Castle Armoury, Bury
The Castle Armoury is a military installation in Bury.History
The armoury was designed as the headquarters of the 8th Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps and built on the remains of Bury Castle in 1868. An extension exhibiting the same architectural features was opened by the Duke of Connaught in November 1907. The 8th Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps evolved to become the 1st Volunteer Battalion, the Lancashire Fusiliers in 1883 and the 5th Battalion, the Lancashire Fusiliers in 1908. The battalion was mobilised at the armoury in September 1914 before being deployed to the Suez Canal, then to Gallipoli and ultimately to the Western Front. The armoury remained the home of the 5th battalion, the Lancashire Fusiliers through the inter-war period.
A major fire took hold at the armoury in January 1943 during the Second World War, in which a fireman died and the building was seriously damaged, and it was not until summer 1952 that the restoration was complete. After the war the armoury continued to be used by the 5th battalion the Lancashire Fusiliers until the battalion was disbanded in 1967. The armoury was then used by a company of the 5th Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, a unit which evolved following amalgamations to become the Lancastrian and Cumbrian Volunteers in July 1999 and 4th Battalion the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment in July 2006. The armoury remains an active Army Reserve Centre for use by a detachment of 207 Field Hospital and a small contingent from the now reformed 5th Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, alongside Bury Detachment of the Army Cadet Force and 1036 Squadron of the Air Training Corps. It is a Grade II Listed building.
