The Town Hall

The Town Hall was constructed in two phases. The first phase, built between 1906 and 1907, was initially a Carnegie Public Library designed by Thomas Davison of London, with RE Narracott of Stoke Gabriel acting as the contractor. The second phase, a Town Hall extension with committee rooms, was added between 1910 and 1911, again to Davison’s designs, with R Wilkins of Bristol (Ellis) as the contractor.

The building is constructed of snecked local grey limestone with freestone dressings, with a slate roof concealed behind a parapet. The chimney stacks have stone shafts with moulded cornices and multiple tall decorative pots. It is an example of Edwardian Baroque architecture.

The plan includes a main block facing Castle Circus, with a central entrance leading to a stair hall, above which are committee rooms. A principal hall is accessible from the Lymington Road return; a former public library entrance is located on the corner between Castle Circus and Union Street.

The building is two storeys and has a basement, with a single-storey hall attached. A three-stage clock tower rises above the main entrance. The front elevation features a nearly symmetrical arrangement of five bays, with the central and outer bays projecting forward and featuring rusticated quoins; the basement masonry is also rusticated. A projecting cornice with a dentil course sits below a balustraded parapet. The central section has a Doric porch with three columns at each corner and a triglyph and guttae entablature. A Diocletian stair window on the first floor is adorned with swags of fruit. Ground-floor windows have Gibbs surrounds with triple keystones, while the first-floor windows have moulded architraves and alternating segmental-headed and gabled open pediments. Eared niches with tall windows, each topped with a triple keystone, flank the outer bays. One ground-floor window contains stained glass, and stone panels bearing texts are positioned above the niches. The clock tower has a pedimented gable above the base, which supports a stage with triple Ionic columns at the corners and an entablature. The two upper stages of the tower are open, feature angle pilasters, and are topped with Baroque finials.

The left elevation (Union Road), formerly the library, presents a domed semicircular entrance block with a blind Ionic colonnade on the first floor and a square-headed doorway below. There are four windows to the left. The Lymington Road elevation features three irregular bays on the left, mirroring the overall style, and, to the right, the main hall entrance with a recessed central three-bay section delineated by triple keystones and text panels above.

The town hall’s basement is enclosed by contemporary iron railings with vertical panels and scrollwork. A pair of iron gates leading to the main porch incorporate roundels with armorial bearings within cartouche work.

Interior historic features include a two-flight staircase featuring marble wells lined with local and Italian marbles and a marble balustrade. The first-floor ceiling is coved and plastered. Contemporary joinery includes elaborate committee room doors with overdoors. The Town Hall is an important focal point of the upper part of town at Castle Circus.