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

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

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 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. 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 (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 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 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 Military history of Glasgow Scottish Ballet Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) Buildings and structures completed in 1897 1897 establishments in Scotland