Old Town Hall, Wantage

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Old Town Hall, Wantage
Old buildings, Wantage Market Place - geograph.org.uk - 1321063 (cropped).jpg
Old Town Hall, Wantage
LocationMarket Place, Wantage
Coordinates 51°35′20″N1°25′36″W / 51.5890°N 1.4267°W / 51.5890; -1.4267 Coordinates: 51°35′20″N1°25′36″W / 51.5890°N 1.4267°W / 51.5890; -1.4267
Built1878
ArchitectWilliam Tasker
Architectural style(s) Gothic Revival style
Oxfordshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Shown in Oxfordshire

The Old Town Hall is a municipal building in the Market Place in Wantage, Oxfordshire, England. The building, which was the headquarters of Wantage Urban District Council, was converted into apartments in 2018.

History

The first municipal building in the town was a medieval town hall in the centre of the Market Place which stood on wooden posts and dated back at least to the mid-17th century. [1] It was demolished in 1835 and replaced by a second town hall, a brick building which was financed by public subscription at a cost of £600. [2] In November 1873, the second town hall was the venue for a meeting, chaired by Lord Wantage, at which it was agreed to commission the Wantage Tramway. [3] By the mid-1870s, the second town hall was "so unworthy of the town that no one regretted its disappearance" and it was demolished in 1876 and replaced by a statue of Alfred the Great, which was presented to the town by Lord Wantage [4] and unveiled by the Prince and Princess of Wales on 14 July 1877. [5]

A condition of the demolition of the second town hall was a requirement that it be replaced by a new building: Lord Wantage donated a site at the northwest corner of the Market Place which was occupied by a public house, "The Falcon". [2] [6] The new building was again financed by public subscription with Lord Wantage and Lord Overstone contributing £1,400 between them. [2] It was designed by William Tasker in the Gothic Revival style, built in red brick with elements of timber framing at a cost of £3,600 and was completed in May 1878. [7]

The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with two bays facing onto the Market Place; the left-hand bay featured a shop front flanked by piers supporting a large oriel window with a timber frame surround. The window was surmounted by a frieze inscribed with the words "Anno Dominum MDCCCLXXVII" (AD 1877) with a gable containing a clock face above. The right-hand bay, which was recessed, featured a doorway flanked by columns supporting a balcony: there was a French door on the first floor and a spire above. Internally, the principal rooms were the offices for the local savings bank, the town commissioners, the literary institute, and the local police on the ground floor and there was a large assembly room for public meetings and magistrates' court hearings on the first floor. [7]

Following significant population growth, largely associated the status of Wantage as a market town, the area became an urban district with the town hall as its headquarters in 1894. [8] The town hall also functioned as an events venue: an exhibition to celebrate the Festival of Britain was held there in summer 1951 [9] and performers included the beat band, The Merseybeats , who gave a concert there in April 1966. [10] The building continued to serve as the headquarters of the council for much of the 20th century but ceased to be the local seat of government when the council move to new offices in Portway in the late 1960s. [11] [12] The building was subsequently converted for use as a branch of Midland Bank and then, following the acquisition of Midland by HSBC in June 1992, it became a branch of HSBC. After HSBC closed their branch in June 2016, the ground floor was converted for retail use and first floor was converted for residential use in 2018. [13]

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References

  1. ↑ Page, William; Ditchfield, P. H. (1924). "'Parishes: Wantage', in A History of the County of Berkshire". London: British History Online. pp. 319–332. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 Gibbons, Agnes; Davey, E. C. (1901). "Wantage Past and Present". William Walker. p. 98.
  3. ↑ Warren, Dennis (2000). "A day out at Wantage Museum" (PDF). South Oxfordshire Archaeological Group. p. 6.
  4. ↑ Historic England. "Statue of King Alfred (Grade II) (1198394)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  5. ↑ Townsend, Ian (3 January 2008). "Statue damage quiz man bailed". Wantage Herald. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  6. ↑ Ford, David Nash. "Black Wantage". Royal Berkshire History.
  7. 1 2 Building Intelligence. Vol. 34. The Building News and Engineering Journal. 31 May 1878. p. 560. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  8. ↑ "Wantage UD". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  9. ↑ "Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 1951" (PDF). The Society of The Friends of St George's and the Descendants of the Knights of the Garter. p. 9. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  10. ↑ "April 1966". Marmalade Skies. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  11. ↑ "No. 46099". The London Gazette . 9 October 1973. p. 11983.
  12. ↑ "Places: Wantage, Berkshire / Oxfordshire". Stiles Family History. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  13. ↑ "For rent: town centre flat in Wantage Victorian town hall with its own balcony". Oxford Mail. 11 September 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
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