Old Town Hall, Brading

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Old Town Hall, Brading
Brading Old Town Hall.JPG
Old Town Hall, Brading
LocationHigh Street, Brading
Coordinates 50°40′56″N1°08′35″W / 50.6822°N 1.1430°W / 50.6822; -1.1430
Built1730
Architectural style(s) Neoclassical style
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameThe Old Town Hall including lock up, stocks and whipping post, High Street
Designated18 January 1967
Reference no.1219522
Isle of Wight UK location map.svg
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Shown on the Isle of Wight

The Old Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street, Brading, Isle of Wight, England. The structure, which is now used to store and exhibition a collection of artefacts and records, is a Grade II listed building. [1]

History

The building was designed in the neoclassical style, built in red brick and was completed in around 1730. [2] The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage of three bays facing onto the High Street. The ground floor was arcaded so that markets could be held: the first bay on the left was infilled with rubble masonry to create a lock-up for the incarceration of petty criminals, while the other two bays contained round headed openings with voussoirs and iron gates. [1] The first floor, which was used as an assembly room, was originally timber framed with diagonal tension braces to support the structure. [1]

In 1819, a new chest was acquired to store the important civic documents which included royal charter signed by Edward VI. [3] By the 1840s, the assembly room was being used as a school room, [4] but, by the early 1860s, the building had become very dilapidated and was disused. [5] [6] [7] The building was remodelled in 1876, with the timber framing on the first floor being replaced by a red brick structure and a prominent four-part, slightly projecting, Tudor Revival style window being installed at the south end. The main frontage was fenestrated by two bi-partite casement windows. [1]

The borough council, which had met in the town hall, [8] was abolished under the Municipal Corporations Act 1883. [9] The assets of the borough council, including the old town hall, were transferred to the newly created Brading Town Trust in 1898. [10] The building was subsequently converted for use as a free library. [3]

A new town hall at the south end of the High Street was opened in February 1903. [11] [12] Meanwhile, the old town hall continued to be used to store the town stocks and whipping post as well as a collection of artefacts and records, together with the original weights and measures. Following the completion of an extensive programme of refurbishment works, the old town hall was re-opened on 8 April 2022. [13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Historic England. "The Old Town Hall including lock up, stocks and whipping post, High Street (1219522)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  2. ↑ "Brading Old Town Hall and Jail. Built in 1730. Photograph prior to 1876 when it was restored". Brading Community Archive. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  3. 1 2 Turner, Wendy (2023). A-Z of the Isle of Wight Places-People-History. Amberley Publishing. ISBN   978-1398109339.
  4. ↑ Brettell, Thomas (1844). Handbook to the Isle of Wight. John Mitchell. p. 49.
  5. ↑ Adams, William Henry Davenport (1862). Nelsons' hand-book to the Isle of Wight. T. Nelson and Sons. p. 118.
  6. ↑ Ware, James Redding (1871). The Isle of Wight. Provost and Company. p. 82.
  7. ↑ Bradshaw, George (1873). Bradshaw's Pocket Handbook to the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway. W. J. Adams. p. 54.
  8. ↑ Report of the Commissioners Appointed to Inquire Into Municipal Corporations Not Subject to the Municipal Corporations Acts. G.E. Eyre and W. Spottiswoode. 1880. p. 19.
  9. ↑ Municipal Corporations Act 1883 (46 & 46 Vict. Ch. 18) (PDF). 1883. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  10. ↑ "Brading Town Trust" . Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  11. ↑ "Programme of Entertainment for opening of the New Town Hall". Brading Community Archive. 11 February 1903. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  12. ↑ Page, William (1912). "'Parishes: Brading', in A History of the County of Hampshire". London: British History Online. pp. 156–170. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  13. ↑ "Brading Old Town Hall". YouTube. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
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