Demolition work has begun on a former army drill hall in Eccles to make way for eight houses.
Plans to replace the dilapidated and derelict buidling with two new rows of terraced houses were given consent by Salford City Council in December 2015.
The red-brick hall at the corner of Pembroke Avenue and Cromwell Road has been in a poor state of repair for some years, with large trees and weeds growing from the roof space, an interior damaged by water leaking through the roof and a variety of animals settling in.
It’s stood vacant for at least the past 10 years.
It may be best recognised for its prominent frontage, which bears the words: ‘Defence Not Defiance’.
That slogan was used as a regimental motto of many volunteer military forces.
The developer – listed as Mark Bagulay from Monton – is in the process of knocking down the Eccles Drill Hall and replacing it with two-storey, three-bed houses for private rent or sale.
It was sold to the developer in May 2015 by the owners, the Scout Movement, “to invest in alternative active resources”.
The Drill Hall was originally built in the 1880s in the classical style and bequeathed to the 5th Battalion Manchester Regiment F Company for Patricroft.
As a ‘home defence force’, young men of ‘good character’ enlisted for four years, and took up training in military matters twice a week after work.
The Wigan Terriers
These lads aged 19 or under were normally miners or mill workers and were introduced to the basics of soldiering at the Drill Hall.
‘Terriers’ as they were nicknamed, often paraded from Patricroft Drill Hall to railway stations en-route to weekend war-training camps at Salisbury Plain and Aldershot.
Read more about the history of the 5th Battalion Terriers here
Occupying a large corner plot of 13,500 sq ft, the hall was for many years home to Eccles and District Scouts.
From the 1970s to 2004 was let to the renowned Barton Athletic Club who are now in the process of building their own new home just down the road on Nelson Street.
The previous owners said that over the past 10 years they had received numerous complaints about the state of the building and flytipping and debris on the site, including broken glass, supermarket trolleys and hypodermic needles.
A structural report by Barraclough Design Ltd in August last year found that the poor state of the hall – four external walls with 85% of the roof missing – meant it could not practically be restored to its former glory.
They instead suggested demolition.
None of the offers to buy out the hall from the Scout Movement included plans to redevelop it.
It is not Grade Listed, but does appear on the council’s Local List for buildings of architectural or historical merit.
Residents are watching the development closely as there have been reports of fire crews called to the building on more than one occasion since building work began.
Pictures: Fire crews called to Eccles Drill Hall after skip blaze
Because there are fewer than 11 houses being built, planning rules state that no Section 106 contribution is necessary.
And while “the council is keen to ensure that vacant buildings that were last used for community use are not squeezed out by other more commercial uses. The passage of time, the lack of use and the poor state of repair of the building are testament to the fact that no such squeezing out has taken place.
“It is considered that there is a clear lack of demand for a community use of the building and that the proposed development therefore is acceptable.”
The agents were IPB Architecture.
Main image by Albert@itookyourpic.com
