Okehampton Town Hall

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Okehampton Town Hall
Okehampton town hall.jpg
Okehampton Town Hall
LocationFore Street, Okehampton
Coordinates 50°44′21″N4°00′12″W / 50.7391°N 4.0033°W / 50.7391; -4.0033
Built1685
Architectural style(s) Neoclassical style
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameTown Hall, Fore Street
Designated5 February 1952
Reference no.1105855
Devon UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Shown in Devon

Okehampton Town Hall is a municipal building in Fore Street, Okehampton, Devon, England. The town hall, which is the meeting place of Okehampton Town Council, is a Grade II* listed building. [1]

Contents

History

The first municipal building in the town was a medieval guildhall in Middle Row which itself was located in the centre of Fore Street. By the early 19th century Middle Row was in a dilapidated state and, in 1800, legislation was enacted giving authority to the borough council to demolish the whole street. [2] [3]

The current building was commissioned by John Northmore, an attorney to the Court of King's Bench. [4] It was designed in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar granite and was completed in 1685. [1] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Fore Street; the central bay featured a doorway flanked by pilasters supporting a canted bay window with an ogee-shaped roof on the first floor; there was a sash window with a cornice supported by consoles on the second floor. The outer bays were fenestrated with sash windows on all three floors. At roof level, there was a modillioned cornice which was broken to create an open pediment above the central bay. [1] Internally, the principal room was a large wooden panelled reception room on the ground floor. [1]

The building was acquired by the local member of parliament, John Luxmoore, in 1740. [1] It then passed down the Luxmoore family until it was acquired by the borough council for use as a town hall in 1821. [5] A carving of the borough coat of arms, finished in gold and silver leaf, was installed in the open pediment. [6] Okehampton had a very small electorate and two dominant patrons, who in the 18th century were Thomas Pitt and the Duke of Bedford, which meant it was recognised by the UK Parliament as a rotten borough. [7] Its right to elect members of parliament was removed by the Reform Act 1832 [8] and its borough council, which continued to meet in the town hall, was reformed under the Municipal Corporations Act 1883. [9] [10]

A classroom for teaching science and technology was established in the town hall in 1893. [11] The town hall continued to serve as the headquarters of the borough council for much of the 20th century, [12] but ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged West Devon District Council was formed at Tavistock in 1974. [13] It instead became the meeting place of Okehampton Town Council. [14]

Works of art in the town hall include three paintings by Richard Caton Woodville Jr. depicting Saladin's cavalry charging the Crusaders, [15] Napoleon and his marshals watching a battle [16] and a 19th-century cavalry charge. [17] There is also a portrait of an old man by Gaspar de Crayer entitled Memento mori , [18] a painting by John Frederick Herring Sr. depicting a farmyard [19] and a still life painting by Cornelis de Heem. [20]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Historic England. "Town Hall, Fore Street (1105855)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  2. ↑ Young, Edward H. (1930). Okehampton. Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art. p. 76.
  3. ↑ Journals of the House of Commons. Vol. 55. UK Parliament. 1799. p. 218.
  4. ↑ "Northmore, Thomas (c.1643-1713), of St. Thomas Nigh, Exeter, Devon and the Inner Temple". History of Parliament. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  5. ↑ "Okehampton Town Hall". Heritage Gateway. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  6. ↑ "Okehampton Town Hall". Studio OK. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  7. ↑ "The Constituencies". History of Parliament. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  8. ↑ "The History of Politics: The Rotten Boroughs of England". Julia Herdman Books. 21 April 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  9. ↑ Municipal Corporations Act 1883 (46 & 46 Vict. Ch. 18) (PDF). 1883. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  10. ↑ "Okehampton MB". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  11. ↑ "Okehampton". Kelly's Directory of Devon. 1902. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  12. ↑ "No. 45930". The London Gazette . 16 March 1973. p. 3540.
  13. ↑ Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c.70. The Stationery Office Ltd. 1997. ISBN   0-10-547072-4.
  14. ↑ "Welcome". Okehampton Town Council. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  15. ↑ Woodville, Richard Caton. "Saladin's Cavalry Charging the Crusaders". Art UK. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  16. ↑ Woodville, Richard Caton. "Napoleon and His Marshals Watching a Battle". Art UK. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  17. ↑ Woodville, Richard Caton. "A Cavalry Charge". Art UK. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  18. ↑ de Crayer, Gaspar. "Memento mori". Art UK. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  19. ↑ Herring, John Frederick. "Farmyard". Art UK. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  20. ↑ de Heem, Cornelis. "Still Life with Grapes, Peaches and a Bohemian Glass Goblet". Art UK. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
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