County Hall, Aylesbury

Last updated

County Hall, Aylesbury
CountyHallSideAylesbury.jpg
The facade of County Hall
Buckinghamshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
County Hall
Location within Buckinghamshire
General information
Architectural style Brutalist style
Town or city Aylesbury
Country United Kingdom
Coordinates 51°48′53″N0°48′43″W / 51.81461°N 0.81206°W / 51.81461; -0.81206 Coordinates: 51°48′53″N0°48′43″W / 51.81461°N 0.81206°W / 51.81461; -0.81206
Completed1966
Height200 ft (61 m)
Technical details
Floor count15
Design and construction
Architect(s) Fred Pooley

County Hall is a high-rise tower block in Walton Street in Aylesbury, in the county of Buckinghamshire in England. It was built to house the former Buckinghamshire County Council. Following local government reorganisation in 2020 the building is now owned by Buckinghamshire Council. County Hall continues to be used as offices by the new council, but meetings of the council are held at The Gatehouse in Aylesbury, the former offices of Aylesbury Vale District Council.

History

The original County Hall in Aylesbury was an 18th-century building in Market Square. [1]

County Offices, built 1929 County Offices (geograph 3448394).jpg
County Offices, built 1929

In 1929 a building called "County Offices" was erected on Walton Street in Aylesbury, which served as the council's main offices in conjunction with the nearby County Hall. [2]

After deciding that the old County Hall and County Offices were inadequate for their needs, county leaders chose to procure a new county headquarters: the site selected was directly opposite the County Offices on Walton Street, and had previously been occupied by a residential property known as "Willowbank" and later as "the Old House". [3] [4]

The foundation stone of the new concrete and glass County Hall was laid by the Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, Sir Henry Floyd, on 22 October 1964. The block was designed by county architect Fred Pooley and completed in 1966. The design involved a tower which stood 200 ft (61 m) high and consisted of 15 floors sitting above a complex containing the County Reference Library, Aylesbury Register Office and the County Record Office. The county council continued to use the 1929 County Offices (or "Old County Offices") building as secondary office space, with the new County Hall sometimes being called "New County Offices" to distinguish it from the 1929 building. Full council meetings were not generally held at New County Hall, but continued to be held at Old County Hall in Market Square until 2012, when they transferred to Aylesbury Vale District Council's new council chamber (called the Oculus) at The Gateway on Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury. [5]

The new County Hall was visible from many villages and towns several miles distant. Dominating a predominantly low-rise 18th-century town, it proved to be a conversational piece of architecture. [6] Often referred to locally as "Pooley's Folly" or "Fred's Fort" (after the architect) the building took just two years to build and was completed at a cost of £956,000 in 1966. [7] [8]

Analytically, if not architecturally, the new County Hall is in keeping with the town's architecture, its design history is as provincial as its more classical predecessors. While its design is a bold conception freely using works by such architects as Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier and the characteristics of De Stijl and it has similarities to Paul Rudolph's School of Art and Architecture at Yale completed in 1963. However, as early as 1904 Auguste Perret designed a block of flats in the Rue Franklin, Paris which has similar angles, bayed windows and canted recesses to County Hall in Aylesbury, [9] and these flats too were constructed of concrete. With its Brutalist roots in the 1940s, and earlier, Aylesbury's County Hall was, like its classical predecessor, already dated by the time of its 1966 completion: by then architecture was moving on to the cleaner and straighter lines and sheets of plate glass advocated by such architects as Mies van der Rohe. [10]

Works of art in County Hall include a portrait by Godfrey Kneller of John Egerton, 3rd Earl of Bridgewater, [11] a portrait by Joshua Reynolds of George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham [12] and a painting by Peter Paul Rubens depicting a hunting party being attacked by wolves. [13]

