Town Hall

TOWN HALL, ROYAL LEAMINGTON SPA

A municipal building constructed between 1882 and 1884, designed by architect John Cundall and built by contractor John Fell of Leamington. The stained glass was produced by Holt of Warwick, with carving and sculpture by Boulton of Cheltenham. The building cost approximately £20,000 for land, buildings, fittings and furniture combined.

The structure is built in pinkish-red brick with sandstone ashlar dressings and a Welsh slate roof, which is partly fish-scaled. The architectural style is 'Alderman's Renaissance', incorporating Tudor and French Baroque elements.

The building rises 2 storeys with an attic to the centre section, spanning 5 bays of which the two end bays and the centre bay project forward. A tower to the south, approximately 44 metres high, dominates the composition. The plan is double-depth with a central hallway, a full-width ballroom to the first floor at the left, and a full-width council chamber to the first floor at the right.

The exterior features a central projecting portico at ground floor level with banded pillars surmounted by a balustrade. Above the portico are paired Corinthian columns at the ends of the centre bay with single columns between windows, a decorated frieze with masks, surmounted by a central upshot between obelisks and a further pedimented upshot.

The ground floor entrance comprises double, part-glazed panelled doors recessed within an ornate round-arched surround reached by steps. Windows on this level are 2- and 3-light mullion and transom windows with banded pilasters between.

The first floor outer bays contain, to the left, a tripartite round-arched window with 4/4 sashes and decorative glazing to the heads; to the right a 5-sided oriel with mullion and two levels of transoms, flanked by 2-light mullion and transom windows with two levels of transoms. Other windows are 1-, 2- and 3-light mullion and transom windows, with the centre window featuring a swan-neck pediment. The first floor also features pairs of Tuscan pilasters clasping the angles of the outer bays.

The attic stage is blind to the outer bays, which are surmounted by decorative pedimented upshots with obelisks. To the centre, 3 bays contain 2- and 3-light mullion and transom windows, surmounted by pedimented upshots. The centre upshot is more elaborate, featuring a lunette with mosaic decoration and flanking obelisks. Roof stacks and a central squared and flattened dome surmounted by an ornate balcony rise above.

The clock tower exhibits clasping pilasters, clock faces to all four sides, a balcony, 3-light belfry openings and a peaked dome cap. The returns have 2- and 3-light mullion and transom windows.

An inscription on the foundation stone reads: 'THIS STONE WAS LAID BY ALDERMAN HENRY BRIGHT J.P. MAYOR OF LEAMINGTON OCTOBER 17 1882.' An inscription above the door states: 'This building was opened Sept 18th 1884, by the Mayor Sidney Flavel Junr. Esqr. J.P.'

Internally, a central imperial staircase features a Romanesque balustrade ornamented with figures, pilasters and arcades to the walls, and a stained glass staircase window. The council chamber contains wood panelling with pilasters topped with lion-masks, a rear balcony, and a front bay window forming the chairman's 'apse'. A painted stone chimneypiece with lion masks is present. A stained glass window displays scenes from Shakespeare and is inscribed 'PRESENTED BY SIDNEY FLAVEL JUNR JP MAYOR 1883-4'. The Assembly Rooms to the left feature paired 'Corinthian' pilasters around the walls and a panelled ceiling; stained glass windows in this space display musical instruments.