St John's Hill Drill Hall
Lavender Hill, London
St John's Hill Drill Hall
St John's Hill Drill Hall is located in Greater London
St John's Hill Drill Hall
St John's Hill Drill Hall
Location within London
Coordinates51°27′47″N 0°10′11″W / 51.46305°N 0.16975°W / 51.46305; -0.16975
TypeDrill hall
Site history
Built1882
Built forWar Office
In use1882-Present

St John's Hill Drill Hall is a military installation at Lavender Hill in London. The building on St John's Hill became the regimental headquarters for the London Regiment in 1993.

History

The volunteer battalion of the East Surrey Regiment acquired a leasehold interest over a property known as Gothic Villa on St John's Hill in 1882.[1] This volunteer battalion evolved to become the 4th Volunteer Battalion, East Surrey Regiment in 1887.[2] Lord Wandsworth funded the acquisition of a freehold interest in the site in 1897.[1] A drill hall, designed by B. T. L. Thomson, was added at the back of the property around that time and a three storey castellated building, designed by H. Wakeford & Sons, was added at the front of the property in 1902.[1]

The battalion evolved further to become the 23rd (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment in 1908[3] and was mobilised at the drill hall in August 1914 before being deployed to the Western Front.[4] When the London Regiment was broken up in 1937, the unit converted to become the 42nd Royal Tank Regiment with its base at the drill hall.[5] After the war that unit evolved to become the 23rd London Regiment, the East Surrey Regiment in 1956 and then the 4th Battalion the Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment in 1961.[2] The drill hall went on to become battalion headquarters for the 8th (Volunteer) Battalion, the Queen's Fusiliers (City of London) in 1988 and regimental headquarters for the London Regiment in 1993.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "West of St John's Road" (PDF). University College London. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  2. 1 2 "23rd London Regiment". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 8 June 2007. Retrieved 29 May 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. 1 2 "Drill Hall Register: A list of the locations of London Drill Halls since 1908" (PDF). Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  4. ↑ "The London Regiment". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  5. ↑ "4th battalion Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment". Queen's Royal Surreys. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
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