Colliergate drill hall
former military drill hall
The Colliergate drill hall is a former military installation at the corner of Colliergate and St Andrewgate in York, England.
History
The building was designed as a house and later converted into an inn in the mid-18th century. It was altered for military use in 1872 with the addition of a drill hall designed by Gould and Fisher, as the headquarters of the 1st West Yorkshire (York) Rifle Volunteers. This unit evolved into the 1st West Yorkshire (York) Rifle Volunteer Battalion, The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire in 1881, and the 5th Battalion, The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire in 1908. The battalion was mobilised at the drill hall in August 1914 before being deployed to the Western Front.
Elements of the 5th Battalion, The West Yorkshire Regiment, continued to use the drill hall until the battalion amalgamated with the 4th Battalion, The East Yorkshire Regiment, to form the 3rd Battalion, The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire in 1960. The building was Grade II listed in 1968. After the new battalion was established at Lumley Barracks in York, the Colliergate drill hall was decommissioned and has since been converted for use as a hardware store.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Colliergate drill hall” is former military drill hall. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Colliergate, drill and hall, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “former military drill hall” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q38251543. Authority coordinates are 53.960, -1.080. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1872, 1881, 1908 and 1914.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Colliergate drill hall”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Colliergate drill hall primary sources, Colliergate drill hall archive and Colliergate research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Colliergate drill hall”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Colliergate drill hall” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.