The Council House is a municipal building in North Street,

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

, England. It is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The building was commissioned as successor to the

Chichester Guildhall Chichester Guildhall is a building in Chichester, West Sussex, England. The name is a bit of a misnomer, as the building was constructed as a chancel by the Grey Friars of Chichester, an Order of Franciscans. The Grey Friars received the land, no ...

where meetings of Chichester City Council had been held since the mid 16th century. The new building, which was designed by Roger Morris in the

Palladian style Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

, was completed in 1731. It was funded by public subscription and a significant donor was

Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 2nd Duke of Lennox, 2nd Duke of Aubigny, (18 May 17018 August 1750) of Goodwood House near Chichester in Sussex, was a British nobleman and politician. He was the son of Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richm ...

. The building was extended at the rear, by local builder Thomas Andrews, to create the assembly rooms which were designed as a double

cube A cube or regular hexahedron is a three-dimensional space, three-dimensional solid object in geometry, which is bounded by six congruent square (geometry), square faces, a type of polyhedron. It has twelve congruent edges and eight vertices. It i ...

with an

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

at the east end by

James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the Neoclassicism, neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to ...

and completed in October 1783. A large

Purbeck Marble Purbeck Marble is a fossiliferous limestone found in the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula in south-east Dorset, England. It is a variety of Purbeck stone that has been quarried since at least Roman times as a decorative building stone. Geology S ...

stone, sometimes known as "the Purbeck Stone", which had been unearthed during the construction of the building and which is thought to have formed part of a

Roman temple Ancient Roman temples were among the most important buildings in culture of ancient Rome, Roman culture, and some of the richest buildings in Architecture of ancient Rome, Roman architecture, though only a few survive in any sort of complete ...

, was subsequently embedded into the west wall of the complex. It bears an

inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

which suggests that the temple was dedicated to the gods

Neptune Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...

and

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

on the orders of

Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus (or Togidubnus, Togidumnus or similar; see naming difficulties) was a 1st-century king of the Regni or Regnenses tribe in early Roman Britain. Chichester and the nearby Roman villa at Fishbourne, believed by some ...

, a 1st-century king of the

Regni The Regni (also the Regini or the Regnenses) were a Celtic tribe or group of tribes living in Britain prior to the Roman Conquest, and later a civitas or canton of Roman Britain. They lived in what is now Sussex, as well as small parts of Hamps ...

or Regnenses

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

. In 1789, William Pitt, the then

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

, held a meeting with

Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond, 3rd Duke of Lennox, 3rd Duke of Aubigny, (22 February 1735 – 29 December 1806), styled Earl of March until 1750, of Goodwood House in Sussex and of Richmond ...

in the assembly rooms and, in 1805, a function was held there to celebrate the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the Royal Navy and a combined fleet of the French Navy, French and Spanish Navy, Spanish navies during the War of the Third Coalition. As part of Na ...

. In 1810, the

quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

Joseph Lancaster Joseph Lancaster (25 November 1778 – 23 October 1838) was an English Quaker and public education innovator. He developed, and propagated on the grounds both of economy and efficacy, a monitorial system of primary education. In the first deca ...

gave a lecture there which inspired the foundation of the Lancastrian School in Chichester. Functions were also held in the assembly rooms to celebrate the Coronation of William IV and Adelaide in September 1831 and the enactment of the

Reform Bill The Reform Acts (or Reform Bills, before they were passed) are legislation enacted in the United Kingdom in the 19th and 20th century to enfranchise new groups of voters and to redistribute seats in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the U ...

in June 1832. The Italian violinist,

Niccolò Paganini Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (; ; 27 October 178227 May 1840) was an Italian violinist and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His 24 Caprices ...

, performed in the assembly rooms during his tour of Britain in 1832 and the virtuoso pianist,

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

, gave two concerts there in 1840. The complex was extended to the south in 1880. The building was the first meeting place of

West Sussex County Council West Sussex County Council is the upper tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of West Sussex in England. The county also contains seven district and borough councils, and 158 town, parish and neighbourhood councils. The county c ...

when it was established in 1889. Meetings of the county council were then held alternately here and at

Horsham Town Hall Horsham Town Hall is a municipal building in the Market Square in Horsham, West Sussex. Established by the mid-17th century (and rebuilt several times since), it was used as a market house, a facility for dispensing justice and a meeting place f ...

from 1890 until the council purchased

Edes House Edes House is mansion in Chichester, West Sussex. The building, which was the headquarters of West Sussex County Council from 1916 to 1936, is a Grade I listed building. History The building was built for John Edes, a maltster, and his wife, Ha ...

in Chichester in 1916 to serve as its headquarters. The ante room to the assembly rooms contains a replica of the bust of

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

Hubert Le Sueur Hubert Le Sueur (; – 1658) was a French people, French sculpture, sculptor with the contemporaneous reputation of having trained in Giambologna's Florence, Florentine workshop. He assisted Giambologna's foreman, Pietro Tacca, in Paris, in finis ...

, the original of which is in the

Pallant House Gallery Pallant House Gallery is an art gallery in Chichester, West Sussex, England. It houses one of the best collections of 20th-century British art in the world. History The Gallery's collection is founded on works left to the city of Chichester by ...

, as well a cabinet containing a collection of the belongings of Vice-Admiral Sir George Murray, who served with Vice-Admiral

Lord Nelson Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte ( – 21 October 1805) was a Royal Navy officer whose leadership, grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics brought about a number of decisive British naval victories during the French ...

at the Battle of Copenhagen in April 1801 and went on to be

Mayor of Chichester The following have been mayors of Chichester, Sussex: * William Combe 1390–91 MP for Chichester, 1382, 1384 and 1401 * William Neel 1393–95, 1401–02 MP for Chichester, 1388, 1399 and 1415. * William Horlebat 1398–99. MP ...

in 1815. There is also a list of people who have received the freedom of the City of Chichester who include the Duke of Richmond and Gordon in 2008, The Very Reverend Nicholas Frayling,

Dean of Chichester The Dean of Chichester is the dean of Chichester Cathedral in Sussex, England. Bishop Ralph is credited with the foundation of the current cathedral after the original structure built by Stigand was largely destroyed by fire in 1114. He did ...

in 2013 and the

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

Tim Peake Major (United Kingdom), Major Timothy Nigel Peake (born 7 April 1972) is a retired British European Space Agency astronaut, Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), Army Air Corps officer and author. He is the first British ESA astronaut, the second a ...

in 2018. Meetings of Chichester City Council continue to be held in the Council House. Meanwhile the assembly rooms, which can accommodate 180 people seated, continue to be used for wedding receptions and similar functions.

History

References

Further reading