[1][2] At the beginning of August 1907, Robert Baden-Powell, Inspector-General of Cavalry, held his experimental camp for boys on Brownsea Island.

His headquarters were in Richmond Castle,[3] which was too small to hold the garrison, so he chose as a replacement the site for the Catterick military town.

[11] In 2018, to celebrate the centenary of the Armistice and the end of the First World War, four stone monuments, including a steam locomotive and a likeness of Lord Baden Powell, were erected on the town's central roundabout.

[14] In 1997, 18-year-old British soldier Daniel Farr of the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire died under mysterious circumstances in Catterick.

[16][14] In 2004, the corpse of a-24-year old soldier, Andrew John Browne, belonging to the Coldstream Guards was found in Catterick Camp.

[18][19][20] In 2018 (sometimes reported as 2019) Alistair McLeish, an 18-year-old soldier of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, was found hanged in the Bourlon Barracks of Catterick Garrison.

[21][22] In 2019, a soldier driving a Supacat Jackal in Catterick Camp died of brain injuries after crashing his vehicle.

A jury-led inquest concluded that "a lack of supervision by chain of command and inadequate safety enforcement contributed to Sgt.

"[23] In 2020, the decomposing body of Royal Signals Lance Corporal Bernard Mongan was discovered in his barracks in Catterick.

[25][26] In January 2020 a 57-year-old civilian contractor, Alistair Ferguson, was crushed to death by a Wolfhound troop carrier at Catterick Garrison.

[27][28][29] In 2022, Nicholas (Nicki) Hart, a soldier of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, killed themselves in Catterick Garrison.

[44] Foxglove Covert, a local nature reserve, was the first of its kind in North Yorkshire and the first to be located on Ministry of Defence (MoD) land in the UK.

From 2013 to 2015, the centre was expanded with the Princes Gate development, on MoD-owned land north of Richmondshire Walk, with new retail outlets, a cinema, 60-bedroom hotel as well as places for eating and drinking.

[58] Catterick Garrison Cemetery, on the north side of St John's Churchyard in Hipswell, was opened by the War Office in 1930 to serve the camp.

[67] The town has a leisure centre and its primary healthcare provider is the Harewood Medical general practice managed by South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

[74] The garrison consists of many different groups of buildings spread over a wide area and includes a number of barracks, most of which are named after historical British Army battles, many of which took place in Northern France during the First World War.

Junior soldiers destined for the infantry continue to receive Phase 1 training at the Army Foundation College in Harrogate.