The Ferry Road drill hall, known locally as Seaforth Barracks, is a military installation in
Dingwall
Dingwall (, ) is a town and a royal burgh in the Highland (council area), Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,491. It was an east-coast harbour that now lies inland.
Dingwall Castle was once the biggest castle north ...
,
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
.
History
The building was designed as the headquarters of the 4th (Ross Highland) Battalion, the
Seaforth Highlanders
The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, the Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw service ...
in around 1910.
[ (The 1:2500, 2nd edition, Ordnance Survey Plan no. 88.03 (Ross and Cromarty), published in 1906, does not show the drill hall)] The battalion was mobilised at the drill hall in August 1914 before being deployed to the
Western Front.
The battalion amalgamated with the 5th Battalion, the Seaforth Highlanders to form the 4th/5th Battalion, The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's), with its headquarters at the
Old Bank Road drill hall in
Golspie
Golspie ( , ) is a village and parish in Sutherland, Scottish Highlands, Highland, Scotland, which lies on the North Sea coast in the shadow of Ben Bhraggie. It has a population of around 1,350.
History
The name derives from the Old Norse, ...
, in 1921.
The 4th Battalion and 5th Battalion operated separately from 1939 and 1941, when they amalgamated again after the surrender at
Saint-Valery-en-Caux
Saint-Valery-en-Caux (, literally ''Saint-Valery in Pays de Caux, Caux'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Seine-Maritime Departments of France, department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region in northern France.
The ad ...
.
[
After the ]Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the combined battalion amalgamated with 6th (Caithness and Sutherland) Battalion and 7th (Morayshire) Battalion to form 11th Battalion, The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's), with its headquarters at the Ferry Road drill hall.Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders
The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders or 79th (The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders) Regiment of Foot was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. It amalgamated with the Seaforth Highlanders (the Duke of Albany's) to form ...
to form the home defence battalion of the Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons) in 1967.[
The home defence battalion of the Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons) was in turn absorbed into the ]51st Highland Volunteers
The 51st Highland Volunteers (51 HIGHLAND) is a battalion in the British Army's Army Reserve or reserve force in the Scottish Highlands, forming the 7th Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, also known as 7 SCOTS. It is one of two R ...
in 1969, with a rifle platoon of C (Queen's Own Highlanders) Company, 2nd Battalion, 51st Highland Volunteers still based at the Ferry Road drill hall.[ However, following the Strategic Defence Review carried out in 1998, the rifle platoon was disbanded, and only an army cadet unit remains at the drill hall.][
]
References
{{reflist
Drill halls in Scotland
Buildings and structures in Highland (council area)
Dingwall