County Hall, Beverley

County Hall is a municipal building in Cross Street, Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. County Hall, which is the headquarters of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, is a Grade II listed building.[1]

County Hall, Beverley
LocationBeverley, East Riding of Yorkshire
Coordinates53.8409°N 0.4302°W / 53.8409; -0.4302
Built1881
ArchitectR. G. Smith and F. S. Brodrick
Architectural style(s)Flemish Renaissance style
Listed Building – Grade II
Designated1 March 1950
Reference no.1346321
Location of County Hall, Beverley in the East Riding of Yorkshire

History

Following the implementation of the Local Government Act 1888, which established county councils in every county, it became necessary to find a meeting place for the East Riding County Council.[2] Initially meetings of the county council were held in the Sessions House and in the Guildhall.[3] After deciding the old Sessions House and Guildhall were inadequate for their needs, county leaders chose to procure a new county headquarters: the site selected in Cross Street had been occupied by the former Mechanics Institute.[3][4]

A new purpose-built building, designed by R. G. Smith and F. S. Brodrick in the Flemish Renaissance style, was completed in 1891.[1] The design involved a main frontage with eleven bays facing onto Cross Street; the left-hand section of five bays, which was symmetrical, featured an elaborately carved stone doorway on the ground floor flanked by composite order columns, with three tall mullion windows on the first floor; the right-hand section of six bays, which was asymmetrical, featured a porch flanked by Doric order columns and topped with a pediment containing the county coat of arms, with tall mullion windows on the first and second floors.[1] Internally, the principal room was the council chamber[5] which contained fine furniture carved by the wood carver and cabinet maker, James Elwell.[6][7]

In the 1930s the novelist, Winifred Holtby, attended council meetings in the council chamber to obtain inspiration for her book South Riding[8] which won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1936.[9]

Following the abolition of East Riding County Council in 1974, the building became the offices of Humberside County Council.[1] A large modern office block, intended to create additional facilities for the county council, was built on Champney Road and opened in 1983.[3] Local government was reorganised again, with the abolition of Humberside County Council in 1996, and county hall became the offices of the new unitary authority, East Riding of Yorkshire Council at that time.[10] The council chamber was refurbished in late 2019.[11]

References
  1. Historic England. "Premises occupied by Humberside County Council (1346321)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  2. "Local Government Act 1888". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  3. Baggs, A. P.; Brown, L. M.; Forster, G. C. F.; Hall, I.; Horrox, R. E.; Kent, G. H. R.; Neave, D. (1989). "'Public Institutions', in A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 6, the Borough and Liberties of Beverley". London: British History Online. pp. 190–195. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  4. "The Mechanics Institute" (PDF). East Riding Museums. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  5. Brockbank, J. L.; Holmes, W. M. (1912). "The Story of the East Riding of Yorkshire". A Brown & Sons. p. 320.
  6. "Doors to the council chamber to be opened for heritage open days". HU17. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  7. "A thousand years" (PDF). Hull Civic Society. p. 53. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  8. "Plaque commemorating Winifred Holtby, County Hall, Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, England". Alamy. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  9. "The James Tait Black Prizes: Fiction winners". www.ed.ac.uk/. University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  10. "Contact us". East Riding of Yorkshire Council. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  11. "East Yorkshire County Council County Hall Refurbishment". Creations Furniture. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
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