Bethel Street drill hall, Norwich


The Bethel Street drill hall office is a former military installation in Norwich, Norfolk. It is a Grade II* listed building.

History

No. 48 has a small 15th century undercroft. The existing brick building was completed in the late 19th century. The original home of the Ancient Order of Foresters, it became the headquarters of the 2nd East Anglian Field Ambulance Royal Army Medical Corps and, probably, of the 1st Volunteer Battalion, the Norfolk Regiment as well around that time. The 1st Volunteer Battalion, the Norfolk Regiment, whose address was in St Giles", evolved to become the 4th Battalion, the Norfolk Regiment in 1908. The battalion was mobilised at St Giles before being deployed to Gallipoli and then to Egypt and Palestine. The battalion then moved to the Chapel Field Road drill hall later in the war. The Bethel Street properties were subsequently decommissioned. The building became a bible printers, and then Modern Press. The premises are now owned by a Climate Change education charity, the Greenhouse Trust.