The Northgate Street drill hall is a former military installation in

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

History

The building, comprising Nos. 10 and 12 Northgate Street, was constructed as a series of private residences in the late 17th century. It was acquired by

Warwickshire County Council Warwickshire County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Warwickshire in England. Its headquarters are located at Shire Hall, Market Square, in centre of the county town of Warwick. Politically the county is ...

and converted in a drill hall for the Warwickshire Rifle Volunteers in the mid-19th century. This unit evolved to become 2nd Volunteer Battalion, The

Royal Warwickshire Regiment The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, previously titled the 6th Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. The regiment saw service in many conflicts and wars, including the Second Boer War ...

in 1883 and 7th Battalion, the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in 1908. Although the headquarters moved to

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

in 1908, the regiment maintained a company, G Company, in Warwick for a while. Meanwhile, the drill hall had also become the headquarters of the

Warwickshire Yeomanry The Warwickshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1794, which served as cavalry and machine gunners in the First World War and as a cavalry and an armoured regiment in the Second World War, before being amalg ...

in the mid-19th century. The regiment was mobilised at the drill hall in August 1914 before being deployed to Gallipoli. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

the yeomanry moved their headquarters to

, but maintained one squadron, B Squadron, in Warwick. After the regiment amalgamated with the

Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars The Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army. First raised in 1794, it participated in the Second Boer War and World War I as horsed cavalry before being converted to an anti-tank regiment of the Royal Artill ...

to form the

Queen's Own Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry The Queen's Own Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry (QOWWY) was a regiment of the Royal Armoured Corps, forming part of the Territorial Army (TA). Following reductions in 1969 and 1971 respectively the regiment was reduced to two and late ...

in 1956, the building was converted back for residential use.

References

{{reflist Drill halls in England Buildings and structures in Warwick