Home of the 'Glosters'

Image: © Neil Owen Taken: 26 Apr 2022

The old drill hall in Old Market was once a sugar refinery, owned initially by the Bristol Sugar Refining Company and, later, the Bristol & West Sugar Refinery. Once war broke out the buildings were purchased by Sir Henry Wills (of the local tobacco family) for reuse as an alternative venue. Around this time the University of Bristol in Park Street was being constructed and some groups were turfed out of their old rooms. To accommodate the move, land was exchanged so that the Gloucestershire Territorial Force Association could move from Queens Road in Clifton to the Drill Hall. The new drill hall was designed as the headquarters of the 4th Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment (the 'Glosters'), who had relocated from the Queen's Road drill hall in June 1915. Interestingly the barracks were given up by the 4th Battalion in 1940 and black American soldiers were sent here. At a time when racial segregation was the norm back home, the black soldiers found life in war-time Bristol quite a shock. However, there were disturbances in town when white G.I.s met them. Having seen the course of two world wars, the site was left by the military in 1945 and became derelict for some time. The Post Office used it as a sorting office for a short time but in the early 2000s the buildings were converted into residential use.

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