Dover Town Hall, including the remains of the medieval Maison Dieu

Dover Town Hall is a Grade I listed building that stands as an exceptional survival of medieval and Victorian architecture. The structure principally comprises medieval fabric from the 13th century, heavily restored by Ambrose Poynter and William Burges in the mid-19th century, together with an assembly hall and civic offices designed by William Burges and overseen by R P Pullan and J S Chapple, completed in 1883.

The building contains several distinct but interconnected elements: the Stone Hall, a medieval tower, a former chapel (now known as the Sessions House), the Council Chamber, the Connaught Hall, and the Mayoral Suite.

Materials and Construction

The Stone Hall is constructed of Kentish ragstone rubble and flint, much of which has been repaired over time. Some medieval ragstone quoins and Caen stone outer window surrounds survive from the original structure. The 19th-century restoration work employed Bath stone dressings, with ragstone used for some early 20th-century additions. The roof is slated. The visible outer walls of the former chapel are faced in flint with stone dressings.

The upper floors of the Connaught Hall and Mayoral Suite are faced in squared flint with Bath stone dressings, while the ground floor forms a plinth of irregularly-coursed, rough-faced ragstone. These roofs are also slated. The Council Chamber is built of squared ragstone rubble with a slate roof.

Plan and Layout

The building's footprint is formed principally of two parallel ranges: the medieval Stone Hall and Burges's Connaught Hall. Their long axis runs north-east to south-west, though for clarity this description treats it as east-west.

The building occupies a corner site where the High Street meets Ladywell. The High Street runs past the building's west front, while Ladywell passes the long north elevation. The principal floor level—that of the two halls—is raised, with both halls being double-height spaces. The Mayoral Suite has a second floor, and the entire building has a ground floor opening onto the street. The current floor of the Stone Hall was inserted in the 1830s to create a prison beneath. The original floor level of the hall is uncertain but is thought to have been below the current ground level.

The Stone Hall occupies much of the southern half of the building's footprint. Its entrance faces west onto the High Street, and its length extends eastward to the Council Chamber built in 1867. To the south of the Stone Hall, at its west end, stands the square, three-stage medieval tower, which also formed part of the medieval hospital.

The Connaught Hall occupies the majority of the northern half of the building's footprint. Its west end fronts the High Street and its north side faces Ladywell. The west end of the hall currently contains cloakrooms and WCs, flanked to north and south by stair towers that provide access to upper galleries forming a U-shape around the north, south and west perimeter of the hall. The southern stair tower rises one stage above gallery height and also serves as a clock tower. The Connaught Hall is broader but shorter than the Stone Hall, leaving a roughly square portion of the building's footprint in the north-east corner. This consists of two distinct elements arranged around a small internal courtyard. To the north and east of the courtyard, forming the very north-east corner of the building, is the Mayoral Suite, comprising the Mayor's Parlour and office on the first floor, the Minute room and offices on the floor above, further offices below, and several ancillary rooms connected to the Connaught Hall on each floor. These form part of Burges's scheme, although they may include some structural fabric from the 1830s. To the south of the courtyard stands the oldest part of the building, the chapel of circa 1227, now known as the Sessions House.

The chapel is enclosed by later additions except where it faces the small courtyard to the north and a second small courtyard to the south. Its width may indicate the width of the nave of the original hospital building, the Pilgrims' Hall, and it is possible that some of its surviving fabric belongs to this earlier structure.

Exterior

West Front

The building's entrance front faces west. This elevation presents an irregular composition formed, from left to right, of the west ends of the wider Connaught Hall, the much narrower Stone Hall, and the medieval tower. The character of these component parts is unified through their flint facing and stone dressings, the Connaught Hall's Decorated styling, and its clock tower, which creates a focal point in the approximate centre of the composition.

