Former Town Hall

Former Town Hall

This building began as a hotel and was converted to serve as a town hall. It was constructed between 1881 and 1885 as the Mont Dore Hotel, designed by architect Alfred Bedborough. The building was converted to a Town Hall in 1921, a Council Chamber wing was added around 1930, and further extensions were made at the rear around 1990. The structure is built in buff-coloured brick with Bath stone dressings and slate roofs.

The original hotel plan was L-shaped with a curved angle. Following conversion to Town Hall use in 1921, a Council Chamber wing was built on the south-west end around 1930. Later extensions were added to the rear (north-east) around 1990.

The architectural style combines French and Italianate elements with neo-Classical features.

The main south front comprises four storeys with a basement and attic, arranged in a 3:4:2:3:3:7:3 bay pattern. The right end faces east and terminates in a curved corner. The end bays are advanced and topped with pavilion roofs. A projecting entrance bay to the left of centre rises to a small tower with turrets and a pavilion roof finished with iron cresting. A small pediment sits at the eaves. Bracketed eaves with festoons appear between the brackets of the advanced bays. The piano nobile features rusticated ashlar with a cast-iron balcony above on large console brackets. Moulded stone window architraves and red terracotta friezes decorate the facade. The second floor carries a cornice above. Pedimented dormers project above the eaves cornice. A four-bay projection on the left side includes a two-storey canted bay window. The three-bay right-hand projection features an oriel with balcony balustrade. The main entrance, set off-centre, has a segmentally arched carriageway that is now blocked by a later Baroque portico with a broken segmental pediment and oculus.

The Council Chamber wing projects from the left side, consisting of two storeys. It has a rusticated ashlar base with broad pilasters and sash windows topped with rusticated flat arches. Above sits a brick piano nobile with a stone entablature. Tall arched panels to the sides feature an oculus at the head of each panel. The bowed south front of this wing has a rusticated portico with a balcony above. A giant Ionic order of attached paired columns rises to the piano nobile above, with an oculus set between each pair of columns. The rear elevation of the main range is similarly treated to the front.

The entrance hall, originally the hotel's carriageway, features a coffered vaulted ceiling with an internal porch containing swivel doors and an ornate kiosk desk. The main open-well staircase has a cast-iron balustrade and arcades to the landings, decorated with pairs of ornately embellished glazed Doulton columns. The attic columns are made of plaster to simulate the ceramic columns below. A plainer secondary staircase also serves the building. Two former hotel lounges, now the mayor's parlour and members' room, retain moulded plaster ceilings and chimneypieces. A shallow flight of stairs leads to the Council Chamber, featuring large stone newel piers and an iron balustrade. A large circular landing displays fluted Ionic pilasters. The Council Chamber itself boasts a shallow coffered dome with lantern and mosaic floor, a panelled vestibule, and an intact chamber with a shallow domed ceiling. The interior features panelled sides with public galleries above, horseshoe-shaped seating, and an apsidal dais with fluted wooden Ionic columns and pilasters.

The Mont Dore Hotel was once the grandest Victorian hotel in Bournemouth before its conversion to civic use.