Whittimere Street drill hall
{{Short description|Former military installation}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox military installation
|name= Whittimere Street drill hall
|image=Walsall Drill Hall.jpg
|caption = Whittimere Street drill hall
|type = Drill hall
|map_type =West Midlands
|pushpin_map_caption = Location within West Midlands
|location =Walsall
|coordinates ={{Coord| 52.58597 |N| 1.97758|W|region:GB_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
|ownership =
|operator =
|built = 1866
|used=1866-1984
|architect =
|built_for =War Office
|garrison =
}}
The Whittimere Street drill hall is a former military installation in Walsall, West Midlands.
History
The building was designed as the headquarters of the 3rd Staffordshire Rifle Volunteer Corps and was completed in 1866.{{cite web|url= http://www.drillhalls.org/Counties/Staffordshire/TownWalsall.htm |title=Walsall|publisher=The Drill Hall Project|accessdate=4 September 2017}} This unit evolved to become the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, the South Staffordshire Regiment in 1885 and the 5th Battalion, the South Staffordshire Regiment in 1908.{{cite web|url=http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/038SStaf.htm |title=South Staffordshire Regiment |publisher=Regiments.org |accessdate=21 February 2016 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051228134003/http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/038SStaf.htm |archivedate=28 December 2005 }} The drill hall was substantially remodelled in 1910. The battalion was mobilised at the drill hall in August 1914 before being deployed to the Western Front.{{cite web|url=http://www.1914-1918.net/sstaffs.htm|title=South Staffordshire Regiment|publisher=The Long, Long Trail|accessdate=21 February 2016}}
The presence at the drill hall was reduced to a single company, B (South Stafford) Company, 5th/6th (Territorial) Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's), in 1967 which evolved to become D Company, 2nd Battalion, Mercian Volunteers in 1975.{{cite web|url= http://regiments.org:80/regiments/uk/volmil-england/vinf-mi/st-3.htm|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20051227035347/http://regiments.org:80/regiments/uk/volmil-england/vinf-mi/st-3.htm|url-status= dead|archive-date= 27 December 2005|title= 3rd Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's)|publisher=Regiments.org|accessdate=4 September 2017}} After the battalion left the drill hall in 1984, it was decommissioned and subsequently converted for use as a nightclub.{{cite web|url= http://creativewalsall.com/the-mpv-the-return-of-the-5th/|title=The MPV: The return of the 5th|publisher=Creative Walsall|date=7 June 2015|accessdate=4 September 2017}}