School plans to expand into old Duke of Wellington's Regimental headquarters at former Halifax Wellesley Park barracks

Impact Education Multi Academy Trust has applied to Calderdale Council seeking permission to change use of the Duke of Wellington Regimental headquarters at the former Wellesley Park barracks in Gibbet Street, Halifax, to educational use.

If it is granted, permission would see no internal changes to the landmark building and the only external change being removal of a fence which separates the academy site from the regimental site – they are already neighbours.

Having first raised troops as the 33rd Regiment of Foot in 1702, according to the Dukes’ website, the regiment became the Halifax Regiment (Duke of Wellington’s) in May 1881, renamed The Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment) in July that year and as The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (West Riding) in January 1921.

The 1st and 2nd Battalions, the two regular Army battalions, were amalgamated into a single Battalion in June 1948.

In June 2006 the Dukes were amalgamated with the Prince of Wales’s Own Regiment of Yorkshire and The Green Howards to form, respectively, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the Yorkshire Regiment.

When the Wellesley Park’s use as offices for regiment ceased at the former barracks they were marketed and sold by the Secretary of State for Defence, actions which confirm that it was no longer needed for military purposes.

A heritage statement submitted by law firm Ward Hadaway explains Impact Education Multi Academy Trust runs Halifax Academy which adjoins the site and bought the headquarters in October this year.

It intends to use the building for a training facility for Halifax Academy and other Impact Education Multi Academy Trust staff, and as additional space for students.

The regiment, which traditionally recruited in Halifax and the West Riding, still has its regimental chapel at Halifax Minster and its links with the town and history are commemorated at Bankfield Museum.

In May 2019, an 18-foot tall statue commemorating the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, created by sculptor Andrew Sinclair, situated at the top of Woolshops, was unveiled by the then Mayor of Calderdale, Coun Dot Foster, and the Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, at a special ceremony.

Full details of the application, number 22/01246/FUL, can be viewed on the council’s online Planning Portal.