County Hall and Market House is a Grade I listed building in the Vale of White Horse local planning authority area, England. First listed on 19 January 1951. A 1678-1683 Hall. 9 related planning applications.
County Hall and Market House
- WRENN ID
- solemn-loggia-wax
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Vale of White Horse
- Constituency
- Oxford West and Abingdon MP: Layla Moran (LD)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 19 January 1951
- Type
- Hall
- Address
- County Hall and Market House, Market Place, Abingdon on Thames, OX14 3HG
- OS grid reference
- SU 497 970
- Coordinates
- 51.67003, -1.28149
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The County Hall and Market House, built between 1678 and 1683, is an important ashlar building designed by Christopher Kempster, who was one of Sir Christopher Wren's masons. The woodwork was completed by Avery Hobbs. This structure features two storeys, cellars, and attics, along with a square staircase tower on the south side. It has a layout of four bays by two, with a façade made of fine ashlar, using Burford stone at the impost level of the ground floor and mostly Headington stone above.
The Hall is elevated on a stylobate consisting of three steps. The ground floor contains an open arcaded Market Hall, while the first floor houses the Sessions Hall, illuminated by arched windows in each bay. The building is supported by giant pilasters that span two storeys, holding up an entablature and a wooden eaves cornice topped with a lead roof. The roof features pedimented dormer windows above each bay and a balustraded flat front that rises to a cupola with a weathervane.
The grand order includes pilasters of the ground floor arcade, which rest on plinths with a simple cavetto. The order is characterized by pedestals, moulded bases, and pilasters that lack entasis or fluting, topped with composite capitals. Its entablature has a plain frieze and supports the modillions of the wooden eaves cornice, which was renewed in 1896. The proportions of this order were slightly altered during restoration work before 1852 due to decayed stone being cut away.
Each bay of the grand order contains one arch of the Market Hall arcade. The keystones of the round arches are adorned with sculptured masks featuring symbolic headdresses, which were added in their current form in 1853. The arcades originate from plain pilasters with moulded imposts. The first floor has round-headed windows with moulded architraves and scrolled keystones decorated with acanthus, using box stone from the 1853 restoration. The building was also repaired in 1952. The County Hall has been the site of many significant election struggles.
The County Hall, along with Nos. 5 to 9 Market Place, forms a cohesive group in the area.
Local climate
County Hall and Market House sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 730 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 78% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 69% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 32 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 59% of listed buildings. Of these, 14 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 — 1 transaction since 2005
- 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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