Castle Armoury, Bury

The armoury was designed as the headquarters of the 8th Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps and built on the remains of Bury Castle in 1868.[1] An extension exhibiting the same architectural features was opened by the Duke of Connaught in November 1907.[2] The 8th Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps evolved to become the 1st Volunteer Battalion, the Lancashire Fusiliers in 1883 and the 5th Battalion, the Lancashire Fusiliers in 1908.[3] The battalion was mobilised at the armoury in September 1914 before being deployed to the Suez Canal, then to Gallipoli and ultimately to the Western Front.[4] The armoury remained the home of the 5th battalion, the Lancashire Fusiliers through the inter-war period.[5]

A major fire took hold at the armoury in January 1943 during the Second World War, in which a fireman died and the building was seriously damaged, and it was not until summer 1952 that the restoration was complete.[2] After the war the armoury continued to be used by the 5th battalion the Lancashire Fusiliers until the battalion was disbanded in 1967. The armoury was then used by a company of the 5th Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, a unit which evolved following amalgamations to become the Lancastrian and Cumbrian Volunteers in July 1999 and 4th Battalion the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment in July 2006.[2] The armoury remains an active Army Reserve Centre for use by a detachment of 207 Field Hospital and a small contingent from the now reformed 5th Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, alongside Bury Detachment of the Army Cadet Force and 1036 (Bury) Squadron of the Air Training Corps.[6] It is a Grade II Listed building.[1]

• Listed buildings in Bury