When Buckinghamshire County Council and the constituent districts merged to become a unitary authority in 2020, consideration was given to where the new council should be based. One option considered was the creation of a council chamber within New County Hall. It was decided instead that the Aylesbury Vale District Council building at The Gateway, with its relatively new council chamber, should be the new council's headquarters, with New County Hall continuing to be used as additional office space. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ludwig Mies van der Rohe</span> German-American architect (1886–1969)

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd Wright, he is regarded as one of the pioneers of modernist architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buckinghamshire</span> County of England

Buckinghamshire, abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east and Hertfordshire to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aylesbury</span> Town in England

Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wycombe and Milton Keynes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modern architecture</span> Architectural movement and style

Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form should follow function (functionalism); an embrace of minimalism; and a rejection of ornament. It emerged in the first half of the 20th century and became dominant after World War II until the 1980s, when it was gradually replaced as the principal style for institutional and corporate buildings by postmodern architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stone, Buckinghamshire</span> Human settlement in England

Stone is a village in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located southwest of the town of Aylesbury, on the A418 road that links Aylesbury to Thame. Stone with Bishopstone and Hartwell is a civil parish within Buckinghamshire district and also incorporates the nearby settlements of Bishopstone and Hartwell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aylesbury Grammar School</span> Academy grammar school in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England

Aylesbury Grammar School is a grammar school in Aylesbury situated in the English county of Buckinghamshire, which educates approximately 1300 students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buckinghamshire New University</span> Multi-campus public university in the United Kingdom

Buckinghamshire New University (BNU) is a public university in Buckinghamshire, England, with campuses in High Wycombe, Aylesbury, Uxbridge and Great Missenden. The institution dates from 1891, when it was founded as the School of Science and Art, and has since then has variously been known as Wycombe Technical Institute, High Wycombe College of Technology and Art and the Buckinghamshire College of Higher Education. It was a university college from 1999 until 2007, when its application for university status was accepted.

Aylesbury was a rural district in the administrative county of Buckinghamshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It was named after but did not include Aylesbury, which was a separate municipal borough.

Winslow Rural District was a rural district in the administrative county of Buckinghamshire, England from 1894 to 1974, covering an area in the north of the county.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S. R. Crown Hall</span> United States historic place

S. R. Crown Hall, designed by the German-American Modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, is the home of the College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aylesbury Vale District Council elections</span>

Aylesbury Vale District Council was the council for the non-metropolitan district of Aylesbury Vale in Buckinghamshire, England, which existed as a local government area from 1974 to 2020. The council was elected every four years from 1973 until 2020. At the time of its abolition, the council had 59 councillors, elected from 33 wards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buckinghamshire County Council</span> Former upper-tier local authority for Buckinghamshire, England

Buckinghamshire County Council was the upper-tier local authority for the administrative county and later the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire, in England, the United Kingdom established in 1889 following the Local Government Act 1888. The county council's offices were in Aylesbury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Milton Keynes</span> In North Buckinghamshire, England

This history of Milton Keynes details its development from the earliest human settlements, through the plans for a 'new city' for 250,000 people in northern Southeast England, its subsequent urban design and development, to the present day. Milton Keynes is the largest settlement and only city in Buckinghamshire, founded in 1967. At the 2011 census, the population of its urban area was estimated to have reached almost 230,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architecture of Aylesbury</span>

The architecture of Aylesbury, the county town of Buckinghamshire, reflects that which can be found in many small towns the length and breadth of England. The architecture contained in many of the country's great cities is well recorded and documented, as is that of the numerous great country houses. Frequently the work is by one of England's more notable architects – Christopher Wren, John Vanbrugh, Robert Adam, William Kent or even Quinlan Terry. What is less well known is the local almost vernacular architecture in the market towns, often inspired by the work of the great master architects or the general architectural style popular at the time. England had a middle class long before many other European countries, these bourgeois merchants would often return from a visit to one of the cities, or having seen a glimpse of one of the great country houses then require a replica of what they had seen. A local architect would then be employed to recreate it, within limited financial restraints. Sometimes the patron would merely draw an image of what he required and a builder would then interpret the requirements to the best of his often limited ability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Municipal Borough of Aylesbury</span>

