Shaftesbury Town Hall

Last updated

Shaftesbury Town Hall
Shaftsbury Town Hall.jpg
Shaftesbury Town Hall
LocationHigh Street, Shaftesbury
Coordinates 51°00′20″N2°11′50″W / 51.0056°N 2.1971°W / 51.0056; -2.1971 Coordinates: 51°00′20″N2°11′50″W / 51.0056°N 2.1971°W / 51.0056; -2.1971
Built1826–1837
Architectural style(s) Neoclassical style
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameTown Hall
Designated20 June 1952
Reference no.1108741
Dorset UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Shown in Dorset

Shaftesbury Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street, Shaftesbury, Dorset, England. The town hall, which is the meeting place of Shaftsbury Town Council, is a Grade II listed building. [1]

History

The first town hall was a medieval guildhall; it was itself replaced with a second structure which was financed under the will of a former mayor of the town, Edmund Bower, who had died in 1554. [2] This structure was designed with arcading on the ground floor to allow markets to be held and was erected in the middle of the High Street in 1578. [3] In the early 19th century civic leaders decided, as part of a widening scheme for the High Street, to erect a third town hall on a site to the south of the 16th century structure. [4]

The current building, which was commissioned by Earl Grosvenor, was designed in the Neoclassical style and built between 1826 [5] and 1837. [1] It was constructed in ashlar stone and was castellated. [1] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto the High Street; the central bay featured a porch on the ground floor and a casement window on the first floor with a clock tower being added in 1879 [6] (initially built in wood, it was rebuilt in stone in 1925). [7] The clock is by Gillett & Bland and strikes the hours on a single bell. [7] The basement contained a number of police cells which could be accessed from the rear of the building. [8] The principal room in the building was the council chamber on the first floor which was panelled and, on the south side, featured views out over Gold Hill, [9] [10] which has been described as "one of the most romantic sights in England." [11]

The town hall was the headquarters of Shaftesbury Borough Council for much of the 20th century but ceased to be local seat of government when the enlarged North Dorset District Council was formed in 1974. [12] It subsequently became the home of Shaftesbury Town Council. [10]

Four murals were painted by Phyllis Wolff and installed in the town hall in 1979: they depicted the consecration of Shaftesbury Abbey at the instigation of Alfred the Great in 888, the reburial of King Edward the Martyr in the abbey in 979, the visit of Cardinal Otto Candidus, the legate to the Apostolic see of Pope Gregory IX, to confirm the abbey charter in 1240, and, lastly, the dissolution of the abbey under King Henry VIII in 1539. [13] [14] Other works of art in the town hall include a portrait by an unknown artist of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaftesbury</span> Town and civil parish in Dorset, England

Shaftesbury is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is situated on the A30 road, 20 miles west of Salisbury, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset, being built about 215 metres above sea level on a greensand hill on the edge of Cranborne Chase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sherborne</span> Market town and civil parish in Dorset, England

Sherborne is a market town and civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, 6 miles east of Yeovil. The parish includes the hamlets of Nether Coombe and Lower Clatcombe. The A30 road, which connects London to Penzance, runs through the town. In the 2011 census the population of Sherborne parish and the two electoral wards was 9,523. 28.7% of the population is aged 65 or older.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorchester, Dorset</span> County town of Dorset, England

Dorchester is the county town of Dorset, England. It is situated between Poole and Bridport on the A35 trunk route. An 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abbotsbury</span> Village in Dorset, England

Abbotsbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. The settlement is in the unitary authority of Dorset about 1 mile (1.6 km) inland from the English Channel coast. The village, including Chesil Beach, the swannery and subtropical gardens, is owned by the Ilchester Estate, which owns 61 square kilometres of land in Dorset. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 481.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaftesbury Abbey</span> Abbey in Shaftesbury, Dorset

Shaftesbury Abbey was an abbey that housed nuns in Shaftesbury, Dorset. It was founded in about 888, and dissolved in 1539 during the English Reformation by the order of Thomas Cromwell, minister to King Henry VIII. At the time it was the second-wealthiest nunnery in England, behind only Syon Abbey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury</span> English politician and founder of the Whig party (1621-1683)

Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury PC FRS, 22 July 1621 to 21 January 1683, was an English politician and statesman from Dorset. He held senior political office under both the Commonwealth of England and Charles II, serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1661 to 1672, and Lord Chancellor from 1672 to 1673. During the 1679 to 1681 Exclusion Crisis, he headed the movement to bar the Catholic heir, James II from the succession, often seen as the origin of the Whig party. He was also a patron of the political philosopher John Locke, with whom he collaborated with in writing the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina in 1669.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl of Shaftesbury</span> Title in the Peerage of England

