| Friars' Walk drill hall | |
|---|---|
| Stafford | |
 Friars' Walk: The old drill hall is just beyond the red-bricked building (with the white side to it) on the left (it may be that this building formed part of the stabling for the drill hall) | |
  Friars' Walk drill hall Staffordshire | |
| Coordinates | 52°48′12″N2°06′56″W / 52.80337°N 2.11543°W |
| Type | Military headquarters |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1913 |
| In use | 1913-1967 |
The Friars' Walk drill hall is a former military installation in Stafford.
The building was designed by Hanley, architects, as the headquarters of the Staffordshire Yeomanry and was completed in November 1913. [1] The drill hall also accommodated 6th Staffordshire Battery of the Royal Field Artillery (RFA). [1] The parade ground could be accessed by guns and horses through doors in Bailey Street. [2] The Staffordshire Yeomanry was mobilised at the drill hall in August 1914 before being deployed to Salonika. [3] The RFA battery served on the Western Front, initially with the 46th (North Midland) Division. [4]
After the defence cuts of 1967, which led to the transfer of the regimental headquarters to Wolverhampton, the drill hall was decommissioned and converted for use by the maintenance department of Staffordshire County Council. [1]
The 61st Division was an infantry division of the British Army raised in 1915 during the Great War as a second-line reserve for the first-line battalions of the 48th Division. The division was sent to the Western Front in May 1916 and served there for the duration of the First World War.
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The Staffordshire Yeomanry (Queen's Own Royal Regiment) was a mounted auxiliary unit of the British Army raised in 1794 to defend Great Britain from foreign invasion. It continued in service after the Napoleonic Wars, frequently being called out in support of the civil powers. It first sent units overseas at the time of the Second Boer War and saw distinguished service in Egypt and Palestine in World War I. During World War II it gave up its horses and became a tank regiment, serving in the Western Desert and landing in Normandy on D-Day. Postwar the Staffordshire Yeomanry became part of the Queen's Own Mercian Yeomanry with one of the squadrons being designated 'Staffordshire Yeomanry' until 2021.
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