Middlewich Town Hall

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Middlewich Town Hall
Middlewich Town Hall (1).jpg
Middlewich Town Hall
LocationLewin Street, Middlewich
Coordinates 53°11′28″N2°26′38″W / 53.1910°N 2.4439°W / 53.1910; -2.4439 Coordinates: 53°11′28″N2°26′38″W / 53.1910°N 2.4439°W / 53.1910; -2.4439
Built1898
Architectural style(s) Renaissance style
Cheshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Shown in Cheshire

Middlewich Town Hall, also known as Victoria Buildings, is a municipal structure in Lewin Street, Middlewich, Cheshire, England. The building, which was originally commissioned as a technical school and public library, is now the meeting place of Middlewich Town Council.

History

The first municipal building in the town was a town hall on the Bull Ring which was designed in the Gothic Revival style and completed in 1844. [1] The building, which was a gift from the local lord of the manor, James France of Bostock Hall, [1] [2] accommodated a butter market on the ground floor and an assembly room on the first floor. [1] It was used for petty session hearings once a month and also incorporated facilities for the local Literary and Scientific Institute as well as a public library. [1] Following significant population growth, largely due to the status of Middlewich as a market town, the area became an urban district with the town hall as its headquarters in 1894. [3]

Meanwhile, in 1897, the new council decided to commission a new technical school and public library for the town as part of celebrations for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The site selected, which was occupied by a private residence known as Naylor House, was donated to the council by the industrialist and member of parliament, Sir John Brunner. [4]

The foundation stone for the new building was laid by Councillor Edward Howard Moss of Cheshire County Council on 2 October 1897. [5] It was designed in the Renaissance style, built with terracotta facings and officially opened by the Earl of Crewe in November 1898. [1] [6] The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with four bays facing onto Lewin Street; the third bay from the left featured a three-stage tower with a round headed doorway with a keystone in the first stage, a semi-circular balcony and a cross-window in the second stage and section with a Diocletian window and an oriel window surmounted by a dome making up the third stage. The first bay, which was gabled, featured a round headed window on the ground floor and a cross-window on the first floor while the other bays were fenestrated by cross-windows. Terracotta panels were installed on the front of the building to illustrate the town's industrial history and there was a central lantern at roof level. Internally, the principal rooms were the classrooms together with a library and a reading room. [5]

By the mid-20th century the old town hall had become dilapidated and the council decided to relocate to the building in Lewin Street, by then known as the Victoria Buildings. [7] The old town hall was subsequently demolished and the area redeveloped. [8] The Victoria Buildings ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged Congleton Borough Council was formed in 1974 [9] and, instead the Victoria Buildings, as Middlewich Town Hall, became the meeting place of Middlewich Town Council. [10] [11]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Hurley, Paul (2010). Middlewich and Holmes Chapel Through Time. Amberley Publishing. ISBN   978-1445601991.
  2. ↑ McLellan, Jane; Bostock, Tony (2010). Bostock: A History of a Village and its People (PDF). Bostock Parish Council. p. 26. ISBN   978-1520895017.
  3. ↑ "Middlewich UD". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  4. ↑ "Victorian Middlewich revealed in 118-year-old souvenir booklet". Winsford and Middlewich Guardian. 12 October 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  5. 1 2 Clarke, Isaac Edwards (1898). Art and Industry: Education in the Industrial and Fine Arts in the United States. US Government Printing Office. p. 951.
  6. ↑ "The Libraries Museums And Art Galleries Year Book 1933". Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons.
  7. ↑ "No. 38444". The London Gazette . 29 October 1948. p. 5732.
  8. ↑ "Middlewich". Cheshire Now. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  9. ↑ Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c.70. The Stationery Office Ltd. 1997. ISBN   0-10-547072-4.
  10. ↑ "Middlewich has two new independent town councillors". Winsford and Middlewich Guardian. 1 December 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  11. ↑ "Open Days" (PDF). Cheshire Archaeology. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
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