Upton-upon-Severn Memorial Hall

Upton-upon-Severn Memorial Hall
The building in 2008
Location	Old Street, Upton-upon-Severn
Coordinates	52°03′47″N2°13′05″W / 52.0630°N 2.2180°W / 52.0630; -2.2180
Built	1832
Architectural style(s)	Greek Revival style
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	Memorial Hall
Designated	29 March 1983
Reference no.	1227111
Shown in Worcestershire

Upton-upon-Severn Memorial Hall, formerly known as Upton-upon-Severn Town Hall, is a municipal building in Old Street in Upton-upon-Severn, a town in Worcestershire in England. The building, which serves as the offices and meeting place of Upton-upon-Severn Town Council, is a Grade II listed building. ^[1]

History

The building was commissioned by the authority of an act of parliament as the local market hall. ^{[2] [3]} It was designed in the neoclassical style, built in brick and was completed in 1832. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of five bays facing onto Old Street. The building was arcaded on the ground floor so that markets could be held with an assembly hall on the first floor. The assembly hall was used as courtroom for the petty sessions as well as a town hall, and there was a jail in the cellar. ^[4]

Between 1920 and 1921, the building was converted to serve as a lasting memorial to local service personnel who had died in the First World War: the work was carried out to a design by H. Rowe and Son, ^[5] and featured four bronze memorial plaques, which recorded the names of the people who had died. ^{[6] [7] [8]}

The building became the offices and meeting place of Upton-upon-Severn Parish Council and was re-roofed by the parish council in 1953. ^[9] After local government re-organisation in 1974, ^[10] when the parish council was succeeded by a town council, the first floor became the offices and meeting place of Upton upon Severn Town Council, while the main hall became available for hire. ^[11] It became a popular venue for concerts with groups such as The Subhumans performing there in the mid-1980s. ^[12]

The architectural historian, Nikolaus Pevsner, described the building as "modest... in fact [an] undetached terraced house". ^[13]

Architecture

The two-storey building is five bays wide, the ground floor having a Doric colonnade, which was open until the memorial plaques were added. The first floor has pilasters and an entablature, and there is a cellar with brick arches. ^[1] It was grade II listed in 1983. ^[1]

References

1. Historic England. "Memorial Hall (1227111)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 10 April 2024.
2. Rickards, Sir George Kettilby (1832). The Statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. H. M. Printers. p. 812.
3. "'Parishes: Upton upon Severn', in A History of the County of Worcester". London: British History Online. 1924. pp. 212–217. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
4. Lawson, Emily M. (1869). "Records and Traditions of Upton-on-Severn". Houghton and Gunn. p. 185.
5. Brooks, Alan; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2007). Buildings of England: Worcestershire. Yale University Press. p. 647. ISBN   978-0300112986.
6. "Upton Upon Severn". War Memorials Register. Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
7. "Upton-upon-Severn Memorial Hall". War Memorials Online. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
8. "Upton-upon-Severn Memorial Hall". Roll of Honour. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
9. Minutes of the Proceedings. Worcestershire County Council. 1953. p. 420. The Parish Council, on the advice of their Architect, have decided to provide a new roof to the Memorial Hall, Upton upon Severn, and a new floor in the Lower Hall, at a cost of £ 800.
10. Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c.70. The Stationery Office Ltd. 1997. ISBN   0-10-547072-4.
11. "Memorial Hall". Upton Upon Severn Town Council. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
12. Glasper, Ian (2023). Silence Is No Reaction Forty Years of Subhumans. PM Press. ISBN   978-1629636955.
13. Brooks, Alan; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2007). Buildings of England: Worcestershire. Yale University Press. p. 59. ISBN   978-0300112986.