Old Market Street drill hall, Bristol

Old Market Street drill hall
Bristol
Old Market Street drill hall
Old Market Street drill hall
Location in Bristol
Coordinates 51°27′21″N 2°34′55″W / 51.45584°N 2.58190°W / 51.45584; -2.58190Coordinates: 51°27′21″N 2°34′55″W / 51.45584°N 2.58190°W / 51.45584; -2.58190
Type Drill hall
Site history
Built 1915
Built for War Office
In use 1915 – 1945

The Old Market Street drill hall is a former military installation in the Old Market district of Bristol.

History

The building, which is located on the site of a former sugar warehouse and refinery,[1] was financed by George and Henry Wills as part of arrangements to provide alternative accommodation for organisations displaced by the construction of the Wills Memorial Building.[2] The new drill hall was designed as the headquarters of the 4th Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment, who had relocated from the Queen's Road drill hall in Clifton (since demolished),[3] in June 1915.[2][4]

The 4th Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment was disbanded in 1940[5] and the drill hall was used instead to accommodate US Army troops who created some adverse publicity for themselves when they became involved in a serious brawl in the street outside the drill hall in July 1944 during the Second World War.[4] After the war the drill hall was decommissioned and fell into disrepair;[6] it has since been converted for residential use.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Archaeological Review 2006" (PDF). Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society. p. 345. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 "Bristol and the First World War" (PDF). Great Reading Adventure 2014. p. 105. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  3. ↑ "The Gloucestershire Regiment". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Bristol". The Drill Hall Project. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  5. ↑ "Gloucestershire Regiment". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on March 3, 2007. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  6. ↑ "The Old drill hall, Market Street, Bristol". WH Architects. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
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