Witham Hall

Witham Hall

Witham Hall comprises two connected buildings: the Testimonial Hall and the Music Hall, linked by a covered corridor. The Testimonial Hall is constructed of ashlar sandstone with dressed stone to the rear elevation. The Music Hall is of random sandstone. The linking corridor is of white and buff brick with timber elements. All roofs are slate-covered.

The Testimonial Hall is a rectangular building of three bays, situated on Horse Market where it meets Market Place on a gentle curve. The Music Hall is also rectangular in plan with a small box office projection at the south-east corner.

The main west elevation of the Testimonial Hall, fronting Horse Market, is classical in style with two storeys and three bays. The central bay projects slightly under a pediment and the ground floor features channelled rustication. A stone ramp provides access to a central pedimented entrance with a stone doorcase of slender Ionic attached columns, double four-panel doors and an overlight with a lamp above. The flanking windows in each end bay are plain round-headed sashes under rusticated voussoirs; an early photograph shows the left window inscribed with "Subscription Library – Reading Room". A wide corniced band continues around the central projecting bay and supports first-floor columns and pilasters. The first floor has central Ionic attached columns flanking a tripartite window with pilaster stone mullions, whilst the outer bays have end pilasters and tall windows. All first-floor windows are sashes with glazing bars, which are partial replacements. The top entablature features a dentilled frieze with a pedimented central projection, and a high roof parapet behind the pediment has flat coping. The word WITHAM appears in relief letters on the central frieze.

The rear of the Testimonial Hall has round-headed windows with six-paned frames to the ground floor, and a pair of tall windows with original eight-over-eight sash frames to the first floor, plus a centrally placed round-headed stair window, partially infilled. A single-storey brick-built range with coloured glazed clerestory, bays separated by brick pilasters and a slate pitched roof, joins the Testimonial Hall to the Music Hall. The Music Hall is a tall single-storey building of three bays with tall round-headed windows separated by narrow buttresses. Wrought iron gates provide access to the side, and a small roof-top shed attached to the west gable formerly housed projection equipment. The former box office is attached to the south-east corner.

The ground floor of the Testimonial Hall contains an entrance vestibule with replacement double doors leading to a central corridor with plaster coving, high skirting boards, two small ceiling roses and a chamfered arch at the end. The former Dispensary on the right, entered through a replacement door, is plain and retains a Frosterley marble chimneypiece, simple coving, ceiling rose and an air vent. Behind this is a smaller room now serving as a kitchen but formerly also used by the Dispensary Society. The library to the left is entered through an ornate plaster arch with floral stops, fitted with a 1920s sliding partition. The former positions of two sets of bookcases are set into the north wall; only the lower cupboards remain and may be original. There is a plain plaster ceiling rose. A small anteroom to the rear has been altered by partition insertion to create a short corridor. A centrally placed staircase against the rear wall has floral and foliage metal balusters, a mahogany handrail and newel post, and terrazzo treads, leading to a first-floor landing with an ornate ceiling rose.

The Witham Room occupies the full width of the front of the building and has stucco cornice and ceiling decorations, the latter partially altered, a Frosterley marble chimneypiece and paired wall niches on each end wall. Window openings and reveals are panelled. A modern entrance vestibule has been constructed. Small rooms to the rear, either side of the staircase and landing, are plain but retain original four-panel doors and simple stone fire surrounds. The attic was not inspected, but the roof structure is believed to consist of King Post trusses and to have undergone repair and replacement.

The linking range has an open scissor truss roof with brick pilaster walls and round-headed doors reflecting those of the Music Hall. The Music Hall, entered from the linking corridor through a large arched entrance with heavy double doors, is classically decorated with plaster pilasters and cornices; the lower parts of most walls are plain and are thought to have been covered with wall hangings. A raised stage at the east end features a semi-circular proscenium arch with decorative mouldings springing from cornice level. The roof is barrel-vaulted and the present boarded ceiling obscures original green glass panels, which remain in situ above. There is a pair of large ornate ceiling roses and the floor is a later 20th-century replacement. The attic was not inspected, but the roof consists of King Post trusses, some bearing remains of 19th and 20th-century graffiti.