The town of Aylesbury formed a local government district in Buckinghamshire, England from 1849 to 1974. It was administered as a local board district from 1849 to 1894, as an urban district from 1894 to 1916, and as a municipal borough from 1917 until its abolition in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Pooley</span> British architect

Fred Bernard Pooley CBE is best known as the county architect of Buckinghamshire, and his futuristic monorail proposals for a new town in north Bucks that eventually became Milton Keynes. Pooley was born in West Ham, east London and trained at the Northern Polytechnic in the evenings, while working in the West Ham engineer's department by day. He qualified as an architect, planner and surveyor before serving with the Royal Engineers during World War II. He also qualified as a structural engineer and arbitrator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aylesbury Vale</span> Place in England

The Aylesbury Vale is a geographical region in Buckinghamshire, England, which is bounded by the Borough of Milton Keynes and South Northamptonshire to the north, Central Bedfordshire and the Borough of Dacorum (Hertfordshire) to the east, the Chiltern Hills to the south and South Oxfordshire to the west. It is named after Aylesbury, the county town of Buckinghamshire. Winslow and Buckingham are among the larger towns in the vale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buckinghamshire Council</span> Local authority of Buckinghamshire, England

Buckinghamshire Council is a unitary local authority in England, the area of which constitutes most of the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire. It was created in April 2020 from the areas that were previously administered by Buckinghamshire County Council including the districts of South Bucks, Chiltern, Wycombe and Aylesbury Vale; since 1997 the City of Milton Keynes has been a separate unitary authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aylesbury Crown Court</span> County building in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England

Aylesbury Crown Court, also known as Old County Hall, is a former judicial facility and municipal building in Market Square, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, completed in 1740. The building served as the meeting place of Buckinghamshire County Council from 1889 until 2012, and was used as a court until 2018. It is a Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aylesbury Town Hall</span> Municipal building in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England

Aylesbury Town Hall is a name which has been used for two different buildings in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England. Since 2007 the name has been used for an office building at 5 Church Street, which serves as the headquarters of Aylesbury Town Council. The name was also formerly used for a complex of buildings which had been built in 1865 as a corn exchange in Market Square, and which served as the offices and meeting place of the local council from 1901 to 1968. The majority of the old town hall was demolished shortly afterwards, leaving only the entrance archway facing Market Square still standing, now called Town Hall Arches. This remaining part of the old town hall is a Grade II* listed building as part of the range of civic buildings on the southern side of Market Square including the old County Hall.

References

  1. "Historic Aylesbury Crown Court closes its doors for last time". Buckinghamshire County Council. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  2. "Former County offices in Aylesbury set to be converted into 46 flats". Buckinghamshire Live. 25 April 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  3. "Ordnance Survey Map". 1925. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  4. "The Old House, formerly known as Willowbank, opposite the junction of Exchange Street". Historic England. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  5. "The Gateway". Venues.org.uk. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  6. The Times 1 April 1998 p21
  7. "Take a look at Aylesbury's historic architecture". Bucks Herald. 19 June 2014. Archived from the original on 13 August 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  8. "'Pooley's folley': County Hall still dividing opinion 50 years on". Bucks Herald. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  9. "Image of Perret's flats in Paris" . Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  10. "Mies van der Rohe". Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  11. Kneller, Godfrey. "John Egerton (1646–1701), 3rd Earl of Bridgewater". Art UK. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  12. Reynolds, Joshua. "George Grenville Nugent Temple (1753–1813), 1st Marquis of Buckingham". Art UK. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  13. Rubens, Peter Paul. "A Hunting Party Attacked by Wolves". Art UK. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  14. "Buckinghamshire Shadow Executive meeting , 20 August 2019". Buckinghamshire Council. Retrieved 18 May 2022.