Middle Street Drill Hall
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Originally constructed in 1861, by the mid-1890s, the drill hall required replacement and a new building was constructed to a design by Piggott and Oxley of St Leonards circa 1895 by local builder Peter Jenkins[1]. The replacement building opened on the Friday 25th October, 1895 . Among its many qualities, the building benefited from electric light installed by a local company, Bruce and Co[2]. The hall was to be shared between an artillery company and infantry company, with the units drilling on the adjacent Cricket Ground - a covenant being placed on the meadow when it was sold to the Hastings Corporation around 1870 to permit this usage, disagreements about the volunteer's right to drill there rumbled on until around 1903 however[3].
The 'new' drill hall was depicted in the Hastings Observer the day after it opened. It was symmetrical in appearance, with crenellated towers at each front corner, a large arched central door set in a square decorated doorway, three paned windows either side, a false front topped with crenellations and a sloping roof rising behind this to reveal the hall itself. The doorway and the sets of windows were each topped with a curved moulding. There was a small stone shield and text above the portal which is just visible in archive images. On the interior, the hall boasted a parade hall measuring 72 feet (22 m) by 45 feet (14 m) with a wooden block floor[3]. The 1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers were known to be in occupation of the hall at this date (1895).
In addition to usage by the various military units, the hall was utilised for various events such as a dog show in 1904, a free tea for workers of the tram system in 1905, scouts, the Police and many other functions.
During WW1, the Drill Hall was occupied as the 27th Depot of the Southern Command[4], the 1/5th Cinque Ports Battalion of the Territorial Army being known to have headquartered here in August of 1914 prior to their move to France.
The hall was occupied by the 5th Battalion of the (Cinque Ports) Royal Sussex Regiment during the 1920s[5] taking their name of 'The Royal Sussex Drill Hall' for a period[6], later becoming a warehouse for a fruiterer by the 21st of September, 1933[3].
Demolition
The building was demolished with much of the surrounding road in the mid-1980s, with the site now being under Priory Meadow shopping centre.
Images
- Images
Middle Street Drill Hall c1920
Middle Street Drill Hall c1970
50-55 Middle Street - c1980
55-50 Middle Street c1980
References & Notes
- ↑ Cinque Ports Volunteers
- ↑ Hastings News, 1st November, 1895
- ↑ a b c Drill Halls Hastings Volunteers
- ↑ The Long, Long Trail Territorial Force Depots accessed: 17 August 2020
- ↑ Kelly's 1923
- ↑ British Newspaper Archive Hastings & St. Leonards Observer 29 March 1913 Pg. 0003
