The Town Hall is a Grade II* listed building in the Rother local planning authority area, England. First listed on 12 October 1951. Town hall. 9 related planning applications.
The Town Hall
- WRENN ID
- little-transept-ochre
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- Rother
- Constituency
- Hastings and Rye MP: Helena Dollimore (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 12 October 1951
- Type
- Town hall
- Address
- The Town Hall, Market Street, Rye, TN31 7LA
- OS grid reference
- TQ 921 203
- Coordinates
- 50.95039, 0.73425
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Town Hall, dated 1742-1743, was designed by Andrew Jelfe. It is a two-storey and attic building with five windows. Constructed of red brick, it features Portland stone dressings, long and short quoins, a string course above the ground floor, and a cornice with modillions above the first floor. A high brick parapet has its own cornice, with stone caps at each end and the coat of arms of Rye, also in Portland stone, set in the centre, surmounted by a broken pediment. A cupola is positioned on the centre of the roof. The windows are set within Portland stone surrounds, having segmental heads and keystones.
The ground floor originally formed an open narthex with an arcade of square Portland stone columns and arches with keystones. However, two bays have been in-filled: the centre one accommodates a fire engine, and the easternmost one houses the Magistrates' Room. Two doorways lead to the Council Chamber on the first floor, the westernmost featuring fluted Doric pilasters and an entablature, while the easternmost has plain pilasters and a round arch. The first-floor Council Chamber is panelled. Small attic rooms are located above. A Portland stone sundial dated 1831 is situated on the first floor of the rear staircase wing.
The Town Hall forms a group with Durrant House (Nos. 3 to 7, consecutive) and La Rochelle, on East Street.
Local climate
The Town Hall sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 710 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 87% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 67% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 23 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 75% of listed buildings. Of these, 11 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- Sale history — 2 transactions since 2023
- Related listed building consents — 9 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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