County Hall, Worcester | |
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![]() County Hall | |
General information | |
Architectural style | Brutalist style |
Address | Spetchley Road, Worcester |
Country | United Kingdom |
Coordinates | 52°11′08″N2°11′02″W / 52.1855°N 2.1838°W Coordinates: 52°11′08″N2°11′02″W / 52.1855°N 2.1838°W |
Completed | 1978 |
Design and construction | |
Architect | Robert Matthew Johnson-Marshall & Partners |
County Hall is a municipal facility at Spetchley Road in Worcester, Worcestershire. It is the headquarters of Worcestershire County Council.
For much of the 20th century the Shire Hall in Foregate Street was the meeting place of Worcestershire County Council. [1] Following the amalgamation of Worcestershire County Council and Herefordshire County Council to form Hereford and Worcester County Council in 1974, the new county leaders decided to procure a purpose-built county hall: the site they selected had been open land just south of Nunnery Wood. [2]
Construction of the new building began in 1974. [3] It was designed by Robert Matthew Johnson-Marshall & Partners [4] in the Brutalist style, built by the local contractor, Espley-Tyas, and was officially opened by the Duke of Edinburgh on 4 May 1978. [5] The design for the building, which made extensive use of red brick, took the form of a series of interconnected pavilions. [3] The central pavilion contained the public areas, meeting rooms and Riverside Café while the other pavilions accommodated the council officers, their departments and the council chamber. [3] The landscaping included a lake, together with a waterfall, to the south west of the main building. [6] Internally, the principal room was the council chamber: an exhibition space was subsequently established outside the council chamber at which local artists would display their work. [7]
The County Record Office was installed in a purpose-built annex to the north east of the main building in 1985, [3] and, following the children's television series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, live terrapins were released into the lake in the 1990s. [8]
The building became the home of Worcestershire County Council following the local boundary changes in 1998. [9] The former TV-am weather presenter, Wincey Willis, visited County Hall to launch a scheme, organised by the British Trust Conservation Volunteers, to help unemployed people to return to work in March 2004 [10] and, following the refurbishment of the council chamber, the Duke of Kent also visited County Hall and unveiled a plaque there on 19 February 2009. [11]
Works of art at County Hall include a painting by the rural landscape artist, David Bates, depicting a herd of cows crossing the River Severn, [12] and a sculpture by Sandy O'Connor, depicting a heron eating a fish, in the lake to the south west of the building. [13]
Worcestershire is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county. Over the centuries the county borders have been modified, but it was not until 1844 that substantial changes were made. This culminated with the abolition of Worcestershire in 1974 with its northern area becoming part of the West Midlands and the rest part of the county of Hereford and Worcester. However, in 1998 the county of Hereford and Worcester was abolished and Worcestershire was reconstituted without the northern area, which was ceded to the West Midlands.
Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, 17 miles (27 km) south-west of Birmingham and 15 miles (24 km) north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it had a population of 55,530. The town is twinned with Husum, Germany.
Worcester is a cathedral city and the ceremonial county town of Worcestershire, England, 30 miles (48 km) south-west of Birmingham, 101 miles (163 km) north-west of London, 27 miles (43 km) north of Gloucester and 23 miles (37 km) north-east of Hereford. The estimated population in 2019 was 102,791. The River Severn flanks the western side of the city centre. It is overlooked by Worcester Cathedral. The Battle of Worcester in 1651 was the final one in the English Civil War, where Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army defeated King Charles II's Royalists. Worcester is the home of Royal Worcester Porcelain, composer Edward Elgar, Lea & Perrins, makers of traditional Worcestershire sauce, the University of Worcester, and Berrow's Worcester Journal, claimed as the world's oldest newspaper.
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Hereford and Worcester was an English non-metropolitan county created on 1 April 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 from the areas of the former administrative county of Herefordshire, most of Worcestershire and the county borough of Worcester. An aim of the Act was to increase efficiency of local government: the two counties are among England's smaller and less populous counties, particularly after the same Act transferred some of Worcestershire's most urbanised areas to the West Midlands.
Upton-upon-Severn is a town and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District of Worcestershire, England. Lying on the A4104, the 2011 census recorded a population of 2,881 for the town.
Malvern Hills is a local government district in Worcestershire, England. Its council is based in the town of Malvern, and its area covers most of the western half of the county, including the outlying towns of Tenbury Wells and Upton-upon-Severn. It was originally formed in 1974 and was subject to a significant boundary reform in 1998. In the 2011 census the population of the Malvern Hills district was 74,631.
Worcestershire Beacon, also popularly known as Worcester Beacon, or locally simply as The Beacon, is a hill whose summit at 425 metres (1,394 ft) is the highest point in Worcestershire. It is part of the Malvern Hills which run about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) north-south along the Herefordshire-Worcestershire border.
The University of Worcester is a public research university, based in Worcester, England. Worcester is the only university based in the counties of Worcestershire and Herefordshire. With a history dating back to 1946, the university began awarding degrees in 1997 and was granted full university status in 2005.
Hartlebury Castle, a Grade I listed building, near Hartlebury in Worcestershire, central England, was built in the mid-13th century as a fortified manor house, on manorial land earlier given to the Bishop of Worcester by King Burgred of Mercia. It lies near Stourport-on-Severn in an area with several large manors and country houses, including Witley Court, Astley Hall, Pool House, Areley Hall and Hartlebury and Abberley Hall. It became the bishop's principal residence in later periods.
St John's is a suburb of Worcester, England, lying west of the city centre and the River Severn. St. John's is referred to locally as the "Village in the City", which is partly due to being an independent township, before joining the city in 1837. Although there is still a strong sense of pride and identity within the community.
Scouting in West Midlands provides an overview of Scouting activities in the governmental region of the West Midlands. The largest number of Scouts and volunteer leaders in the region is linked to the Scout Association of the United Kingdom, while there is also a presence of traditional Scouting groups, such as the Baden-Powell Scouts' Association. The Scout Association administers the region through 8 Scout Counties, overseen by a regional commissioner, which follow the boundaries of the ceremonial counties they exist within. There are also a number of Scouting clubs within Universities in the region which are affiliated to the Student Scout and Guide Organisation.
Hereford and Worcester County Council was the county council of the non-metropolitan county of Hereford and Worcester in west England. It came into its powers on 1 April 1974 and was abolished on 1 April 1998. The county council was based at County Hall in Worcester. It was replaced by Herefordshire Council and Worcestershire County Council.
The administrative boundaries of Worcestershire, England have been fluid for over 150 years since the first major changes in 1844. There were many detached parts of Worcestershire in the surrounding counties, and conversely there were islands of other counties within Worcestershire. The 1844 Counties Act began the process of eliminating these, but the process was not completed until 1966, when Dudley was absorbed into Staffordshire.
The Worcestershire flag is the flag of the county of Worcestershire. It was registered with the Flag Institute on 8 April 2013 as the winning entry of a BBC Hereford & Worcester competition. It was first flown in a ceremony at Worcester Cathedral on the same day.
Gloucester Shire Hall is a municipal building in Westgate Street, Gloucester. The shire hall, which is the main office and the meeting place of Gloucestershire County Council, is a grade II listed building.
The Shirehall is a building on St Peter's Square, Hereford, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II* listed building.
The Shire Hall is a municipal building in Foregate Street in Worcester, England. It is a Grade II* listed building.
The Worcester Guildhall is a municipal building in the High Street, Worcester, England. It is a Grade I listed building.