Bethel Street drill hall

The Bethel Street drill hall office is a former military installation in Norwich, Norfolk. It is a Grade II* listed building.

Bethel Street drill hall office
Norwich, Norfolk
The frontage of the Bethel Street drill hall office (with the green windows); the former skating rink, yellow building next door would have been suitably large enough to be used as a drill hall.
Bethel Street drill hall office is located in Norfolk
Bethel Street drill hall office
Bethel Street drill hall office
Location in Norfolk
Coordinates52°37′42″N 1°17′22″E / 52.62846°N 1.28939°E / 52.62846; 1.28939
TypeDrill hall
Site history
Builtc.1895
Built forWar Office
In usec.1895 – 1920

History

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No. 48 has a small 15th century undercroft. The existing brick building (mock Tudor rendering) was completed in the late 19th century.[1] The original home of the Ancient Order of Foresters, it became the headquarters of the 2nd East Anglian Field Ambulance Royal Army Medical Corps[2] and, probably, of the 1st Volunteer Battalion, the Norfolk Regiment as well around that time.[3] The 1st Volunteer Battalion, the Norfolk Regiment, whose address was in St Giles (currently the home of the Salvation Army),[4] evolved to become the 4th Battalion, the Norfolk Regiment in 1908.[3] The battalion was mobilised at St Giles[4] before being deployed to Gallipoli and then to Egypt and Palestine.[5] The battalion then moved to the Chapel Field Road drill hall (since demolished) later in the war.[3] The Bethel Street properties were subsequently decommissioned. The building became a bible printers (Goose Press), and then Modern Press. The premises are now owned by a Climate change education charity, the Greenhouse Trust.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "42-48, Bethel Street". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  2. ^ "Norwich". Drill halls project. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  3. ^ a b c "4th Battalion, The Royal Norfolk Regiment". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 9 November 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ^ a b James, Brigadier E. A. (1969). British Regiments 1914-1918. Naval and Military Press. p. 53. ISBN 0906304032.
  5. ^ "Norfolk Regiment". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  6. ^ "Find us". The Greenhouse. Retrieved 16 July 2017.