Bargoed Town Hall

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Bargoed Town Hall
Native name
Neuadd y Dref Bargod (Welsh)
Bargoed Town Hall - geograph.org.uk - 5839226.jpg
The building in July 2018
Location Bargoed
Coordinates 51°41′20″N3°13′45″W / 51.6889°N 3.2293°W / 51.6889; -3.2293
Built1911
ArchitectGeorge Kenshole
Architectural style(s) Beaux-Arts style
Listed Building – Grade II
Official namePolice Court and Police Station, including forecourt walls, gates & railings
Designated29 April 2002
Reference no.26493
Caerphilly UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Shown in Caerphilly

Bargoed Town Hall (Welsh : Neuadd y Dref Bargod) is a municipal building located on Hanbury Road, Bargoed in the Rhymney Valley in Wales. The town hall, which is the meeting place of Bargoed Town Council, is a Grade II listed building. [1]

Contents

History

The older part of the complex is a police station constructed in 1904. A police court (later referred to as a magistrates' court) was subsequently erected to its left, the two joined by a cell block. The police court was designed by George Kenshole in the Beaux-Arts style and completed in 1911. [1]

One of the most shocking cases before the court was a trial in 1965 when a group of 11 young people went on trial on a total of 41 charges of assault and related activity at Bargoed railway station. One of the victims had suffered a broken leg. The crime was described as "an extreme example of gangsterism in the locality". [2]

The complex was grade II listed in 1992. [1] The courthouse closed in 1997, [3] and it was then occasionally used as an annexe to the police station. [4]

In 2012, the Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner, Ian Johnston, sought other organisations who were prepared to rent the former courthouse (but not the police station) from Gwent Police. Meanwhile, Bargoed Town Council, which had been established in 1985 [5] and had been based in a residential property know as The Settlement on Cardiff Road in Bargoed, [6] had been seeking premises which would be more accessible for its residents. After a rental agreement had been entered into by the two parties, a programme of works was initiated to create a council chamber and an open plan office for the council within the former courthouse. [7] The former courthouse was officially re-opened by the mayor of Bargoed, Howard Llewellyn, and the mayor of Caerphilly County Borough, David Carter, with Johnston also in attendance, on 28 June 2014. [8] [9]

In 2018, a painting by the artist, Olwen Hughes, depicting the Bargoed Emporium, was presented to the Gelligaer Historical Society and hung in the town hall. [10] The emporium was a distinctive shop in the town, which had been completed in 1906. [11]

Architecture

The courthouse is single storey, and is in the Beaux-Arts style. It is built of ashlar stone, and has a slate roof. The design involves a symmetrical main frontage of three bays facing onto Hanbury Road. The central bay contains an opening with double doors, a moulded surround and a keystone, while the outer bays contain blind panels. The bays are flanked by Ionic order pilasters supporting an architrave and an entablature, inscribed "POLICE COURT", as well as a dentilled pediment containing a wreath with festoons. The police station, which is not part of the town hall, has two storeys and an attic, and is of three symmetrical bays, a lower bay to the left, and then a cell block. It is built of stone, with some chimneys of brick. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Cadw. "Police Court and Police Station, including forecourt walls, gates & railings (26493)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
  2. ↑ "Yesterdays 196". South Wales Echo. 17 January 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  3. ↑ "Final sentence due for historic Carmarthen court". BBC News. 27 May 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  4. ↑ "Bargoed court house reopens as town hall". BBC News. 28 June 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
  5. ↑ "History". Bargoed Town Council. Archived from the original on 28 June 2010.
  6. ↑ "Meetings". Bargoed Town Council. Archived from the original on 28 June 2010.
  7. ↑ "Commissioner Welcomes Town Council to Bargoed Police Station". Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner. 8 August 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  8. ↑ "Town Hall opens in old Bargoed Police Court". Caerphilly Observer. 30 June 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  9. ↑ "Old Bargoed Police Court gets Makeover". Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner. 23 May 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  10. ↑ "Bargoed Emporium, Painting by Rhymney-born artist, Olwen Hughes (1980)" (PDF). Gelligaer Historical Society. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  11. ↑ "Bargoed Emporium Store under construction and nearing completion". People's Collection wales. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
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