| Berkhamsted Town Hall | |
|---|---|
 Berkhamsted Town Hall | |
| Location | High Street, Berkhamsted |
| Coordinates | 51°45′39″N0°33′53″W / 51.7608°N 0.5647°W |
| Built | 1859 |
| Architect | Edward Buckton Lamb |
| Architectural style(s) | Gothic Revival style |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
| Designated | 8 November 1972 |
| Reference no. | 1078138 |
  Shown in Hertfordshire | |
Berkhamsted Town Hall is a Grade II listed municipal building in the High Street, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. [1]
The current building was commissioned to replace a 16th century town hall in Church Lane which still stands and is now known as the "Court House". [2] [3] It was also intended to replace a Tudor market hall which had been located further east along the High Street and which had burnt down in 1854. [4] Lady Marian Alford was closely involved in the initiative to establish the new town hall [4] and a site was selected for the new building which had previously been occupied by the offices and stables of a firm of London carriers. [4]
The new building, which was designed by Edward Buckton Lamb in the Gothic Revival style was financed by public subscription and completed in 1859. [1] [5] [6] A substantial contribution to the cost was made by John Egerton-Cust, 2nd Earl Brownlow. [4] The design involved a market hall on the ground floor, and a large assembly hall and rooms for the Mechanics' Institute on the first floor. [4] On the first floor there was an octagonal turret with lancet windows and a spire on the left, a set of three two-light windows with a gable above in the centre, and a three-light ogee-shaped oriel window with tracery and a gable above on the right. [1] A projecting clock was erected on the outside of the building, in memory of Thomas Read, a former town surveyor, in 1897. [7]
The town hall served as the meeting place of Berkhamsted Parish Council until 1898, and the venue for hearings of the local magistrates' court until Berkhamsted Civic Centre was built on the south side of the High Street in 1938. [8] During the Second World War the town experienced a surge in the size of the local population, and the town hall served as a British Restaurant providing meals for needy people, many of whom had been evacuated from London. [8]
After the Second World War, the vacant building became derelict and, when Dacorum Borough Council was formed in Hemel Hempstead in 1974, [9] the new council made proposals to demolish the building. These plans were stopped by a ten-year citizens' campaign, supported by local people Graham Greene, Richard Mabey and Antony Hopkins, during the late 1970s and early 1980s, which eventually ended at the High Court. [5] The town hall was restored in the 1980s and the market hall on the ground floor was officially opened for commercial use as a shopping arcade by the actor Bernard Miles in December 1983. [4] After the shopping arcade fell out of use, the market hall was converted for restaurant use in 1998, and after some years as "Cafe Uno" and then being re-branded as "Brasserie Chez Gérard" in 2007, it became "Carluccios" in 2012 and "the Copper House" in 2019. [10] [11] It re-opened again as Prime Steak & Grill in September 2023. [12]
Berkhamsted is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, 26 miles (42 km) north-west of London. The town is a civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which is based in the neighbouring large new town of Hemel Hempstead. Berkhamsted, along with the adjoining village of Northchurch, is encircled by countryside, much of it in the Chiltern Hills which is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
Hemel Hempstead is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England. It is located 24 miles (39 km) north-west of London; nearby towns include Watford, St Albans and Berkhamsted. The population at the 2021 census was 95,961.
Tring is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, 30 miles (50 km) from Central London.
Dacorum is a local government district with borough status in Hertfordshire, England. The council is based in Hemel Hempstead. The borough also includes the towns of Berkhamsted and Tring and surrounding villages. The borough had a population of 155,081 in 2021. Dacorum was created in 1974 and is named after the ancient hundred of Dacorum which had covered a similar area. The borough of Dacorum is the westernmost of Hertfordshire's ten districts. It borders St Albans, Three Rivers, Buckinghamshire and Central Bedfordshire.
The River Bulbourne is a small river in Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. The word bourne derives from the Anglo-Saxon word for a stream. It is an unnavigable tributary of the River Gade, which flows into the River Colne, which in turn is a tributary of the River Thames. The Bulbourne is an example of a chalk stream, which is a watercourse that flows from chalk-fed groundwater. Chalk streams are a very rare habitat globally, with more than 85% of all the 210 chalk streams in the world are found in England. The river is reduced in size, due to human activity, the main one being the building of the London to Birmingham Grand Union Canal through the narrow valley which takes most of the river's water.
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Egerton House was a small Elizabethan mansion which stood on the High Street in the town of Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire in England. Built during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, it was demolished in 1937 and the site is now occupied by the Art Deco Rex Cinema. As well as its architectural merit, Egerton House was noted for its occupancy by the Llewelyn Davies family and its literary association with J. M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan.
Dean Incent's House is a 15th-century timber-framed house in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. It is reputed to be the birthplace of John Incent, a dean in the Church of England who held office at St Paul's Cathedral from 1540 to 1545.
Leigh Town Hall is a municipal building in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. It stands in Civic Square at the junction with Market Street, facing Leigh parish church. It was built in 1907 and granted grade II listed building status in 1987.
The Old Town Hall was a former municipal facility at the corner of King Street and Rodney Street in Wigan, England. The building, which was demolished in September 2013, had been designated a Grade II listed building in 1990.
William Cooper was a British veterinary surgeon, agriculturalist and industrialist who specialised in the manufacture of agricultural insecticides for livestock. He is credited with developing the first successful sheep dip, Cooper's Dip, in 1852.
St Albans Town Hall, sometimes known as the Old Town Hall or The Courthouse, is a 19th-century building in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. The building, which now accommodates the St Albans Museum, is a Grade II* listed building.
The Shire Hall is a municipal building in Fore Street, Hertford, the county town of Hertfordshire, England. The building, which currently serves as a Magistrates' Court, is a Grade I listed building.
Peter Anthony Paul Melvin, RIBA, was an English architect. His work over a period of fifty years evolved from large-scale Brutalist projects to small-scale made-to-measure designs. He was a vice-president for education at the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Dacorum Heritage (DH) is a local history advocacy group in the United Kingdom. It collects and records the history of the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, in the south of England, and aims to encourage the appreciation of the heritage of Dacorum.
The Town Hall, Christchurch is a municipal building in Christchurch, Dorset, England. The building, which incorporates a room known as the mayor's parlour on the first floor, and is a Grade II listed building. It is currently the base of Christchurch Town Council.
The Old Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. The town hall, which was the meeting place of Hemel Hempstead Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building.
Tring Market House is a municipal building in the High Street, Tring, Hertfordshire, England. The structure, which is the meeting place of Tring Town Council, is a Grade II listed building.
Berkhamsted Civic Centre is a municipal building in the High Street in Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire, England. The structure accommodates the offices and meeting place of Berkhamsted Town Council.
The Forum is a municipal building in Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. The building accommodates the meeting place and offices of Dacorum Borough Council as well as the local library.