The Stone Hall's west end has a parapeted gable and provides the building's main entrance, reached by a flight of steps. The moulded stone doorway has a pointed arch and colonnetted jambs with carved-head label stops. Above is a five-light Decorated window with cusped tracery, lighting the west end of the hall. The window and door are to Poynter's design, part of the restoration completed by Burges. The tower has angle buttresses and is lit by single lancets. At ground floor level, the tower has two blocked arched doorways, now semi-subterranean.

Stone Hall South Elevation

The long, parapeted south elevation of the Stone Hall is divided into six bays by buttresses; a seventh bay to the west is hidden by the tower. The buttresses terminate just above the parapet, each topped with a carved stone grotesque, thought likely to be reproductions by Burges. Each bay contains a large, four-light Decorated window with cusped tracery in one of two alternating designs, with carved-head label stops. These windows are to Poynter's designs but sit within medieval outer surrounds. Early images of the Stone Hall show that the windows were once much greater in length, their cills extending down almost as far as the current ground level. Beneath the windows are ventilation hatches serving the hall, and below that, small rectangular windows serving the prison cells beneath the hall. Two single-storey extensions from the mid- to late 19th century stand towards the west end of the elevation; these were added at various points in the second half of the 19th century and relate to the changing uses of the building's lower ground floor.

Stone Hall East Elevation

The upper part of the east elevation is visible above the roof of the later Council Chamber added in 1867. The blocked east window retains its medieval surround; the transition from a convex moulding on the jamb to a concave one in the arch points to the involvement of Michael of Canterbury. In the north-east corner of the hall is an octagonal stair tower.

Council Chamber

The Council Chamber has two storeys and a south-facing, parapeted gable end. The ground floor use was associated with the custodial function of the building and has timber sash windows and a half-glazed door to the west, with metal barred windows and a solid, studded timber door to the south. The double-height upper floor houses the Council Chamber and is lit to the south by a tripartite window of two, three, and two lights with cusped tracery and carved label stops.

Connaught Hall West Front

The Connaught Hall's west front is not fully square, being cranked slightly towards the east, following the line of the High Street. It has fenestration over three floors and is punctuated at either end by a square stair tower, the right-hand tower rising to a fourth stage with a projecting clock and a small balcony beneath. The tower terminates in a steeply-pitched roof behind a crocketed gable parapet. At second floor are five large three-light pointed-arch windows with cusped tracery: one window in each tower and three in the central section of the elevation, which is set back from the building line, forming a balcony over the first floor below. The first floor is lit with small pairs of square and trefoil-headed lights set within wide, flat stone surrounds. Over the central window, partly resting on the parapet above, is the Zeebrugge Bell. This was given to the town by King Albert I of Belgium in recognition of the Zeebrugge Raid and erected in 1923 to commemorate the lasting friendship of Dover and Zeebrugge. The ground floor is principally lit by two six-light stone mullion and transom windows. At the base of the south tower is a recessed doorway with a foundation stone above and a carved shield featuring St Martin dividing his cloak with the beggar.

Connaught Hall North Elevation and Mayoral Suite

The north elevation is entirely part of Burges's scheme and comprises the side elevation of the Connaught Hall to the west and the Mayoral Suite to the east. As with the west elevation, the hall is framed by a slightly projecting stair tower at either end, with the elevation between broken down into four bays by shallow buttresses: three of the bays are of equal width, and the easternmost is approximately half the width. The west tower and three wider bays have large pointed windows with cusped tracery at second floor, one in the tower and two per bay. First-floor windows are paired trefoil-headed lancets within deep, segmentally-headed, flat stone surrounds, pierced over each lancet pair with a small quatrefoil window. As with the west elevation, the ground floor is principally lit by six-light stone mullion and transom windows. At the base of the west tower is a moulded stone doorway with a pointed arch and colonnetted jambs beneath a crocketed gable. The tympanum over the square-headed door features a carved figure of St Cecilia. Other doorways in this elevation are much plainer, with square heads.

