Guildhall And Associated Caves

NOTTINGHAM

SK5740SW BURTON STREET 646-1/14/65 (North side) 12/07/72 Guildhall and associated caves (Formerly Listed as: BURTON STREET Guildhall)

GV II

City guildhall, now housing city offices and magistrates' courts, and associated caves. 1887-88. By Verity & Hunt of London. Altered mid C20. Darley Dale ashlar and brick, with Westmorland slate roofs and corniced ridge stacks. French Renaissance Revival style. EXTERIOR: rusticated ground floor, dentillated main cornice, eaves cornice and parapet with pedestals. Windows are plain sashes and casements, mainly with stone mullions. 2 storeys plus basement and attics; 5 x 5 bays. Corner site with main entrance and return fronts. Entrance front has a projecting centre, and projecting end pavilions with pyramidal roofs. Portico, 3 bays, with Doric columns, rusticated piers, and balustrade with pedestals. Above, 3 tripartite windows with Ionic columns in antis, and above again, 3 smaller tripartite windows. Central dormer with round window, and pediment with sculpture. Side bays have 2 windows, the first floor round-arched and divided by pilasters. Area wall with cast-iron bollards and chains. Pavilions have tripartite windows on each floor, and pedimented single dormers. Left return front, similar design, has pedimented centre with first floor Ionic portico, and 3 windows in the side bays. At the rear, a square tower, 5 stages, with round-arched bell openings and balustrade. INTERIOR: largely original, has foyer with Doric columns, segment-arched openings, and enriched cross-beam ceiling. Central doorway flanked by double columns, with pedimented doorcase and bust. At each end, a colonnade and steps up to a stairwell with enriched cornices and stone cantilevered open well stair. On the first floor, 2 courts, largely original, with inserted ceilings. Original wall panelling and fittings including balustraded wooden gallery for grand jury. Court 6, much altered, has plaster wall panels and pilasters, and a panelled round-arched recess containing the dock. Office ranges have moulded cornices, fielded panelled doors and corniced doorcases. Cave system, reached by a stone open well stair, is on 2 levels. Brick lined passages and cells. Extensively modified during World War II for use as emergency headquarters and air raid shelters. (The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Nottinghamshire: London: 1979-: 238; Reprint from The Mercian Geologist, Vol. 13, Sept. 1992: Waltham AC: The sandstone caves of Nottingham: Nottingham: 1992-: 21).

Listing NGR: SK5715440230