Lincoln Drill Hall, Lincoln
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Lincoln Drill Hall, Lincoln by Dave Hitchborne as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
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Image: © Dave Hitchborne Taken: 14 Jun 2007
Lincoln Drill Hall is situated right in the heart of the city, in the downhill area close to the pedestrian city centre. The building backs onto Broadgate, the main A15 route through Lincoln. If you remember the Drill Hall from pre 1999, please bear in mind that the building has effectively been ‘turned round’ since the refurbishment and the Broadgate entrance is now the back door! The new entrance is on Free School Lane next to the Central Library. Lincoln’s Drill Hall was built in 1890 on the site of Henry Newsum’s Steam Saw Mill. It was paid for by city industrialist Joseph Ruston who presented the building by Deed of Gift to the Mayor of Lincoln. It was opened on 24 May 1890 by The Right Honorable Edward Stanhope, Secretary of State for War and Member of Parliament for Horncastle. For most of the first part of the 20th Century it was used as a military & police training hall, but was also available for entertainment and was used by Mr Ruston’s employees for regular dances. After the Second World War all kinds of events began to be staged in the Drill Hall; from wrestling, to bingo, to live bands. The Rolling Stones played here on 31 December 1962, prior to their appearance on the very first Top of the Pops the next day! By the late 1990s, the building had begun to fall into a state of disrepair and it was closed in 1999 due to the electrical systems being unsafe.
Image Location
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