Before World War One, the Devon Militia used to set up canvas bell tents and camp in fields on Heathfield Farm during their six weeks annual musketry training. They used the Round Ball range for shooting practice.

The 57 acre site which became Heathfield Camp, Honiton was designed by Colonel Richard Leigh Withington, of the Royal Engineers. He named it after Heathfield Farm and also his childhood home Heathfield in Albury Surrey. The camp was initially designed as a basic training centre for women who had enlisted in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. Huts bore the names of famous ships like ‘Hood’ and ‘Royal Oak’, and oven chimneys were named ‘Len’ and ‘Mary’.

During her Westcountry tour in July 1941 the Princess Royal and her lady in waiting visited the Honiton A.T.S centre and made an inspection of all the departments. The recruits prepared her lunch which she ate in the Officers Mess and afterwards watched an inter-platoon drill competition.

Later Heathfield became a training camp for National Servicemen. The first regiment to arrive in Honiton was the R.E.M.E. in 1948.

In June 1960, Princess Alexandra, as Colonel In Chief of the Durham Light Infantry, visiting the 1st Battalion. Honiton only had 24 hours’ notice that she would be driving through the streets instead of arriving by helicopter. Overnight most buildings were decorated with flags and bunting. The town which was packed with cheering people, including more than 1200 schoolchildren.

In 1969 the Royal Welsh Fusiliers left Honiton for Hong Kong and there was speculation that the Army would not continue to maintain a fulltime unit at the camp. However in October, the Gloucesters (who later merged with the Royal Hampshires) moved in. They went to Minden, Germany in 1971.

In September 1972, the Government’s Uganda Resettlement Board took the decision to re-open Heathfield for the use of Ugandan Asian expellees. In total 1800 people passed though Heathfield camp. The resettlement camp closed on January 31st, 1973, when the last 170 people left Honiton by train heading for the Hemswell centre in Lincolnshire.

Heathfield Camp was purchased by East Devon District Council in 1977 and Heathpark Industrial Estate was developed. The last of the camp’s original buildings were demolished in 2007. Some traces of boundary walls remain and one building is camouflaged by cladding.