G (Denny) Company 4th Stirlingshire Volunteers Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders met in rented “drill halls” from at least 1904. It was 1923 before the War Office provisionally approved of the erection of huts at Denny for a drill hall, stores, a recreation room and so on. The parish minister was approached to see if he would grant a feu on the glebe facing Duke Street. The War office did not approve of the site and so there was a delay until the Stirlingshire Territorial Association prepared another scheme. In 1925 it was suggested that “the Hut” in Glasgow Road could be purchased and converted but this was also deemed unsuitable. In 1927 the War office stated that Denny could proceed with the erection of a new drill hall and related accommodation once the strength of the detachment reached 40. It was 1931 before the condition was met and a site in the Kirkslap selected.
Plans for the new hall were passed by Denny Town Council in January 1932. The following were the contractors employed: brick and mason work – B. Reynold & Son, Stirling; joiner work – Paterson & Grindlay, Kilsyth; plumber work – T Mathieson, Falkirk; slater and roughcast work – D Robertson & Sons, Denny; plaster and concrete work – D Mcnair, Falkirk; electrical work – H A Miller, Stirling; painter work – W McLaren, Stirling; heating – Mackenzie & Moncur, Edinburgh. Work progressed rapidly and the girders were placed into position in the first week of April. It was officially opened on 1 October 1932 by Lieutenant-Brigadier-General Sir Norman Orr Ewing. On the occasion he was presented with a gold key on behalf of the contractors by the architect, Mr D. W. Glass of Stirling, and with this he opened the main door. The new drill hall had a two-storey frontage with windows set into horizontal brick panels inset into the roughcast wall. The horizontality was emphasised by the flat roof. The regimental crest appeared in colour relief over the doorway. Here were housed the offices, store, recreation room (20 feet by 15 feet) and lavatories. Behind this the main hall for drilling purposes was reached by a corridor and measured 55 feet long by 23 feet wide, and there was also a men’s recreation room, office, store, and armoury. The drill hall was provided with a folding screen to divide off a part of the structure for use as a lecture room. An important feature was the miniature rifle range, which measured 100 feet long by 12 feet 6 inches broad.
In 1936 the Denny and District Branch of the British Legion was established, paying a minimum rent for the use of the drill hall it immediately started a weekly whist drive. In August 1938 an exhibition of air raid precautions was held in the hall in preparation for a probable war. Men joining the local Territorials at Denny were now trained on Bren guns. After the war started the civilian population was issued with gas masks and in 1940 the drill hall acted as one of the distribution points. The inaugural meeting of the Denny Local Defence Volunteers was held there on 19 May 1940. The men who registered that day were destined to become the Home Guard. Throughout the war both the British Legion and the Home Guard made extensive use of the hall, hosting many entertainments. The equipment issued to the guardsmen – rifle, bayonet, Sten gun, steel helmet, camouflage netting, belt, haversack and so on – were returned to the authorities at the drill hall in January 1945. It was 1947 before any other organisation was able to rent the building for dances. It continued to be used by the Territorial Army, the local unit now designated as of the Support Company 7th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (T.A.). There was a display of modern weapons, including Vickers machine guns, anti-tank guns, and two 3-inch mortars, in October 1950.
In 1948 huts were erected to the north of the drill hall for use by the Territorial and Auxiliary Forces and these were augmented in 1968 by a lecture hut for the Army Cadets. The 1932 building was then leased to Lodge St Andrew No. 176 for use as a Masonic hall.
Sites and Monuments Record
| Kirkslap | SMR 1343 | NS 8146 8274 |
Falkirk Local History Society 