Polytechnic Hall

FALMOUTH

SW8032NE CHURCH STREET 843-1/7/55 (West side) 22/07/49 Nos.24 AND 25 Polytechnic Hall

GV II*

Polytechnic hall, now a theatre. 1833 by George Wightwick. Stucco on probable rubble. Rear wing (the auditorium) is rubble with granite quoins and keyed segmental brick arches; slurried scantle slate roof. Deep plan. Greek Revival style. 2 storeys; symmetrical 3-bay front. Channelled rustication to ground floor. 1st floor recessed: tetrastyle Doric arrangement with fluted columns and triglyphs to frieze; moulded window architraves on sill brackets; central window with tapered architrave; rear wing (the auditorium) is rubble with granite quoins and keyed segmental brick arches; slurried scantle slate roof. Original 12-pane sashes except glazing bars removed from bottom of ground-floor sashes. INTERIOR: moulded ceiling cornices to front rooms and entrance hall, otherwise not inspected, but known to retain good original features to 1st-floor rooms. HISTORY: "The Royal Polytechnic Society was founded in 1833 by Anna-Maria and Caroline, the two teenage daughters of Robert Were Fox. As Quakers, they were concerned about the well-being of the working classes and, under their father's guidance, sought to create a means by which the artisans of the Perran Foundry could exhibit their ideas and inventions to a wider public and, in founding the Society, became the first in Britain to use the word "Polytechnic" meaning "of many arts and techniques". In 1834/5 this building was constructed with a large hall to stage exhibitions (Gilson, p52), while the rooms at the front housed the Public Dispensary, Savings Bank and Subscription Library. The Society was involved in pioneering the invention of photography, was responsible for introducing such life-saving innovations as the safety fuse, new types of explosives, ventilation of mines, wire ropes, rock drilling and, perhaps most beneficial of all, the "man-engine", designed to replace the dangerous ladders attached to the walls of the shaft." This building has national historic interest both as the first polytechnic in the world and as the spawning ground of many of the inventions and innovations which made an important contribution towards the Industrial Revolution. (Colvin H: A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects: London: 1978-: 890; Gilson P: Falmouth in Old Photographs: Falmouth: 1990-: 51 AND 52; Kelly: Kelly's Directory for Cornwall: London: 1910-: 105).

Listing NGR: SW8091232686