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Listing: Victorian Gothic
territorial army building in two sections. Principal block is of three storeys
beneath a pitched roof: first floor single large hall, very finely decorated
internally. Seven bay facade; central bay emphasised with an oriel window at
first floor and a squat tower and spire over. Four‑bay subsidiary block to north
matches lower two floors of main block.
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The building was built c
1890 as a headquarters building for the South Staffordshire
Yeomanry Regiment of the Territorial Army whose device
appears in two stone panels on the facade. Originally
connected to a drill hall on a site in Thornley Street, now
redeveloped.
Fine Victorian military
architecture with an excellent range of interior features
extant and notable terracotta details. The first floor mess
hall, and the formal stairs and approach to it, are of real
quality. A building of architectural, townscape and social
history value. |
Comment: The Yeomanry in 19th century Wolverhampton may not
have been of great military importance but it was of considerable social
importance. This building was used not only for their military
purposes but for the Yeomanry's balls and other social functions, as
well as similar events for other organisations.
The building's history after the Yeomanry is not known but it is
thought that it was used for many years by the borough council. By
the 1970s it was in the hands of the Polytechnic who used it for varied
teaching purposes. Now, 2007, they are selling it. The whole
of this building ought to be kept, the outside unaltered and the inside
altered only to a necessary minimum.
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