An historic Grade II-listed Army drill hall has been closed 'on safety grounds'. Castle Armoury, in Bury town centre, was designed as the headquarters of the 8th Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps and built on the remains of the former Bury Castle in 1868.
Soldiers formed up there before being sent to the Western Front during the First World War, many never to return. According to the Army's website, a detachment of the 207 Field Hospital unit is now based there, together with W (Gallipoli) Company, the Fifth Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, a reserve battalion.
It also provides the home for the Fusilier Association Corps of Drums and Band, and is used for functions. The armoury - also known in Bury as the drill hall - is maintained by the Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Associations, the RFCA, which is an arm of the Ministry of Defence.
