Bexhill Town Hall

Bexhill Town Hall

Town hall built 1894–1895, extended 1907, with a further extension in 1937. Designed by Henry Ward. The principal elevation faces south.

The 1894 building is constructed of red brick with sandstone dressings and has two storeys plus an attic, with a pitched H-plan roof behind parapets. The plan comprises reception spaces (originally offices) flanking an entrance lobby, with a large square stair tower to the rear. The first floor is dominated by a large central board room, flanked by a committee room and what is now the Chair's office. A back stair in the north-east corner provides access to attic offices, originally the caretaker's flat.

The exterior of the 1894 building displays Jacobean Free Style architecture. The entrance front is symmetrical with five bays: three central bays flanked by projecting end bays with gables topped by scrolled pediments and finials, and octagonal corner turrets with domed caps. The taller first floor has casement windows with mullions and transoms, with the central three windows featuring round heads with stone voussoirs. Ground floor windows are vertical sliding sashes. Stone balustrades surmount shallow curved stone bays on the first floor. Paired attic windows have a carved semi-circular tympanum above. The central entrance is reached by steps and comprises a heavy panelled double door within a round-arched opening of dressed stone with carved spandrels, flanked by paired engaged columns and a balustrade. On the first floor, a Venetian window is flanked by brick pilasters carrying a curved pediment with carved tympanum and a clock added above. Attic dormer windows have curved pediments. One ground-floor window has been converted to a door with a ramp added.

The 1907 extension adjoins to the west and partially to the rear, with offices on the ground floor (since opened up and reconfigured) and the council chamber above, connected by a back stair. The extension is in complementary style, featuring a single wide bay with a first-floor Venetian balcony with balustrade, a foundation stone with a carved swagged surround, and an attic curved pediment with an oculus.

The 1937 extension extends from the north-east corner to the rear, with subsequent westward extension across the rear of the stair tower (this post-1937 work is not listed). Side elevations are plainer. The east elevation facing Amherst Road belongs to the 1937 extension and continues the simplified detailing of the original building.

The interiors of principal interest are the first-floor rooms of both the 1894 and 1907 buildings. The committee room has grained dado panelling and enriched Classical door surrounds, with carved stone chimneypieces at either end bearing the arms of the Bishop of Chichester and the Sackville family, both incorporated in the arms of Bexhill District Council before new arms were granted in 1907. A small lift has been added in the corner. The Chair's office has a plaster strapwork ceiling. The council chamber is accessed via a square antechamber lit from above by a domed skylight with coloured glass. The chamber features a barrel-vaulted ceiling with plasterwork panels supported on plaster corbel brackets, hardwood panelling on the walls, and a gallery with hardwood balustrade at the north end. Original timber casement windows with coloured glass margins survive, along with two stained glass roundels depicting Queen Elizabeth I and the arms of Bexhill-on-Sea, newly granted in 1907.

The principal stair is an Imperial staircase with square stone newels and pierced stone balustrade with veined marble handrail, lit by a large mullioned window with coloured glass margins on the half landing. A large brass plaque with an ornate carved wooden surround commemorating the building's opening hangs in the reception foyer, and a mosaic floor bearing the initials BDC is present in the entrance lobby. Some joinery and fittings survive elsewhere in the 1894 and 1907 buildings, though further examples may survive behind dropped ceilings or later partitions. Ground floor opening-up has altered the original cellular character of the floor plan.

The clay tile roof and uPVC windows are modern replacements. The interior of the 1937 extension is not of special architectural or historic interest.