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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Drill halls


Graeme Fisher

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Lee Bradbury asked a question about it elsewhere on the forum and I typed in Wolverton and hey presto there it was!

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Guest Hill 60
Lee Bradbury asked a question about it elsewhere on the forum and I typed in Wolverton and hey presto there it was!

And so he did, but I never saw it when I originally looked on the web; must use google more often!

I also found a WWII pillbox not far from this drill hall mentioned on the same site, I always thought it was a rather odd piece of wall in the main road!

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Thanks, chaps, I thought I'd found everything that Google would throw up but once again you lot come up trumps!

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Graeme

Wharncliffe Publishing Ltd. publish military magazines including 'Battlefields Review' from:

The Drill Hall

Eastgate

Barnsley

South Yorks.

e-mail battlefields@yorkshire-web.co.uk

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Graeme

Chippenham Youth & Community Centre

The Bridge Centre

Bath Road

Chippenham

Wilts

4th. Wiltshire Regt. Territorial Army HQ and Drill Hall originally built in 1911 but substantially rebuilt in the 1960s and only recognisable as a 60s building. Externally there are a number of outbuildings. This centre is situated in the middle of a gigantic traffic roundabout. .

Still in use by Wiltshire ACF

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Thanks to Heritage Plus for these - I'd have dismissed the Chippenham one were it not for the info...

Thanks again

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Graeme

I may be able to locate photos of the Chippenham one - Ill pass them on asap.

Dave

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  • 4 weeks later...

Graeme

I have located Bridge Centre photos and will send on in due course.

You might be interested in the Defence Estates surplus property coming up for sale at:

http://www.defence-estates.mod.uk/property...uture_sites.htm

Dave

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Burnley's (East Lancs Regt.)old drill hall is now a children's nursery

Update on this post... it's now a snooker hall!

(Do you want a photo of it ?)

Dave.

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That's a big break, Dave.............

Groan!!!! ;)

I'll get one to you shortly.

Dave

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  • 2 weeks later...

Graeme

To add my thoughts about the previously mentioned Chenies Street hall - it was actually owned by the Bloomsbury Rifles and was built at a cost of over £11000! It was used by them until 1908 when the St. Giles and St. George's (Bloomsbury) 19th Middx RVC were amalgamated with the Victoria and St. George's (1st Middx) RVC to become 9th Bn, County of London (Queen Victoria's) Regt.

The Vic's continued to use the old 1st's hall at 56 Davies Street which is still used by the RGJ today! My research shows that a Boer War memorial was transferred from Chenies Street to Davies Street after the amalgamation.

Hope this helps - but let me know if I can let you have any further info.

Regards

Andy

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Andy - that's great! This is the kind of info that's often only turned up after someone's read their way through an awful lot of reference material. Thank you.

If thre's any more to be had, please post it up!

Graeme

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Graeme, a very worthwhile project, good luck

The locations of the Hertfordshire Regt on 30 April 1913 as shown in WO 114 55 were:

A Coy - Hertford (Outlying drill stations at Watton, Little Berkhamsted & Hatfield)

B Coy - St Albans (Outlying drill stations at London Colney & Harpenden)

C Coy - Bishops Stortford (Outlying drill stations at Sawbridgeworth, Braughing, Widford, Ware & Wades Mill)

D Coy - Watford (Outlying drill station at Chorley Wood)

E Coy - Royston (Outlying drill stations at Letchworth, Baldock & Ashwell)

F Coy - Hemel Hempstead (Outlying drill stations at Great Berkhamsted, Ashridge, Tring & Ivinghoe)

G Coy - Hitchin (Outlying drill stations at Welwyn & Stevenage

H Coy - Waltham Cross (Outlying drill stations at Wormley, Cheshunt, Hoddesdon & Whitehill)

I havent tracked any of these down, but have been meaning to.

The 19th London Regt HQ was at 76 Camden High St. Unfortunately this building was demolished (I think by developers rather than the Luftwaffe) and in its place is a nasty concrete supremarket - Kwiksave last time I looked. I have a photo of the outside of the drill hall in 1935, and the modern day site.

The 19th Londons moved to a new drill hall in Albany Street which was officially opened on 14 May 1938. The Regimental badge is still present in stone on the garage block at the north end of the site. I think its still in use by the TA.

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Thanks, Charles.

A pity that developers have destroyed more of our built heritage than Hitler's bombers ever did....

As ever, I'd be grateful of a copy of the photos if poss

Graeme

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  • 3 weeks later...
Guest Ian Topham

The Drill hall in Colledge St, St-Helens, Lancashire ( dated above the door 1861 ) is still inuse I believe by a unit of the Sea Cadet Corps.

Cheers

Ian

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Thanks, Ian - this demonstrates how drill halls get 'recycled' as a variety of government buildings. Examples include sorting offices and telecoms uses as wewll as cadet use.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Graeme,

Drill Hall in Bedale North Yorks. is on Bridge street and was, until recently used as a warehouse for a local furniture shop. I've just been shown a photo this morning of soldiers watering their horses in Bedale beck. Unfortunately there is no date and you can't make out the cap badges but at a guess they could be the local Yorkshire Hussars unit.

Roger.

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The Drill Hall on Southport Road, Ormskirk, next door to the Parish Church is now the Civic Hall.

It was the base of a detachment of the 9th Battalion, King's Liverpool Regt (T.F.).

I will take a photo of it and e-mail it to you.

Ken

+++ Researching the 9th Bn., King's Liverpool Regt (T.F.), and men of Ormskirk & district who served in the Great War +++

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Graeme - I saw this drill hall in Falmouth last week. It is is a rather bad state of repair and is up for sale.

From Roy Westlake's "The Territorial Force 1914" it would appear to have been the drill hall of C Company, 4th Bn DCLI.

post-6-1061726504.jpg

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looking closely again it has just been Sold. It appears to have been some sort of storage facility/junkshop for secondhand furniture. Here is the rear view.

post-6-1061726617.jpg

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A close up of the area over the front door. As you can see it was built in 1874. The central panel says B Coy 4/5th Bn DCLI and is painted black on wood. Presumably it covers the original which says C Coy 4th Bn DCLI.

It is on the corner of Berkeley Vale and Brook Street.

post-6-1061726793.jpg

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