diff --git a/applications/test/objectRegistry/Make/files b/applications/test/objectRegistry/Make/files
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b7c477f791
--- /dev/null
+++ b/applications/test/objectRegistry/Make/files
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Test-objectRegistry.C
+
+EXE = $(FOAM_USER_APPBIN)/Test-objectRegistry
diff --git a/applications/test/objectRegistry/Make/options b/applications/test/objectRegistry/Make/options
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6a9e9810b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/applications/test/objectRegistry/Make/options
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+/* EXE_INC = -I$(LIB_SRC)/cfdTools/include */
+/* EXE_LIBS = -lfiniteVolume */
diff --git a/applications/test/objectRegistry/Test-objectRegistry.C b/applications/test/objectRegistry/Test-objectRegistry.C
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c807ba9c04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/applications/test/objectRegistry/Test-objectRegistry.C
@@ -0,0 +1,278 @@
+/*---------------------------------------------------------------------------*\
+  =========                 |
+  \\      /  F ield         | OpenFOAM: The Open Source CFD Toolbox
+   \\    /   O peration     |
+    \\  /    A nd           | Copyright (C) 2016 OpenCFD Ltd.
+     \\/     M anipulation  |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+License
+    This file is part of OpenFOAM.
+
+    OpenFOAM is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+    under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+    the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+    (at your option) any later version.
+
+    OpenFOAM is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+    ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
+    FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
+    for more details.
+
+    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+    along with OpenFOAM.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+Application
+    Test-objectRegistry
+
+Description
+    Simple test of objectRegistry functionality.
+    Particular focus on the behaviour of subRegistry.
+
+\*---------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+#include "argList.H"
+#include "Time.H"
+#include "polyMesh.H"
+#include "IOstreams.H"
+#include "objectRegistry.H"
+#include "hashedWordList.H"
+
+using namespace Foam;
+
+// * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * //
+
+// file variable, needed for switching the default in lookupObject etc.
+bool recursive = false;
+
+
+template<class Type>
+Foam::Ostream& printList(Foam::Ostream& os, const UList<Type>& list)
+{
+    // list with out any linebreaks
+    os  << '(';
+    forAll(list, i)
+    {
+        if (i) os << ' ';
+        os  << list[i];
+    }
+    os  << ')';
+
+    return os;
+}
+
+
+void printRegistry
+(
+    Foam::Ostream& os,
+    const Foam::objectRegistry& obr,
+    Foam::label indent = 4
+);
+
+
+void printRegistry
+(
+    Foam::Ostream& os,
+    const Foam::objectRegistry& obr,
+    Foam::label indent
+)
+{
+    hashedWordList regs = obr.names<objectRegistry>();
+    regs.sort();
+    wordList names = obr.sortedNames();
+
+    std::string prefix;
+    for (label i=indent; i; --i)
+    {
+        prefix += ' ';
+    }
+
+    os  << '#' << prefix.c_str() << obr.name()
+        << " parent:" << obr.parent().name() << nl;
+
+    // all names
+    {
+        os  << ' ' << prefix.c_str() << "objects: ";
+        printList(os, names) << nl;
+    }
+
+    // sub-registry names
+    {
+        os  << ' ' << prefix.c_str() << "registries: ";
+        printList(os, regs) << nl;
+    }
+
+    // Print, but skip expansion of sub-registries for now
+    forAll(names, i)
+    {
+        const word& name = names[i];
+
+        os  << (regs.found(name) ? '-' : ' ')
+            << prefix.c_str() << name << " => " << obr[name]->type() << nl;
+    }
+    for (label i=indent; i; --i)
+    {
+        os  << '-'; // divider
+    }
+    os  << '\n';
+
+    // Now descend into the sub-registries
+    forAll(regs, i)
+    {
+        const word& name = regs[i];
+        const objectRegistry& next = obr.lookupObject<objectRegistry>
+        (
+            name
+        );
+
+        os  << prefix.c_str()
+            << "current:" << obr.name() << " next:"
+            << next.name() << " next-parent:" << next.parent().name() << nl;
+
+        os  << prefix.c_str() << name << " => " << obr[name]->type();
+
+        if ("dictionary" == obr[name]->type())
+        {
+            os  << " (skip dictionary)" << nl;
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            os  << nl;
+            printRegistry(os, next, indent + 4);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+//  Main program:
+
+int main(int argc, char *argv[])
+{
+    argList::noBanner();
+    argList::noParallel();
+    argList::addBoolOption
+    (
+        "mesh",
+        "test with polyMesh objectRegistry instead of runTime"
+    );
+    argList::addBoolOption
+    (
+        "skip",
+        "skip some parts"
+    );
+    // argList::validArgs.append("recursive (true|false)");
+
+    #include "setRootCase.H"
+    #include "createTime.H"
+    #include "createPolyMesh.H"
+
+    // recursive = Switch(args[1]);
+
+    const bool optMesh   = args.optionFound("mesh");
+    const bool optSkip   = args.optionFound("skip");
+    const objectRegistry& db = (optMesh ? mesh.thisDb() : runTime);
+
+    Info<<"## start ##" << nl;
+    printRegistry(Info, db);
+    Info<< nl;
+
+    const label nRegs = 3;
+
+    // Add some items
+    for (label j = 0; j < 3; ++j)
+    {
+        word entryName = "entry" + name(j);
+        db.subRegistry
+        (
+            entryName,
+            true
+        );
+    }
+
+    Info<<"## initally populated ##" << nl;
+    printRegistry(Info, db);
+    Info<< nl;
+
+
+    // create a few sub-registries
+    for (label i = 0; i < nRegs; ++i)
+    {
+        word regName = "subreg" + name(i);
+
+        const objectRegistry& subreg = db.subRegistry
+        (
+            regName,
+            true
+        );
+
+        for (label j = 0; j < 3; ++j)
+        {
+            word entryName  = "entry" + name(j);
+
+            subreg.subRegistry
+            (
+                entryName,
+                true
+            );
+            subreg.subRegistry
+            (
+                "$" + entryName, // qualified to avoid collisions
+                true
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
+    Info<<"## after adding sub-registries" << nl;
+    printRegistry(Info, db);
+    Info<< nl;
+
+    // Add further items into top-level
+    for (label j = 0; j < 6; ++j)
+    {
+        word entryName = "entry" + name(j);
+        db.subRegistry
+        (
+            entryName,
+            true
+        );
+    }
+
+    Info<< "after adding some entries, top-level now contains: ";
+    printList(Info, db.names()) << endl;
+
+    Info<<"## Now attempt to add a few more entries ##" << nl;
+
+    // Try adding the same items into sub registry
+    // create a few sub-registries
+    for (label i = 0; i < nRegs; ++i)
+    {
+        word regName = "subreg" + name(i);
+
+        const objectRegistry& subreg = db.subRegistry
+        (
+            regName,
+            false
+        );
+
+        if (!optSkip)
+        {
+            for (label j = 0; j < 6; ++j)
+            {
+                word entryName = "entry" + name(j);
+
+                subreg.subRegistry
+                (
+                    entryName,
+                    true
+                );
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    Info<<"## Complete picture ##" << nl;
+    printRegistry(Info, db);
+    Info<< nl;
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+
+// ************************************************************************* //