The West Princes Street drill hall is a former military installation in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

History

The drill hall was designed by George Bell of Clarke & Bell as the headquarters of the 1st Lanarkshire (Glasgow 1st Western) Volunteer Rifle Corps and was completed between 1895 and 1897. This unit evolved to become the 5th Battalion, The

Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) was a rifle regiment of the British Army, the only regiment of rifles amongst the Scottish regiments of infantry. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 26th Cameronian Reg ...

in 1908. The battalion was mobilised at the drill hall in August 1914 before being deployed to

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

. The battalion amalgamated with the 8th Battalion to form the 5th/8th Battalion, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in 1921 and then converted to a searchlight regiment in 1938 and to a light anti-aircraft regiment in 1942. 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 opposin ...

the regiment was re-constituted at the West Princes Street drill hall as 591st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery and then, in 1955, as the 445th (Cameronians) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery. In 1967 the drill hall became the home of

207 (City of Glasgow) Battery Royal Artillery 207 (City of Glasgow) Battery, is an Army Reserve sub-unit, part of the 105th Regiment Royal Artillery. The battery is based in Partick, Glasgow. It is a Close Support Light Gun Battery. History Formed in 1967 as 207 (Scottish) Light Air Defence ...

but in the late 1970s the battery moved to the Crow Road drill hall. The building was decommissioned and served as the home of the Scottish Ballet School from 1979 until the school left the building in 2008. It then stood vacant until it was converted into student accommodation in 2012.

References

{{reflist Drill halls in Scotland Buildings and structures in Glasgow