Aberystwyth Town Hall | |
---|---|
Native name Neuadd y Dref Aberystwyth | |
Location | Queen's Square, Aberystwyth |
Coordinates | 52°25′02″N4°04′54″W / 52.4173°N 4.0816°W |
Built | 1962 |
Architect | Sidney Colwyn Foulkes |
Architectural style(s) | Neo-Georgian style |
Aberystwyth Town Hall (Welsh : Neuadd y Dref Aberystwyth) is a municipal structure in Queen's Square, Aberystwyth, Wales. The structure, which was the headquarters of Aberystwyth Borough Council, has operated since 2012 as a public library and a pensioners' day centre.
The first town hall in Aberystwyth, which was located at the top of Great Darkgate Street, was completed in the 18th century. [1] It was replaced by a new building at the top of Portland Street which was designed by William Coulthart in the Neo-Georgian style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1851. [1] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with nine bays facing onto Queen's Square; the central section of three bays formed a full-height tetrastyle portico with Ionic order columns supporting an entablature and a modillioned pediment; there were single storey sections on either side with sash windows and a balustrade at roof level. This building was badly damaged in a fire on 10 September 1957. [2]
After the fire-damaged building had been demolished, a third town hall, designed by Sidney Colwyn Foulkes in a similar style to the second building was built on the same site by The Norwest Construction Company and officially opened by the Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Edward Ewart Pearce, on 2 May 1962. [3] However, there were differences: the new building incorporated a high wall behind the new portico so accentuating its profile, the new pediment featured a coat of arms in the tympanum and the detailing on the new side sections was minimal. [4]
The building continued to serve as the headquarters of the Aberystwyth Borough Council for much of the rest of the 20th century and remained the meeting place of the enlarged Ceredigion District Council after it was formed in 1974. [5] [6] [7] However, it ceased to be the local seat of government when the new unitary authority, Ceredigion County Council, was formed at Aberaeron in 1996. [8] Ceredigion County Council continued to use the building for the delivery of local services but moved out to new offices on Boulevard St Brieuc in 2009. [9]
An extensive programme of works to establish a new library and a new pensioners' day centre in the town hall started in September 2010. [9] [lower-alpha 1] The conversion, which cost £950,000, was completed in April 2012 [12] and the building was officially re-opened by the Minister for Housing, Regeneration & Heritage, Huw Lewis, on 13 September 2012. [3] The new library was named the Alun R. Edwards centre (Welsh : Canolfan Alun R. Edwards) in memory of the former county librarian, Alun R. Edwards who died in 1986. [13] However, the move of the pensioners' day centre to the basement of the town hall was controversial and led to protests outside the old day centre in Park Avenue [12] and a petition, which gained 6,000 signatures, to the Senedd. [14]
Ceredigion, historically Cardiganshire, is a county in the west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. Aberystwyth is the largest settlement and, together with Aberaeron, is an administrative centre of Ceredigion County Council.
Aberystwyth University is a public research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 students studying across three academic faculties and 17 departments.
Aberaeron, previously anglicised as Aberayron, is a town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales. Located on the coast between Aberystwyth and Cardigan, its resident population was 1,274 in the 2021 census.
Cardigan is both a town and a community in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. Positioned on the tidal reach of the River Teifi at the point where Ceredigion meets Pembrokeshire, Cardigan was the county town of the historic county of Cardiganshire. Cardigan is the second-largest town in Ceredigion. The largest town, Aberystwyth, is one of the two administrative centres; the other is Aberaeron.
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Ceredigion County Council is the governing body for the county of Ceredigion, since 1996 one of the unitary authorities of Wales. The council's main offices are in Aberaeron.
Aberystwyth is a university and seaside town and a community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and 16 miles (26 km) from Aberaeron, the county's administrative centre. In 2011, the population of the town was 15,935.
Aberystwyth Town Football Club is a Welsh semi-professional football team, currently playing in the Cymru Premier, the top tier of football in Wales. They are the only top flight men's football team in Ceredigion.
The Royal Pier, Aberystwyth is a pleasure pier located in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales. The first pier to open in Wales (1865), after a series of heavy storms it is now a much shortened version of its originally constructed length of 242 metres (794 ft).
Aberystwyth Town Council is the community council that governs the ancient borough, town and community of Aberystwyth. For electoral purposes, it is divided into five electoral divisions.
Edward Haycock Sr. was an English architect working in the West Midlands and in central and southern Wales in the late Georgian and early Victorian periods.
Old College, Aberystwyth, is a building that forms part of the University of Aberystwyth in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales. It was built in 1795 by John Nash and is a Grade I listed building.
Aberystwyth Rheidol is the name of a local government electoral ward in the town of Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales. It elects a county councillor to Ceredigion County Council and also elects town councillors to Aberystwyth Town Council.
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The 2022 Ceredigion County Council election took place as of 5 May 2022 to elect 38 members to Ceredigion Council. On the same day, elections were held to the other 21 local authorities and to community councils in Wales as part of the 2022 Welsh local elections. The previous all-council election took place in May 2017 and future elections will take place every five years.
County Hall, formerly Aberaeron Town Hall, is a municipal building in Market Street, Aberaeron, Ceredigion, Wales. The structure, which is now used as a public library, is a Grade II listed building.
Ceredigion Archives is a regional archive service and the county record office for Ceredigion County Council. Located since 2012 in Aberystwyth Town Hall, the archive collects, curates, preserves and gives access to records relating to the county and its administration.