The east tower connects the Connaught Hall to the Mayoral Suite both in plan and architectural composition, the latter being more domestic in character. The fenestration is similar to that of the ground floor of the hall but more generous in height and with trefoil heads. The roof is lower, with eaves broken by a large gable-ended dormer with a mullion and transom window and the pitched roof projecting to form a bracketed timber canopy. Adjacent is a smaller flat-roofed dormer. In front of the dormers is a shallow balcony with a solid stone balustrade. The elevation terminates in a wide, projecting, gable-ended bay with a crocketed gable parapet. The Mayor's Parlour on the first floor is lit by a large canted oriel window divided into multiple lights with stone mullions and transoms, the upper lights having pointed heads with cusped tracery. The window rests on two stone brackets, flanked on either side at ground floor by wide segmentally-headed six-light mullion and transom windows.

Medieval Chapel (Sessions House)

The medieval chapel, or Sessions House, is largely enclosed by other parts of the building, but small elements are visible from the roof and within the south courtyard. The upper part of the south elevation is faced in flint and has three pointed arch windows set within deep relieving arches. The stone window frames and tracery are believed to be 19th century. The roof has a steep pitch, with the ridge running east-west, which steps down over the west half of the structure. The east half is probably the extent of the original chapel; the top of its gable is visible over the lower pitched roof of the westerly half, and an inclined string course is a likely indication of a roof that abutted it—quite possibly that of the early Pilgrims' Hall. The north wall of this westerly half is visible from the north courtyard; this wall may contain medieval fabric also but has been rendered over.

Interior

The Stone Hall

The Stone Hall interior is largely the work of Poynter and Burges dating from around 1860. The roof has braced king-post trusses with traceried spandrels, resting on carved stone corbels. The underside of the pitch is boarded. The lower part of the walls is faced in ashlar with a moulded string course at cill level; above, the walls are plastered. Five moulded stone doorways with pointed arches, colonnetted jambs, and carved animal label stops lead through to the various spaces to the north of the Stone Hall. These are set within the upper part of the blocked arches which formed a colonnade between the Stone Hall and the original Pilgrims' Hall (these arches are visible from the north). To the east, a similar doorway leads through to the ante-room of the Council Chamber. An oak screen with a gallery above spans the west end of the hall, enclosing an inner lobby between the hall and its main entrance. The screen was designed by Burges but has had some modification in the second half of the 20th century. The south windows have stained glass by Edmund Poynter, son of Ambrose, depicting historical events connected with Dover. The west window has glass designed by Ambrose Poynter and depicts five figures representing benefactors of the hospital.

Beneath the Stone Hall, the ground floor is mainly arranged as two rows of vaulted prison cells on either side of a central, axial corridor. Their present configuration is thought to date from circa 1867, but this may be a reworking of the first phase of gaol use in the 1830s. In some areas the inner face of the outer masonry walls is exposed, and in the second bay to the east on the south wall, two medieval arched tomb recesses are exposed. At the west end of the south wall is an arched opening appearing to be an early entrance connecting the tower and the Stone Hall. The thick internal walls which divide the cells and carry the floor above are of brick construction. The cell doors of circa 1867 remain, complete with associated door furniture and hatches; the stone lintels above are carved with labels indicative of their use: 'Felons', 'Felons For Trial', 'Misdemeanours' and so forth.

Medieval Tower

The interior of the medieval tower essentially comprises a stair and a single room on each floor. The stair contains both medieval fabric and later repairs or interventions. The tower has undergone various phases of alteration, with fixtures and finishes dating from different periods. One of the most recent was the insertion of a lift in the later 20th century.

