The building was designed as the headquarters of the 7th Forfarshire Rifle Volunteers and was opened in November 1879.[1] The 7th Forfarshire Rifle Volunteers evolved to become the 2nd Forfarshire (Forfar and Angus) Rifle Volunteers in 1880 and the 2nd Volunteer Battalion Royal Highlanders, the Black Watch in 1887.[2] The offices at the front of the building were designed by Thomas Martin Cappon and completed in 1897.[3]
The 2nd Volunteer Battalion Royal Highlanders, the Black Watch evolved to become the 5th (Angus and Dundee) Battalion, the Black Watch in 1908.[4] The battalion was mobilised at the drill hall in August 1914 before being deployed to the Western Front.[5] It then amalgamated with the 4th (City of Dundee) Battalion, the Black Watch to form the 4th/5th (Angus and Dundee) Battalion, the Black Watch with its headquarters at the Parker Square drill hall in Dundee in March 1916.[6]
The 4th Battalion and 5th Battalion operated separately from 1919 and 1922, when they amalgamated again, and between 1939 and 1947, when they amalgamated yet again, with one company, D Company, remaining at the Bank Street drill hall until the battalion was disbanded in 1967.[7] The drill hall was subsequently decommissioned and is now used by a curtain-making business, Angus Classic Interiors.[8]
