Shaftesbury Town Hall

Shaftesbury Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street, Shaftesbury, Dorset, England. The town hall, which is the meeting place of Shaftsbury Town Council, is a Grade II listed building.[1]

Shaftesbury Town Hall
Shaftesbury Town Hall
LocationHigh Street, Shaftesbury
Coordinates51.0056°N 2.1971°W / 51.0056; -2.1971
Built1826–1837
Architectural style(s)Neoclassical style
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameTown Hall
Designated20 June 1952
Reference no.1108741
Shown in Dorset

History

The first town hall was a medieval guildhall; it was itself replaced with a second structure which was financed under the will of a former mayor of the town, Edmund Bower, who had died in 1554.[2] This structure was designed with arcading on the ground floor to allow markets to be held and was erected in the middle of the High Street in 1578.[3] In the early 19th century civic leaders decided, as part of a widening scheme for the High Street, to erect a third town hall on a site to the south of the 16th century structure.[4]

The current building, which was commissioned by Earl Grosvenor, was designed in the Neoclassical style and built between 1826[5] and 1837.[1] It was constructed in ashlar stone and was castellated.[1] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto the High Street; the central bay featured a porch on the ground floor and a casement window on the first floor with a clock tower being added in 1879.[6] The basement contained a number of police cells which could be accessed from the rear of the building.[7] The principal room in the building was the council chamber on the first floor which was panelled and, on the south side, featured views out over Gold Hill,[8][9] which has been described as "one of the most romantic sights in England."[10]

The town hall was the headquarters of Shaftsbury Borough Council for much of the 20th century but ceased to be local seat of government when the enlarged North Dorset District Council was formed in 1974.[11] It subsequently became the home of Shaftesbury Town Council.[9]

Four murals were painted by Phyllis Wolff and installed in the town hall in 1979: they depicted the consecration of Shaftesbury Abbey at the instigation of Alfred the Great in 888, the reburial of King Edward the Martyr in the abbey in 979, the visit of Cardinal Otto Candidus, the legate to the Apostolic see of Pope Gregory IX, to confirm the abbey charter in 1240, and, lastly, the dissolution of the abbey under King Henry VIII in 1539.[12][13] Other works of art in the town hall include a portrait by an unknown artist of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury.[14]

References
  1. Historic England. "Town Hall (1108741)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  2. "Will of Edmund Bower, Gentleman of Shaftesbury, Dorset". National Archives. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  3. Adams, Thomas (1808). "A history of the ancient town of Shaftesbury". p. 55.
  4. "Guild Hall - Shaftesbury, Dorset - Blue Plaques". Waymarking. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  5. "'Shaftesbury', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 4, North". London: British History Online. 1972. pp. 55–76. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  6. "Town Hall - Shaftesbury, Dorset - Blue Plaques". Waymarking. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  7. "'Plate 61: Shaftesbury, Town Hall, from S.W.', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 4, North". London: British History Online. 1972. p. 61. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  8. "Shaftesbury Town Hall". Dorset Council. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  9. "Civil Ceremonies and weddings". Shaftesbury Town Council. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  10. Hyams, J. (1975). The Batsford Colour Book of Dorset. B. T. Batsford Ltd. p. 54.
  11. Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c.70. The Stationery Office Ltd. 1997. ISBN 0-10-547072-4.
  12. "Phyllis Wolff". Art UK. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  13. "Shaftsbury Abbey". Tudor Place. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  14. "Anthony Ashley-Cooper (1671–1713), 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury". Art UK. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
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