County Buildings is a municipal facility at Martin Street in

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

. The building, which is the meeting place for both

Staffordshire County Council Staffordshire County Council is the upper-tier Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Staffordshire, England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includ ...

and Stafford Borough Council, 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

In the 19th century the Shire Hall in Market Square became well established as the venue for judicial meetings and civic functions in the county. Following the implementation of the

Local Government Act 1888 The Local Government Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c. 41) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales. It came into effect ...

, which established county councils in every county, there was a need to find offices and a meeting place for

. The council initially met at the Shire Hall, but shortly after the council's creation it was decided to procure new county offices: the site they selected in Martin Street immediately adjoined the Shire Hall and had previously been occupied by several a row of retail properties. The new County Buildings, which were designed by Henry Hare in the Baroque revival style, were completed in 1895. The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with fifteen bays facing onto the Martin Street; the central section of seven bays featured a doorway with an

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; , also called an epistyle; ) is the lintel or beam, typically made of wood or stone, that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can also apply to all sides, including the vertical members, ...

and segmental

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

with

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...

ed windows on the first floor. The left hand section, which slightly projected forward, featured a window split by

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric) ...

columns while the right hand section, which also slightly projected forward, featured a venetian window. Internally, the principal room was the council chamber which featured plasterwork by Frederick Schenck as well as figures sculpted by William Aumonier. Additional offices in a similar style were subsequently built on the opposite southern side of Martin Street in 1913 and 1925. In April 2009 the council announced plans for a new headquarters in Tipping Street: the new offices were designed by 3DReid, built by Volker Fitzpatrick at a cost of £38 million and completed in October 2011. The new offices were officially opened by the Countess of Wessex as "Staffordshire Place" in May 2013. Following the departure of council officers and their departments to Staffordshire Place, the later buildings at 15 and 16 Martin Street on the south side of Martin Street were sold and converted into a series of private residences known as "Martin Street Mansions". However, the county council retained the main 1895 building on the north side of Martin Street which contains the main civic rooms, and continued to hold full meetings of the county council in the council chamber there. The civic rooms in County Buildings were also made available for weddings and civil partnerships. The building is also used for full council meetings of Stafford Borough Council, following the sale of the borough council's old Guildhall in the Market Square to become a shopping centre and bank in 1990.

References

{{reflist S Grade II* listed buildings in Staffordshire Government buildings completed in 1895

History

See also

References