1. Brownsea Island Scout Camp
2. Brownsea Island Bsa
3. Brownsea Island Camping Scouts Badge
4. Brownsea Island Scouting Games

Origins

Robert Baden-Powell returned from the Second Boer War a national hero. As well as being a career soldier he was also an established author. One of his most successful books was a military manual “Aids to Scouting” which contained training exercises for military scouts. This book developed an unexpected audience amongst boys and youth groups who were mimicking the exercises to learn observation and tracking skills.

It should be remembered that the camp on Brownsea Island was an experimental one; we must not expect to find there all the characteristics that now distinguish a Boy Scout camp from other types of camp. It is surprising, however, how many of the fully developed activities and methods are to be found in use at that first camp. Brownsea Island – The First Scout Camp. The camp BP organised from the 31st July to 9th August 1907 was actually an experimental summer camp to test his ideas in his book “Scouting for Boys” on Brownsea Island, a 500-acre, windswept tract in Poole Harbour off England’s southern coast.

Edwardian society was plagued by the thought that Britain was not developing useful citizens. There was a concern that many people were physically weak due to a lack of understanding about nutrition and health and did not possess useful skills. Baden-Powell would have witnessed some of these issues first hand through the poor quality of recruits who joined the Army. There was an appetite for schemes that would help address these issues. Baden-Powell felt that given the right training young people could start to play an active role in their community from an early age and this training would have long term benefits in supporting employment and productivity. He had witnessed first-hand the role young boys “the Mafeking Cadets” had played during the town’s siege (Second Boer War) as they took on non-combative roles including stretcher bearers and messengers.

Baden-Powell was convinced by friends; including his publisher Cyril Arthur Pearson and the founder of the Boys Brigade, Sir William Alexander Smith, to create a youth focused version of the book. He started by creating a draft of his new book which swapped the military focus for adventure, exploration and survival skills. It was decided to test the ideas by running an experimental camp for a selection of boys.

A week on Brownsea Island

On the 1 August 1907 twenty boys were encamped on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour to participate in an experimental project. Baden-Powell wanted to see if his proposed activities would appeal to a broad range of young people and so he recruited ten boys from a range of public schools and ten members of local Boys Brigades branches in Bournemouth and Poole. The boys were aged 10 to 16 years old, they were divided into four patrols; wolves, bulls, curlews and ravens, four of the older boys were given the rank of Patrol Leader.

There was one more child in attendance, Donald Baden-Powell, nephew to Robert, aged 9 years old he was too young to officially join in so he served as Baden-Powell’s assistant and orderly. To support Baden-Powell with running the camp were Boys Brigade Captain George Walter Green and Baden-Powell’s friend Kenneth McLaren, with whom he’d served in the Army. Percy Everett from Pearson’s publishers also attended for a day to observe the activities, he would go on to be Deputy Chief Scout.

The boys were given shoulder knots of coloured ribbon to wear to mark their patrol and triangular pennants showing an image of their patrol animal. These would later become of standard Scouting uniform and kit. Patrol Leaders were given a white fleur-de-lys to attach to their hats to show their rank. Another item from Brownsea Island that would go on to become a Scouting icon is the Kudu Horn (made from antelope horn and brought back from South Africa by Baden-Powell). Producing a low deep noise that travels well over long distances it was perfect to call the boys to start activities. It was later used at Gilwell Park during leader training courses.

Over the week the group tried out various activities. These included: fire-lighting, navigation, observation and tracking, cooking, life-saving and boat management.

Brownsea Island Scout Camp

The Brownsea Island Camp is often called the first Scout Camp and Baden-Powell referred to it as a Scout Camp. This is sometimes contentious as the boys weren’t Scouts, they had not made their promise, but they were scouting by trialling the activity programme.

The response to the activities was sufficiently encouraging for Baden-Powell and his publishers to push forward with finishing the book.

After the Camp

Baden-Powell took what he had learnt from the camp and spent the next few months writing “Scouting for Boys” with the plan that it would provide a tailored training programme for use by other organisations. Initially published in January 1908 as a series of six booklets “Scouting for Boys” was supported by a lecture tour given by Baden-Powell. By the end of the month the response to the book and lectures was so great Baden-Powell became convinced of the need for a separate organisation dedicated to delivering the activity programme. An announcement was made to this effect at a YMCA HQ in Birkenhead, the Boy Scouts were born, within two years there would be over 100,000 Scouts in the UK.

We know some of the twenty boys who had attended the camp took up Scouting following the publication of “Scouting for Boys”. The boys were of the generation whose lives would be swept up by the First World War. Of the 19 boys who were still alive in 1914 five died during the War and a sixth died prematurely due to the effects of gas poisoning. Various reunions were held for the Brownsea boys including one to mark Scouting’s 21st birthday at the “Coming of Age” World Scout Jamboree held in Birkenhead in 1929.

Brown Sea Island is for first-year campers run out of both Camp Powhatan and Camp Ottari. Participants will camp with the rest of their unit, but will have their own daily activities.

BSI is created in the spirit of the original Brownsea Island Camp established by Lord Baden-Powell.

Scouts are divided into patrols lead by a Life or Eagle Scout Patrol Guide using interactive methods.

Brownsea Island Bsa

Scouts focus on learning essential Scouting skills to give them a positive start in the Scouting program.

Brownsea Island Camping Scouts Badge

Patrol Method, leadership, and team building
Introduction to requirements for Tenderfoot through First Class ranks
Build enthusiasm for Scouting and starting on the trail to Eagle.

Brownsea Island Scouting Games

Download the BSI Leaders' Guide for more information.