officials.¹

The 1947 Annual report noted in similar vein,with the number of camps increased to six:-

These camps a great deal of supervision from the Public Health point of view; but although far from ideal as housing accommodation, they do reduce overcrowding and at least give families a home of their own.

And continued:-

The fact that there are 227 families comprising 836 persons in these camps, i.e., more than in all the Council owned houses, shows how the Council’s responsibilities have increased.

The peak number of families housed in hutted accommodation was 315 in 1949 but had reduced to 44 by 1955 and there were no sites reported in the 1956 Annual Report. It is intended to provide a list of all camps with a link to a specific page for each camp.

By the time of the 1948 report the number of camps had increased to nine with the report noting:-

The fact that nearly 1200 persons are living in hutting not designed for family use (considerably more than the total occupants for our council houses) shows the urgency of the housing needs in the District.

Every effort is being made by the Council to improve living conditions in these huts, but as Dean Swift said in 1738 “You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.”

By 1949 there was no increase in the camps and the total families are reported at 315 families. The report noted a comparison with rural housing conditions in the district :-

services provided compare very favourably with those available in many other “rural” parts of the District, where for instance electric light is often not available and where the Council have no conservancy arrangements.

“conservancy” was a description of the use of buckets for toilets and at this time three of the ex-service camps had no WC’s and they had a collection service which was not provided in more rural areas of the district.

These camps are now under the administration of the Housing Manager and every effort is made to keep the hutting reasonably fit for habitation. Many of the huts, however, are worn out and it is hoped that they will be demolished as soon as alternative housing becomes available for the occupants.

1949 saw the first reduction in huts with 35 being demolished:-

… the services provided are very adequate, but the huts themselves, in spite of emergency and costly repairs, are mostly in poor condition and unfit for habitation.

It is the policy of this Council, strongly supported by the Ministry of Health, to rehouse the families living in the worst huts and then to demolish the huts. In pursuance of this policy, 35 huts were demolished this year, and this figure may be considered very satisfactory in view of the fact that so far, no specially allocated housing for re-housing these families, is available.

The reduction was spread across Belmont(4), Moreton Valence (9) , Parton(8), Woodfield (5), West Camp (2) and Kings Orchard (1), rather than concentrated on one or more sites.

In 1951 a similar reduction of 36 took place, again with no camps closing. Similarly in 1952, the same number were demolished, but an additional site, Dingwall, Hucclecote with 2 families appeared in the list.

1953 saw 114 huts demolished including the removal of huts with bucket toilets on three sites, two of which Longs Orchard and Drymeadow which closed completely alongside Woodfield and Parton.

in 1954 the pace of transfers to council properties fell to only 25, with West Camp and Dingwall closing, leaving 73 families living on ex-service camps

The final year that ex-service camps were reported in the MOH report was 1955, with 29 buildings being demolished and Belmont being closed. The last remaining 44 at Brockworth, Kings Orchard and Moreton Valence are not reported in the following year’s report 1956, indicating that they were demolished during the year.

So after 10 years, what had started as a natural movement of homeless people finding themselves a home in empty ex-service camps came to a gradual and unremarked end.

Patrick Rollinson has written about his own experiences at Chobham, Surrey, which perhaps gives a good account of what was like for residents finding a billet and the experience of living in a camp. He commented in his post about his experience:-

The site then became a goldrush for so many families who needed accommodation…The camp was filling up with families and many children of my own age. We, like everyone else, assumed that our stay there would be short-term, but it would not be many years later that we left. No one in authority prevented the families moving in.

1. Dr D L Sutcliffe, Gloucester Rural District Annual Report on the Health of the District for the year 1946. Accessed on-line 5 September 2025 https://wellcomecollection.org/works/hpmfg899 ↩︎