Epsom Town Hall

Epsom Town Hall is a municipal building in The Parade, Epsom, Surrey, England. It is the headquarters of Epsom and Ewell Borough Council.

Epsom Town Hall
Epsom Town Hall
LocationThe Parade, Epsom
Coordinates51.3329°N 0.2650°W / 51.3329; -0.2650
Built1934
ArchitectHubert Moore Fairweather and William Alfred Pite
Architectural style(s)Neo-Georgian style
Shown in Surrey

History

The first town hall in Epsom was a building designed by John Hartchard-Smith in the Italianate style which was completed in 1883; located at the corner of Church Street and Upper High Street, it was built with terracotta facings and featured a prominent Venetian window in the middle of a curved corner frontage.[1][2] In the early 1930s, civic leaders decided to demolish the old town hall and procure a new building: the site they selected was vacant land on the north side of The Parade.[3] The site had previously been occupied by a domestic residence which was being referred to as "Cromwell House" by the 18th century.[4]

The new building was designed by Hubert Moore Fairweather and William Alfred Pite in the Neo-Georgian style and was officially opened by the former local member of parliament, Lord Ebbisham, in 1934.[5][6] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with seventeen bays facing onto The Parade with the end three bays at each end slightly projected forward; the central bay featured a doorway flanked by two pairs of pillars supporting a balcony with iron railings; there was a French door above the doorway on the first floor and sash windows in all other bays on the ground floor and the first floor.[6] Internally, the principal room in the building was the council chamber.[7][8]

The building served as the headquarters of Epsom Urban District Council, and from 1937, when the area became a municipal borough, it served as the headquarters of Epsom Borough Council.[9] It remained the local seat of government when the enlarged Epsom and Ewell Borough Council was formed in 1974.[10]

In the early years of the new millennium civic leaders decided to relocate various council departments that had been accommodated around the borough into an expanded town hall facility: a new block was constructed to the east of the main building with a modern atrium and new portico which linked the two blocks: the expanded facility was brought into use in 2003.[11] In a small ceremony at the town hall in June 2019, Station-Sergeant Thomas Green, the victim of the Epsom riot which took place at the end of First World War, was commemorated when his great-grandson, David Kirkham, donated Green's service medals so they could be put on display at the local museum.[12]

Works of art in the town hall include a painting by Hendrick Danckerts depicting Nonsuch Palace[13] and a painting by William Birch depicting Epsom Downs Racecourse.[14]

References
  1. Chatterton, Frederick (1923). Who's Who in Architecture. The Architectural Press. p. 118.
  2. Malden, H. E. (1911). "'Parishes: Epsom', in A History of the County of Surrey". London: British History Online. pp. 271–278. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  3. "Ordnance Survey Map". 1913. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  4. "Epsom Town Hall, Epsom". Surrey Archaeological Society. 1999. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  5. "George Rowland Blades". Epsom and Ewell History Explorer. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  6. "Epsom Town Hall, Surrey: the main front". Royal Institute of British Architects. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  7. "Location Details: Council Chamber, Epsom Town Hall". Epsom and Ewell Borough Council. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  8. "Epsom Town Hall, Surrey: the council chamber". Royal Institute of British Architects. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  9. "Epsom and Ewell MB/UD". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  10. Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c.70. The Stationery Office Ltd. 1997. ISBN 0-10-547072-4.
  11. "Unison Epsom and Ewell Takes Flight". Unison. 19 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  12. "A 'stain on the fair name of our soldiers': Remembering a Canadian riot that turned deadly in England in 1919". CBC. 17 June 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  13. Danckerts, Hendrick. "Nonsuch Palace from the North East". Art UK. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  14. Birch, William. "Epsom and Ewell from the Grandstand". Art UK. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
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