| County Hall, Dorchester | |
|---|---|
 County Hall | |
  County Hall Location within Dorset | |
| General information | |
| Address | Colliton Park, Dorchester, Dorset |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 50°43′00″N2°26′26″W / 50.7166°N 2.4406°W |
| Completed | 1955 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | H E Matthews |
The County Hall is a municipal facility at Colliton Park in Dorchester, Dorset, England.
In the early 20th century, Shire Hall in Dorchester was the local facility for dispensing justice and the meeting place of Dorset County Council. [1] After deciding the Shire Hall was inadequate for their needs, county leaders chose to procure a new county headquarters: the site selected had previously been open land known as "Colliton Park" which had once been occupied by the monastic hospital of St John the Baptist. [2] [3] [4] A statue of Thomas Hardy, to the south east of County Hall, predates the building and was erected in 1931. [5]
The foundation stone for the new building at Colliton Park was laid by the Lord Lieutenant of Dorset, the Earl of Shaftesbury, on 26 September 1938. [6] Progress was delayed because of the Second World War and the building, which was designed by the county architect, H. E. Matthews, was only completed on 27 May 1955. [6] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with seventeen bays facing south; the central section of five bays, which projected slightly forward, featured a doorway on the ground floor flanked by two columns with the county coat of arms above; there was a triple window on the first floor and a flagpole at roof level. The plans for the new building had to be modified so that a Roman townhouse, located just north of site, could remain in situ. [7] The building was officially dedicated by the Bishop of Sherborne, Maurice Key, on 11 May 1956. [6]
A memorial to the soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, the Dorset Regiment who died during the Battle of Kohima, which took place in India in spring 1944 during the Second World War, was unveiled outside County Hall in May 2015. [8] [9] The building continued to serve as the meeting place of Dorchester Crown Court until hearings were transferred to the Courts of Justice in Bournemouth in September 2016. [10]
Following the merger of the former non-metropolitan districts of Weymouth and Portland, West Dorset, North Dorset, Purbeck and East Dorset in April 2019, [11] a new unitary authority, known as Dorset Council, continued to use County Hall alongside South Walks House in Dorchester as its headquarters. However, the new unitary authority put nearly 600 staff at risk of redundancy in July 2019. [12]
Works of art in County Hall include a painting by Elizabeth Thompson depicting the 1st Battalion, the Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry securing a British victory against German and Ottoman-instigated Senussi forces at the action of Agagia which took place in Egypt on 26 February 1916 during the First World War. [13] Other artists with work in County Hall are Bev Miller, Deborah Poynton and Paul Jones. [14]
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Dorset Council plan to redevelop the site. [15] [16]
Dorset is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south-east, the English Channel to the south, and Devon to the west. The largest settlement is Bournemouth, and the county town is Dorchester.
Wimborne Minster is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, 5 miles (8 km) north of Poole, on the Dorset Heaths, and is part of the South East Dorset conurbation. According to Office for National Statistics data the population of the Wimborne Minster built-up area as of 2014 was 15,552.
Dorchester is the county town of Dorset, England. It is situated between Poole and Bridport on the A35 trunk route. A historic market town, Dorchester is on the banks of the River Frome to the south of the Dorset Downs and north of the South Dorset Ridgeway that separates the area from Weymouth, 7 miles (11 km) to the south. The civil parish includes the experimental community of Poundbury and the suburb of Fordington.
Swanage is a coastal town and civil parish in the south east of Dorset, England. It is at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck and one of its two towns, approximately 6+1⁄4 miles (10 km) south of Poole and 25 miles (40 km) east of Dorchester. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 9,601. Nearby are Ballard Down and Old Harry Rocks, with Studland Bay and Poole Harbour to the north. Within the parish are Durlston Bay and Durlston Country Park to the south of the town. The parish also includes the areas of Herston, just to the west of the town, and Durlston, just to the south.
Durnovaria is a suggested spelling for the Latin form of the name of the Roman town of Dorchester in the modern English county of Dorset, amended from the actually observed Durnonovaria. Upon the assumption that the name was originally Brythonic, it is suggested that the first element in the name, *durno- may mean "fist" like and the second may be related to Old Irish fáir ~ fóir denoting a confined area or den. A simpler amendment would lead to *Duronovaria, making this place one of up to 18 ancient British names that contain Duro- and mostly occur at river crossings, while -novaria has two possible ancient parallels in Britain associated with river junctions. That analysis would perfectly fit the geographical situation of Dorchester.
