The St Mary's Street drill hall is a former military installation in

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver C ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

History

The building was designed as the headquarters of the 1st Huntingdonshire Rifle Volunteer Corps and completed in the late 19th century. The unit evolved to become the 4th Volunteer Battalion, The

Bedfordshire Regiment The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment was the final title of a Line infantry, line infantry regiment of the British Army that was originally formed in 1688. After centuries of service in many conflicts and wars, including both the World War ...

in 1900. The presence at the drill hall was reduced to a single company, H Company, 5th Battalion, The Bedfordshire Regiment in 1908 but restored to a full battalion when the Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalion was formed in February 1914. The battalion was mobilised at the drill hall in August 1914 but remained in the United Kingdom throughout the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The battalion was disbanded at the end of the War and the drill hall was subsequently decommissioned and converted for retail use.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Cambridgeshire Drill halls in England Huntingdon