Medieval Chapel (Sessions House)

The medieval chapel, or Sessions House, is divided to east and west by a wide arch resting on octagonal piers. To the east—the location of the original chapel—is a three-bay panelled ceiling supported on moulded tie beams. The panels are painted with a simple line quatrefoil design and are divided by moulded ribs with carved bosses, and each bay has a central carved lozenge-shaped panel. The walls are plastered and painted, and the three moulded, colonnetted window surrounds to the south are mirrored in blind openings to the north. The substantial, panelled courtroom fittings, thought to be of American walnut, survive. The author of the decorative ceiling and the fittings is uncertain, but they are believed to date from the mid- to late 19th century.

To the west of the arch, the lower roof is ceiled from approximately collar height, the whole lined in acoustic tiles.

The Council Chamber

The Council Chamber and rooms beneath are survivals from the prison-building programme of 1867 and are thought to be the work of the town surveyor, John Hanvey. The Council Chamber interior is executed in a style reminiscent of Burges, with a Tudor-arch vaulted, panelled ceiling. The moulded principal ribs rest on painted, carved head corbels, with secondary ribs having carved, gilded Tudor Rose bosses. The panels are painted with monochrome motifs. In the centre of the ceiling is the original, though no longer functioning, sun-burner—a form of gas-fuelled combined heating, lighting and ventilation system. There is planked panelling to dado height, with decorative timber ventilation ducts built into the corners. To the north, a pair of pointed-arch doors with blind quatrefoil tracery connect the chamber with two ante-rooms. There are two fireplaces in the west wall with decorative stone surrounds, black marble columns supporting a frieze and mantle shelf, and fleur-de-lys tiled slips. The window has stained glass designed by W H Lonsdale (of Burges's office), depicting Edward I, Edward II and Richard I—the kings known to have visited the Maison Dieu. The window was paid for with money left over from the Connaught Hall. The ante rooms are both top-lit by roof lanterns and have panelled ceilings with moulded ribs.

Beneath the Council Chamber is a spine wall separating two vaulted rooms originally belonging to the prison. The room to the west has late 20th-century to early 21st-century shop fittings relating to its one-time use as a visitor information centre. Beneath the ante-rooms are small cells, possibly part of the first gaol of circa 1834.

The Mayoral Suite

The Mayoral Suite principally comprises the Mayor's Parlour and its interlinked office, accessed by a corridor that wraps round two sides of the northern courtyard. Directly above is the Minute room and Minute offices, and beneath, on the lower ground floor, are further offices. A further room on each floor appears to have provided back-of-house accommodation for the Connaught Hall. The most elaborate of the interiors in this part of the building is the Mayor's Parlour, which has a deeply-coffered ceiling with the large square central panel painted with rich stencil decoration and a central chandelier. Later paint has been stripped back to reveal what would have been an impressive and extensive decorative paint scheme in classic Burges style, which took in the walls, ceiling, and large, tapered chimney breast. Elsewhere in this part of the building, some of the ceilings are panelled, and there is evidence of further paint schemes in several rooms and in the circulation spaces. Panelled doors with chamfered stiles and rails, and a range of fittings, ironmongery and joinery, are all part of Burges's scheme, completed by Pullan and Chapple.

The Connaught Hall

The Connaught Hall is the second of the two great public spaces in the building (the other being the Stone Hall). The ceiling has ribbed vaulting over the arcaded galleries which line three sides. The ceiling over the main space is panelled, the panels having a ribbed quatrefoil motif. The space was electrified in 1894 with the installation of a set of five castellated electroliers to the design of J Chapple. The decorative domed voids which held the preceding sun-burners remain, as do their associated funnels within the roof space. The galleries and the vaulting above are supported on cast iron clustered columns with foliate capitals, and the gallery fronts are decorative forged and pierced metalwork panels with a hardwood handrail. At the east end is a stage and the large Astley organ. The stained glass is to the designs of H W Lonsdale. The walls, and to a lesser extent the ceiling, had painted decoration as part of the Burges scheme; as with elsewhere, this survives beneath later paint finishes.

Beneath the Connaught Hall is an extensive series of storage and ancillary spaces.