Ventnor Town Hall

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Ventnor Town Hall
Southern Vectis 1149 HW09 BCO 5.JPG
The building (right) in 2010
LocationAlbert Street, Ventnor
Coordinates 50°35′41″N1°12′09″W / 50.5946°N 1.2024°W / 50.5946; -1.2024
Built1878
ArchitectTheodore Ridley Saunders
Architectural style(s) Italianate style
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameTown Hall
Designated14 July 1976
Reference no.1224297
Isle of Wight UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Shown on the Isle of Wight

Ventnor Town Hall is a historic building in Albert Street in Ventnor, a town on the Isle of Wight, in England. The facade of the building, behind which new flats have been created, is a Grade II listed building. [1]

Contents

History

The building was commissioned as the Undercliffe Assembly Rooms. The site selected was on the south side of Albert Street, a significant thoroughfare in the town. [2] The foundation stone for the new building was laid by Annie Snowden Henry of East Dene in Bonchurch, on 20 December 1877. [lower-alpha 1] It was designed by a local architect, Theodore Ridley Saunders, in the Italianate style, built by a local builder, Henry Ingrams & Sons, in ashlar stone, and was completed in 1878. [4] [5]

The building originally consisted of a large hall, with a stage and seating for 600 people, retiring rooms, and rooms for the school board. After the local board of health was succeeded by Ventnor Urban District Council in 1894, the new council used the town hall as their meeting place. The building was also used as a venue for public meetings and, in September 1924, the future Leader of the Labour Party, George Lansbury, and the historian, Philip Bagwell, spoke to a packed audience there. [6]

There was a fire at the building in 1936, but the local fire brigade delayed responding as they mistakenly believed that the firing of a maroon to summon them was merely a salute to the maiden voyage of the RMS Queen Mary . [7]

The building continued to serve as the meeting place of the local council, [8] until it relocated to Salisbury Gardens in about 1960. [9] The town hall was then converted into a wig factory, and later became a clothing factory. However, the main hall remained available for use as a theatre. [10]

From the mid-1970s, it was a nightclub, known as "the Coconut Grove", [11] but this closed following a serious fire in 1978. [12] [13] The building was vacant for several years, during which time it suffered two further fires. In 1994, most of the structure behind the façade was demolished and new flats were created behind the façade. [7]

Architecture

The two-storey building is rusticated on the ground floor and the entire front is stuccoed. The central bay, which is projected forward, features a full-height portico, formed by a round headed doorway with an architrave and a keystone flanked by Ionic order columns supporting an entablature on the ground floor, and by a round headed window with an architrave and a keystone flanked by Corinthian order columns supporting a cornice, a frieze and a modillioned pediment on the first floor. The outer bays are fenestrated by round headed windows with architraves and keystones on both floors and, on the first floor, the outer bays are flanked on the outside by pairs of Corinthian order pilasters supporting a modillioned cornice and a parapet. The building has been grade II listed since 1976. [1]

Notes

  1. ↑ Annie Snowden Henry was the wife of the former member of parliament for South East Lancashire, John Snowdon Henry, who had settled in the area later in his life. [3]

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References

  1. 1 2 Historic England. "Town Hall (1224297)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  2. ↑ "Ventnor Conservation Area Character Appraisal" (PDF). Isle of Wight Council. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  3. ↑ "East Dene and the Snowden Henrys". Bonchurch Village. 3 June 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  4. ↑ Lloyd, David Wharton; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2006). The Isle of Wight (Buildings of England Series). Yale University Press. p. 49. ISBN   978-0300107333.
  5. ↑ "Ingrams Builders". Builders Up. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  6. ↑ Shepherd, John (2002). George Lansbury At the Heart of Old Labour. Oxford University Press. p. 171. ISBN   978-0191542053.
  7. 1 2 "Ventnor Town Hall". Ventnor Heritage Centre. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  8. ↑ "No. 33668". The London Gazette . 9 December 1930. p. 7914.
  9. ↑ "No. 41942". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 January 1960. p. 779.
  10. ↑ "Theatres and Halls on The Isle of Wight". Arthur Lloyd. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  11. ↑ "The Coconut Grove". Isle of Wight County Press. 14 June 1975.
  12. ↑ "Ventnor Historic Pub Walk". Isle of Wight Council. p. 5. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  13. ↑ "Ventnor Fire Brigade 1924 to 1947" (PDF). Ventnor and District Local History Society. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
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