Gatepiers, boundary walls and railings, Masonic Hall (former Drill Hall), Olrig Street, Thurso, Thurso, Highland

Description

The building was designed by David Smith and built in 1873 with late 19th century additions at the rear and further alterations, probably about 1909, to convert it to a masonic hall. It is a 2-storey, 3-bay L-plan Baronial style former drill hall, built of squared coursed rubble with tooled ashlar dressings, with rendering on the rear elevation. It is set back from the other buildings of Olrig Street at the corner with Castle Street. There is a small detached stone building at rear, added before 1904, which may have housed the armoury.

The principal (northeast) elevation has a central 3-storey castellated round entrance tower and the 2-leaf curved entrance door is set in a panelled stone architrave with a crenelated lintel. There are machicolated and corbelled bartizans with slit windows on the four corners of the building and the wallhead is corbelled and crenelated. The side gabled elevations are crowstepped with rose windows (that to the northwest gable is blocked).

There is 2-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows and there are grey slates on the roof. In front of the building are low boundary walls topped by spearheaded railings, and the walls terminated in round piers with corbelled and crenellated caps.

The interior, which was seen in 2015, has some good late 19th century surviving detailing. There is timber panelling to dado height, a number of timber panelled doors and one timber chimneypiece to a room on the first floor. The stairwell which is situated at the rear of the building has decorative iron balusters and a timber rail. The coved ceiling in the former drill hall and adjacent room are probably part of the original decorative scheme. There is coloured glass in the hall, some of which has masonic symbols.

Statement of Interest

Built in 1872-3 and opened in November 1873, the Masonic Hall (former Drill Hall) is an early example of a purpose-built drill hall that was built in the wake of the 1871 Cardwell Reforms. It was designed in a bold Baronial style with good castellated and carved stonework by the local architect, David Smith. The exterior remains largely unchanged since the late 19th century and there is some good surviving 19th century internal detailing. It still has a distinctive character and makes a good contribution to the streetscape in this area on the west side of Thurso.

It is shown on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map (surveyed in 1872 and published in 1877). Between this date and the date of the 2nd Edition (surveyed 1904-5, published 1906) an extension was made to the rear (southwest) elevation and a small detached building added at the southeast corner of the site, but since that date the footprint of the building has remained unchanged.

There were two companies of volunteers in Thurso, the Rifle Volunteers, for which this hall was built and the Artillery Volunteers. Both had been formed by the early 1860s with bugles presented in June 1861 to both companies and by the 1880s each one was about 100 men strong.

David Smith (c.1813-1879) began his career as a mason and builder in Thurso, later branching into design, and the drill hall may well have been the platform on which this branch of his practice was established. Arguably his most important work was the rebuilding of Thurso Castle (1872-78) for Sir Tollemache Sinclair of Ulbster, 3rd Baronet and MP, and the castle has many architectural features in common with the drill hall. Sir Tollemache Sinclair took a keen interest in the volunteers in Thurso and provided the site on which the hall was built, and was also probably influential in the choice of Smith as architect of the drill hall.

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 (and Artillery Volunteer Corps in defended coastal towns) were 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.

Statutory address and listed building record revised in 2016 as part of the Drill Halls Listing Review 2015-16. Previously listed as 'Olrig Street, Masonic Hall'.

External Links

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