Chester Town Hall

Chester Town Hall

Coordinates: 53°11′30″N 2°53′34″W / 53.1918°N 2.8927°W / 53.1918; -2.8927

Chester Town Hall
Location: Chester, Cheshire, England
OS grid reference: SJ 404 664
Built: 1864–69
Built for: Chester City Council
Restored: 1898
Restored by: T. M. Lockwood
Architect: William H. Lynn
Architectural style(s): Gothic Revival
Governing body: Cheshire West and Chester
Listed Building – Grade II*
Designated: 10 January 1972
Reference #: 1376371
Chester Town Hall is located in Cheshire
{{{alt}}}
Location in Cheshire

Chester Town Hall is in Northgate Street in the centre of the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building.[1]

Contents

History

In 1698 an Exchange was built to accommodate the city's administrators. This building burnt down in 1862. A competition was held to build a new town hall and this was won by William Henry Lynn of Belfast. The building cost £40,000 (£2,850,000 as of 2011).[2][3] It was officially opened on 15 October 1869 by the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII) who was accompanied by W. E. Gladstone, the Prime Minister. On 27 March 1897 the council chamber on the second floor was gutted by fire. It was restored by T. M. Lockwood the following year. In 1979 a clock was installed in the tower with three faces; there is no face on the west side of the tower.[4]

Architecture

Exterior

The hall is built in banded pink and buff sandstone with a grey-green slate roof.[1] The building is nearly symmetrical, in ten bays, and in the Gothic Revival style, applying features of late 13th-century Gothic architecture to a modern use. Above the central two bays is a tower which terminates with gables and a short diagonal spire.[5] The spire rises to a height of 160 feet (49 m). The building has a semi-basement, two main storeys and a dormer attic. The entrance is approached by two opposed flights of steps.[1] Above the porch are four sculptures in Bath stone depicting episodes from the history of the city.[6]

Interior

The entrance leads to the Waiting Hall. Also on this floor are the Palatine Room, the Assembly Room and the Court Room. Flanking the doors of the Waiting Hall are busts of George V and Sir Horatio Lloyd, who was Recorder of Chester from 1866 to 1921. Also in the hall are three sculptures which depict minstrels marching to the aid of Earl Ranulph III who was besieged in Rhuddlan Castle, Sir William Brereton following his arrest in 1642, Edward, the Black Prince granting a charter to the city in 1354 and Henry VII granting county status to Chester in 1506. Outside the Assembly Room is a war memorial to the 768 citizens of Chester who died as a result of the First World War and a plaque to the memory of those who died in the Second World War. The Assembly Room is the largest room in the Town Hall and has a stage at one end. On the staircase are shields and plaques presented by visitors to the Town Hall. Above the staircase are Victorian stained glass windows depicting the seven Norman Earls of Chester.[6]

On the first floor are the council chamber, the Lord Mayoral suite, a committee room and the members' room. The council chamber was rebuilt after the fire of 1897. It is panelled and contains wooden and stone carvings. The Lord Mayoral suite consists of the Lord Mayor's Parlour and the Mayoress' Parlour. In the committee room are panels bearing the names of the mayors of Chester from 1238, the sheriffs from 1836, the earls from around 1070, the clerks and town clerks from 1291 and the recorders from 1506.[6]

Present use

Most of the work of the council's departments are carried out in an adjacent building. The Town Hall stands as a symbolic expression of the civil government of the city.[6] Many of the rooms in the Town Hall are available for hire,[7] and the hall is licensed for weddings.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Town Hall, Chester", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1376371, retrieved 1 May 2011 
  2. ^ UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from Lawrence H. Officer (2010) "What Were the UK Earnings and Prices Then?" MeasuringWorth.
  3. ^ Morriss, Richard K. (1993), The Buildings of Chester, Stroud: Alan Sutton, pp. 77–79, ISBN 0-7509-0255-8 
  4. ^ Town Hall, Chester City Council, http://www.virtualchester.org/view/view_location.php?id=1, retrieved 28 July 2009 
  5. ^ Hartwell, Claire; Hyde, Matthew; Hubbard, Edward; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, pp. 247–248, ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6 
  6. ^ a b c d History of the Town Hall, Cheshire West and Chester, http://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/visiting/heritage/chester_town_hall/history_of_the_town_hall.aspx, retrieved 28 February 2011 
  7. ^ Chester Town Hall, Cheshire West and Chester, http://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/visiting/heritage/chester_town_hall.aspx, retrieved 28 February 2011 
  8. ^ Weddings at Chester Town Hall, Cheshire West and Chester, http://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/visiting/heritage/chester_town_hall/weddings_at_chester_town_hall.aspx, retrieved 28 February 2011 

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Chester Town Hall (Chesterville, Ohio) — Chester Town Hall U.S. National Register of Historic Places …   Wikipedia

  • Chester Town Hall (disambiguation) — Chester Town Hall may refer to: in England Chester Town Hall in Chester, Cheshire in the United States Chester Town Hall in Chester Township, Wabasha County, Minnesota, built in 1874 as the Bear Valley Grange Hall Chester Town Hall (Chesterville …   Wikipedia

  • Old Town Hall — may refer to: in the Czech Republic Old Town Hall (Prague) in Mexico Old Town Hall (Mexico City) in the United Kingdom Sheffield Old Town Hall in the United States On the National Register of Historic Places Old Town Hall (Chester, Connecticut),… …   Wikipedia

  • Birkenhead Town Hall — is a town hall and former civic building in Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside, England. The building was the former administrative headquarters of the County Borough of Birkenhead and council offices for the Metropolitan Borough of… …   Wikipedia

  • Old Town Hall (Chester, Connecticut) — Old Town Hall U.S. National Register of Historic Places …   Wikipedia

  • Chester (Massachusetts) — Chester Pueblo de los Estados Unidos Ayuntamiento de Chester …   Wikipedia Español

  • Chester Township, Morrow County, Ohio — Chester Township, Ohio   Township   Chester Town Hall …   Wikipedia

  • Chester Township, Wabasha County, Minnesota — Chester Township, Minnesota   Township   Chester Town Hall …   Wikipedia

  • Chester — For the larger local government district, see Cheshire West and Chester. For other uses, see Chester (disambiguation). Coordinates: 53°11′33″N 2°53′30″W / 53.192 …   Wikipedia

  • Chester, Warren County, New York — Not to be confused with the town of Chester in Orange County, New York. Chester   Town   The Town of Chester …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”