Bexhill Town Hall

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Bexhill Town Hall
Town Hall, London Road, Bexhill (2).jpg
Bexhill Town Hall
LocationLondon Road, Bexhill-on-Sea
Coordinates 50°50′30″N0°28′16″E / 50.8417°N 0.4710°E / 50.8417; 0.4710
Built1895
Architect Henry Ward
Architectural style(s) Renaissance style
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameBexhill Town Hall
Designated18 November 2022
Reference no.1483735
East Sussex UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Shown in East Sussex

Bexhill Town Hall is a municipal building in the London Road, Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, England. The town hall, which is the headquarters of Rother District Council, is a Grade II listed building. [1]

History

The Building News journal, 1895 Bexhill Town Hall - The Building News 1895.jpg
The Building News journal, 1895
The council chamber in the town hall Bexhill Town Hall Council Chamber.jpg
The council chamber in the town hall

The local board of health, which was established in July 1884, initially met in the Bell Hotel in Church Street before using a room at Dorset Cottage in Hastings Road from May 1885 and then a room at the Bexhill Institute in Station Road from 1893. [2] After finding this arrangement unsuitable, the local board decided to procure a purpose-built town hall: the site they selected was occupied by two residential properties which had formed part of the estate of the 7th Earl De La Warr, whose family seat was at Buckhurst Park. [3] The earl made the site available to the local board as a gift. [2] Following significant population growth, largely associated with seaside tourism, the town became an urban district, giving added urgency to the procurement of a town hall, in 1894. [4]

Construction of the new building began in spring 1894. [2] It was designed by Henry Ward in the Renaissance style, built by a local contractor, Charles Thomas, in red brick with stone dressings at a cost of £5,250 and was officially opened by the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Joseph Renals, on 27 April 1895. [5] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto London Road with the end bays gabled and slightly projected forward; the central section of three bays featured a rounded headed doorway with a stone surround which was flanked by pairs of Doric order columns supporting a balustrade: there was a mullioned window with a Diocletian window above on the first floor and a curved pediment with a carving in the tympanum at roof level. Internally, the principal room was the council chamber. [2]

A memorial to the first chairman of the local board, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Lane, which took the form of a drinking fountain, was unveiled by his widow, Ellen Lane, in front of the town hall on 25 June 1898. [6] [7] The 8th Earl De La Warr, who had inherited the earldom on the death of his father, worked as a war correspondent in South Africa during the Second Boer War: following his safe return, a reception was held in his honour at the town hall in July 1900. [2] The town went on to become a municipal borough with the town hall as its headquarters in May 1902. [4] The foundation stone for an extension to the west, which accommodated an enlarged council chamber, was laid by Lord Buckhurst on 16 March 1908. [8] In July 1925 the borough council acquired the house to the immediate west of the town hall for expansion and, in summer 1937, the complex was extended along Amherst Road. [2] The town hall was damaged during an air raid in September 1940 during the Second World War. [9] In 1960 the borough council acquired another house to the west of the town hall for the use of council officers and their departments. [2]

The town hall continued to serve as the borough headquarters for much of the 20th century and remained the local seat of government when the enlarged Rother District Council was formed in 1974. [10] In February 2021, civic leaders gave their approval to proposals which could ultimately lead to a major refurbishment of the complex. [11] [12]

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References

  1. ↑ Historic England. "Bexhill Town Hall (1483735)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Porter, Julian (2020). Bexhill Town Hall (PDF). Rother District Council. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  3. ↑ "Meet the owner of the 2,000 acre Buckhurst Park: Me, rich? No! It's all relative". The Telegraph. 3 November 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Bexhill-on-Sea UD/MB". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  5. ↑ "The Lord Mayor of London's visit to Bexhill". Sussex Postcards. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  6. ↑ Historic England. "The Lane Memorial (1190229)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  7. ↑ "Lane Memorial, Town Hall Square, Bexhill, East Sussex". Historic England. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  8. ↑ Foundation stone on the front elevation of the building
  9. ↑ "Bexhill Bomb Map". OpenStreetMap. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  10. ↑ Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c.70. The Stationery Office Ltd. 1997. ISBN   0-10-547072-4.
  11. ↑ "Multi-million pound refurbishment of Bexhill Town Hall to be explored". Bexhill Observer. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  12. ↑ "Refurbishment plans for Bexhill Town Hall 'need more scrutiny'". Bexhill Observer. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
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