Dorset County Council (DCC) was the county council for the county of Dorset in England. It provided the upper tier of local government, below which were district councils, and town and parish councils. The county council had 46 elected councillors and was based at County Hall in Dorchester. The council was abolished on 31 March 2019 as part of structural changes to local government in Dorset.
The Thomas Hardye School is a secondary academy school in Dorchester, Dorset, England. It is also part of the DASP group.
Dorset Fire and Rescue Service is the former statutory Fire and Rescue Service for the area of Dorset, South West England. The Service Headquarters were located in Colliton Park, Dorchester, but as of October 2008 moved to a new purpose built location in Poundbury.
The Dorset Museum is located in Dorchester, Dorset, England. It was known as the Dorset County Museum until 2021. Founded in 1846, the museum covers the county of Dorset's history and environment. The current building was built in 1881 on the former site of the George Inn. The building was designed specifically to house the museum's collection and is in the neo-Gothic style.
Durham County Council is the local authority which governs the non-metropolitan county of County Durham in North East England. Since 2009 it has been a unitary authority, having taken over district-level functions when the county's districts were abolished. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county of County Durham, which additionally includes Darlington, Hartlepool and the parts of Stockton-on-Tees north of the River Tees. The county council has its headquarters at County Hall in Durham.
Weymouth is a sea-side town and civil parish in the Dorset district, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, on the English Channel coast of England. Situated on a sheltered bay at the mouth of the River Wey, 11 km (7 mi) south of the county town of Dorchester, Weymouth had a population of 53,427 in 2021. It is the third-largest settlement in Dorset after Bournemouth and Poole. The greater Weymouth urban area has a population of 72,802.
The Roman Town House in Dorchester is a Roman ruin within Colliton Park, Dorchester, Dorset, England. Dorset County Council acquired Colliton Park in 1933 as the site for the construction of County Hall. The Town House was discovered in 1937/38 during an archaeological investigation carried out by the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society prior to the construction of the new building. Plans for County Hall were modified so that the Town House could be retained on site.
South West Coaches is a privately owned bus company that operates services around Dorset, Somerset, and Wiltshire, in South West England.
Shire Hall is an 18th-century courthouse in Dorchester, Dorset. The building was the centre of law, order and government, and served as the county hall for Dorset until 1955. It has been Grade I listed since 1950. In 2018, the hall opened as the Shire Hall Historic Courthouse Museum.
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. It was created on 1 April 2019 by the merger of the areas that were previously administered by the unitary authorities of Bournemouth and Poole, and the non-metropolitan district of Christchurch. The authority covers much of the area of the South Dorset conurbation.
Dorset Council is a unitary local authority for the district of Dorset in England, encompassing most of the area of the county of the same name, Dorset. Created in April 2019, the council was formed when the county moved from a two-tier county council and district council system to a one-tier system, with the county divided into two districts administered by two independent unitary authorities – Dorset district and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole district.
St Peter's Church is a Church of England church in Dorchester, Dorset, England. The majority of the church dates from the 15th century, with later alterations and extensions over the following centuries. The church has been a Grade I listed building since 1950.
The Alliance for Local Living (ALL) was a minor localist party and political group based in Dorset, with separate branches in the two authorities, ALL for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and ALL for Dorset. The BCP office was based in Poole, whilst the Dorset office was based in Weymouth. The party was deregistered in November 2023, at which point it had four councillors on Dorset Council, who continued to sit together as an informal grouping. The group became Independents for Dorset in 2024.
Bournemouth Town Hall, also known as the Civic Centre and formerly the Mont Dore Hotel, is a municipal facility in Bourne Road, Bournemouth, England. The town hall, which is the meeting place of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, is a Grade II listed building. The town hall stands opposite Bournemouth Gardens and the Bournemouth War Memorial and is adjacent to St. Andrew's Church, Richmond Hill.
Poole Civic Centre is an Art Deco municipal building in Poole, Dorset. Since 7 October 2019 the building has been a Grade II listed building. Also sometimes known as Poole Town Hall, the civic centre was the headquarters of Poole Borough Council until 2019.