Earl of Shaftesbury is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1672 for Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Baron Ashley, a prominent politician in the Cabal then dominating the policies of King Charles II. He had already succeeded his father as second Baronet of Rockbourne in 1631 and been created Baron Ashley, of Wimborne St Giles in the County of Dorset, in 1661, and he was made Baron Cooper, of Paulett in the County of Somerset, at the same time he was given the earldom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury</span> English politician, philosopher and writer (1671–1713)

Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury was an English politician, philosopher, and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iwerne Minster</span> Human settlement in England

Iwerne Minster is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England. It lies on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, approximately midway between the towns of Shaftesbury and Blandford Forum. The A350 main road between those towns passes through the edge of the village, just to the west. In the 2011 Census the civil parish had a population of 978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wimborne St Giles</span> Human settlement in England

Wimborne St Giles is a village and civil parish in east Dorset, England, on Cranborne Chase, seven miles north of Wimborne Minster and 12 miles north of Poole. The village lies within the Shaftesbury estate, owned by the Earl of Shaftesbury. A tributary of the River Allen, formerly known as the Wimborne, snakes its way through the village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donhead St Mary</span> Human settlement in England

Donhead St Mary is a village and civil parish in southwest Wiltshire, England, on the county border with Dorset. The village lies about 2+1⁄2 miles (4.0 km) east of the Dorset town of Shaftesbury and stands on high ground above the River Nadder, which rises in the parish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicholas Ashley-Cooper, 12th Earl of Shaftesbury</span>

Nicholas Edmund Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 12th Earl of Shaftesbury, DL, also known as Nick Ashley-Cooper or Nick Shaftesbury, is an English peer, landowner and philanthropist. He succeeded his brother as Earl of Shaftesbury in 2005.

Shaftesbury is a town in Dorset, England

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 9th Earl of Shaftesbury</span>

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 9th Earl of Shaftesbury, was the son of the 8th Earl of Shaftesbury and Lady Harriet Augusta Anna Seymourina Chichester, the daughter of the 3rd Marquess of Donegall and Lady Harriet Anne Butler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gold Hill, Shaftesbury</span> Street in Shaftesbury, Dorset, United Kingdom

Gold Hill is a steep cobbled street in the town of Shaftesbury in the English county of Dorset. The view looking down from the top of the street has been described as "one of the most romantic sights in England."

The Bishop of Shaftesbury was an episcopal title which took its name after the town of Shaftesbury in Dorset, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Giles House, Wimborne St Giles</span> Residence in Wimborne St Giles, England

St Giles House is located at Wimborne St Giles in East Dorset in England, just south of Cranborne Chase. It is the ancestral seat of the Ashley-Cooper family, which is headed by the Earl of Shaftesbury. The estate covers over 5,500 acres (22 km2).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">County Hall, Dorchester</span> County building in Dorchester, Dorset, England

The County Hall is a municipal facility at Colliton Park in Dorchester, Dorset, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poole Civic Centre</span> Municipal building in Poole, Dorset, England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thame Town Hall</span> Municipal building in Thame, Oxfordshire, England

Thame Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street, Thame, Oxfordshire, England. The town hall, which is the meeting place of Thame Town Council, is a Grade II listed building.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Historic England. "Town Hall (1108741)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  2. ↑ "Will of Edmund Bower, Gentleman of Shaftesbury, Dorset". National Archives. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  3. ↑ Adams, Thomas (1808). "A history of the ancient town of Shaftesbury". p. 55.
  4. ↑ "Guild Hall - Shaftesbury, Dorset - Blue Plaques". Waymarking. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  5. ↑ "'Shaftesbury', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 4, North". London: British History Online. 1972. pp. 55–76. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  6. ↑ "Town Hall - Shaftesbury, Dorset - Blue Plaques". Waymarking. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  7. 1 2 Watts, Brian J. "Inspection Report: Shaftesbury Town Hall, October 2022" (PDF). Shaftesbury Town Council. PWCR Architects. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  8. ↑ "'Plate 61: Shaftesbury, Town Hall, from S.W.', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 4, North". London: British History Online. 1972. p. 61. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  9. ↑ "Shaftesbury Town Hall". Dorset Council. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  10. 1 2 "Civil Ceremonies and weddings". Shaftesbury Town Council. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  11. ↑ Hyams, J. (1975). The Batsford Colour Book of Dorset. B. T. Batsford Ltd. p. 54.
  12. ↑ Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c.70. The Stationery Office Ltd. 1997. ISBN   0-10-547072-4.
  13. ↑ "Phyllis Wolff". Art UK. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  14. ↑ "Shaftsbury Abbey". Tudor Place. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  15. ↑ "Anthony Ashley-Cooper (1671–1713), 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury". Art UK. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.