Deposited Plan No. 478

St. Paul's Street & Rifle Street: St Paul's Drill Hall

Details

Deposited Plan Number:478
Date:23 February 1899
Plans Register:1886-1899
Street:St. Paul's Street & Rifle Street
Property Name / Number:St. Paul's Drill Hall
Area:University of Huddersfield Campus
District:Kirklees
Town:Huddersfield
Grid Reference:SE 1468 1624
Building Project:St Paul's Drill Hall
Type:Civic / Military
Applicant:Officers 2nd V.B. West Riding Regiment
Applicant Address:The Armory, Ramsden Street, Huddersfield
Architect:Willey Cooper
Architect Address:No 4, Kirkgate Buildings, Huddersfield
Status of Project:
Approved (2 March 1899)
Contractor:Graham Jessop (Builder)
Contractor Address:Moldgreen, Huddersfield
Work Commenced:Friday 5 May 1899 (foundation stone laid by "Lord Roberts")
Work Completed:Thursday, 9 May 1901 (opened by "Lord Roberts"). (Final Certificate = 5 September 1902)
Occupants:West Yorkshire Rifle Volunteers (2nd Volunteer Battalion, Duke of Wellington's West Riding Regt)
Subsequent Alterations / History:Existing
English Heritage Listing:no data
Location of Archives:Kirklees West Yorkshire Archives
Buildings of Huddersfield ID:4023

Additional Information

Plans deposited — 3 sheets, poster copies of originals (possibly produced for foundation stone laying ceremony):

  1. Block Plan.
  2. Ground & Basement Floor Plans.
  3. Section of wooden stand for Foundation stone laying dated 10 April 1899,

Inspections and Certificates:

  • Foundations inspected = 5 October 1899
  • Damp Course inspected = 8 November 1899 (3:30)
  • Drains inspected = 11 September 1902 (2:30)
  • Final Certificate = 5 September 1902

Yorkshire Dragoons (Queen's Own) Yeomanry D Squadron 9, Queen Street (Kelly, 1912)

HQ, A-E 5 Duke of Wellington's West Riding Regiment

According to The Times, Friday 5th May, 1899, ‘Lord Roberts yesterday laid the foundation stone of the new drill-hall which is being erected for the 2nd Vol. Batt. Duke of Wellington's West Riding Regt. on a site behind the Technical College.'

He returned, according to The Times, on Thursday, May 9th, 1901, to open "the drill hall which had been erected… And a bazaar organised to clear off a debt of £4,000 which exists upon it. The building has been erected from designs by Capt. W. Cooper, one of the officers. The total cost was between £8,000 and £9,000, of which £1,000 was contributed by Lieut.-Col. Carlile, one of the officers."

The premises are still used by the MoD. We understand that they do not own the premises, which are held in trust by the people of Huddersfield. (Source: Captain Hey, via Roger Thompson)

The stone plaque by the door marks the drill hall's foundation by Lord Roberts.

We are grateful to Roger Thompson for the information and photographs. Roger has sent newspaper articles which cover the opening, and a recent feature.

We have been informed [2008] that the Yorkshire Dragoons' Drill Hall on Fitzwilliam street has been demolished to make way for the Inner Ring Road. We would be grateful for any archive photographs.

According to the Huddersfield One website, the Riding School opposite St Paul's Church was known as the Theatre Royal between 1848 and 1862, when it was sold to the W. Yorkshire Rifles for use as a drill hall. It is now a public house.

[extract from: http://www.drillhalls.org/Counties/Yorkshire/TownHuddersfield.htm, © the Drill Hall Project]

Approximate Location

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The red marker indicates the approximate location of this record. Green and yellow dots are locations of other geotagged records, where yellow means the building was subsequently demolished.

What's Nearby?

The following records are located within 100 meters:
RecordDistance (feet & meters)
Queen Street South / St. Paul's Street: Exhibition Buildings and Weaving Shed for Technical School (1883) - plan# 1177 104ft32m
Queensgate: Mechanics institution and Technical College (1881)186ft57m
Queensgate: Milton Congregational Church214ft65m