Arbroath Community Centre (former Drill Hall), Marketgate, Arbroath, Arbroath, Angus

Description

This 3-storey, 3-bay, classical former townhouse on Marketgate dates from the late 1780s, while the 2-storey, 1-and 2-bay stepped flanking wings and the hall at the rear were designed and built by William Scott in 1883. The former house was also probably altered by him for use as offices and store rooms for the drill hall. The building was altered again when it was converted into a sports and community centre in 1969. The Marketgate (east) elevation is pink snecked sandstone with polished ashlar dressings and the side elevations are squared rubble with pinnings. There is a base course and an eaves course and the central entrance door has a pilastered and corniced doorpiece. There are raised long and short quoins at the corners of the Marketgate block, a segmental-arched opening (now infilled) to the lower right wing, and a full-width late 20th century glazed entrance to the left wing. There is mainly 4-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows and there are grey slates on a piended roof.

The large hall at the rear with a roof ressembling an upturned boat is of squared rubble. The rear elevation is rendered, bowed and gabled and has a central door with a corniced doorpiece, a pair of tall round-arched windows and a round window in the gablehead.

The interior was seen in 2015. The former office section has some surviving 19th century interior details including timber panelled doors and plaster cornices. The hall is a large barrel shaped space with cast iron ribs supporting timber trusses and timber boarding infill and the viewing balcony is still in place at the east end.

Statement of Interest

The former drill hall in Marketgate was the headquarters of the Arbroath Rifle Volunteers from 1883 and the possibly unique design of the hall make this an unusual and interesting example of the building type. The offices were converted from a late 18th century townhouse at this time by the well-respected local architect and contractor William Scott with the hall built on the rear garden ground. Externally the hall has a very unusual roof which is curved at wallhead level rising to a point at the ridge, ressembling an upturned boat. Internally the riveted cast iron beams extend the full height of the hall, with no additional structural support walls or beams. This creates a single, very unusual, semi-circular space with no interruptions, reminiscent of later prefabricated structures used by the military in the 20th century. The tapering plan form of the hall with curved rear wall bounded at the west by the Brothock Water is also unusual. The building makes a significant contribution to the streetscapes in Marketgate and East Grimsby.

The nucleus of this building dates from the late 1780s and was the town residence of a county family, the Stirling Grahams of Duntrune. Clementina Stirling Graham (1782-1877) spent 'some of her early years' in the house (Dundee Courier, 6 December 1881). The footprint of the building appears on John Wood's map of 1822 which also shows a large garden to the west, running down to the Brothock Water.

A public meeting called with a view to the formation of a volunteer corps in Arbroath took place on 30 May 1859 and was chaired by the Provost of the town. At the end of the meeting it was resolved to set up a Corps and a large number of individuals came forward to sign up. By 1864 the Arbroath Volunteers still had no permanent home, demonstrated by the fact they paraded at Woodville, the mansion belonging to their commanding officer, Major Dickson.

The Marketgate building was purchased by the Angus Rifle Volunteers in 1881 at which time it was described as 'old but substantial' (Dundee Courier, 6 December 1881). The plan was to build the drill hall in the garden at the rear of the house and to convert the mansion into the armoury, reading rooms and other offices. Work had begun by March 1882 and was completed by 1883. The date 1883 appears on a datestone on the lower two-storey wing to the left of the Marketgate elevation. The cost of this new hall and conversion of the old building was about £3000. The interior of the front part of the building was altered when the building was converted into a sports and community centre in 1969. There are also some late 20th century alterations.

William Scott (ca 1831-1884) designed a wide range of buildings mainly in Arbroath including churches, mills and factories. The likely reason Scott was appointed architect for the drill hall was because he was a volunteer himself. He was one of the original members of the Arbroath Volunteers Rifles Corps and reached the rank of Sergeant, and was said to be an excellent marksman.

In the late 1850s there was concern in the British Government about the Army's ability to defend both the home nation as well as the Empire. Britain's military defences were stretched and resources to defend Britain needed to be found. One solution was to create 'Volunteer Forces', a reserve of men who volunteered for part-time military training similar to that of the regular army and who could therefore help to defend Britain if the need arose.

In 1859 the Rifle Volunteer Corps was formed and the Volunteer Act of 1863 provided more regulation on how the volunteer forces were run and it set out the standards for drills and a requirement for annual inspections. Most purpose-built drill halls constructed at this time were paid for by a major local landowner, the subscriptions of volunteers, local fundraising efforts or a combination of all three. The Regulation of the Forces Act 1871 (known as the Cardwell Reforms after the Secretary of State for War, Edward Cardwell) gave forces the legal right to acquire land to build a drill hall and more purpose-built drill halls began to be constructed after this date. The largest period of drill hall construction, aided by government grants, took place between 1880 and 1910. The Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (known as the Haldane Reforms after the Secretary of State for War, Richard Haldane) came into force in 1908 and the various Volunteer Units were consolidated to form the Territorial Force. The construction of drill halls largely ceased during the First World War and in 1920 the Territorial Force became the Territorial Army.

In the 20th century changes in warfare and weaponry made many of the earlier drill halls redundant and subject to demolition or change to a new use. Around 344 drill halls are believed to have been built in Scotland of which 182 are thought to survive today, although few remain in their original use. Drill halls are an important part of our social and military history. They tell us much about the development of warfare and the history of defending our country. They also, unusually for a nationwide building programme, were not standardised and were often designed by local architects in a variety of styles and they also have a part to play in the history of our communities.

The requirements for drill halls were basic – a large covered open space to train and drill as well as a place for the secure storage of weapons. The vast majority of drill halls were modest utilitarian structures. Most drill halls conformed to the pattern of an administrative block containing offices and the armoury to store weapons along with a caretaker or drill instructors accommodation, usually facing the street. To the rear would be the drill hall itself. Occasionally more extensive accommodation was required, such as for battalion headquarters where interior rifle ranges, libraries, billiards rooms, lecture theatres and bars could all be included.

Listed in 2016 as part of the Drill Hall Listing Review 2015-16.

External Links

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