Essex County Hall is a municipal building in Market Road,

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

: it is the headquarters of

Essex County Council Essex County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Essex in England. It has 75 councillors, elected from 70 divisions, and is currently controlled by the Conservative Party. The council meets at County Hall ...

. Blocks C and D are Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

Council offices on Duke Street, Chelmsford (geograph 5488543)

Following the implementation of the

Local Government Act 1888 Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

, which established county councils in every county, it became necessary to find facilities for

. Rather than using the shire hall for county council administration, as many other county councils did, county leaders established two small offices on the north side of King Edward's Street. Formal meetings of the full county council were held in London in the early 20th century, in order to minimise travel for county councillors working in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

, so there was no need for a meeting place in Essex. In due course more substantial facilities became necessary and a red brick building on Duke Street known as Block D, designed by Frank Whitmore in the

classical style Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect V ...

, was completed in 1909. The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with four bays facing Duke Street; the left bay featured an arched recess containing a doorway with a

fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window, often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, and is sometimes hinged to a transom. Th ...

above flanked by

Doric order The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

columns and full height stone

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s bearing the county

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

; there was a double window on the first floor and a triple window on the second floor with an open

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

above. When further expansion was needed, the properties in King Edward's Street were demolished and the most imposing part of the new county hall complex, a building clad in Portland Stone on the corner of Duke Street and Threadneedle Street known as Block C, designed by J. Stuart, was built between 1929 and 1939. The design featured a main entrance at the south east corner of the building; there was a doorway on the ground floor flanked by Doric order columns supporting an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

with a pediment above; there was a round headed window on the first floor flanked by

Corinthian order The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...

columns and there were smaller windows on the floors above. A geometric pattern was carved into the stonework above the doorway; this subsequently led to controversy as the carving was capable of being interpreted as a line of

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...

s. Internally, the principal rooms were the council chamber, the committee room and the council chairman's room which were all fitted out at the expense of the businessman and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

, Sir William Courtauld. A modern 3-storey building in the heart of the complex, known as Block B, followed after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and a modern 9-storey building on Victoria Road South, known as Block A, which was designed by H. Connolly, was built between 1959 and 1965. Works of art in the building include a bust of the politician,

Thomas Gardiner Bramston Thomas Gardiner Bramston (1770–1831) was an English politician. Life He was the son of Thomas Berney Bramston, Member of Parliament for , and his wife Mary Gardiner, educated at Felsted School and New College, Oxford. In 1813 he inherited ...

, by the sculptor, John Ternouth and a bust of the politician,

John Perry-Watlington John Watlington Perry-Watlington (7 December 1823 – 24 February 1882), known as John Watlington Perry until 1848, was a British Conservative politician. Born in London in 1823 as John Watlington Perry, he was the only son of Thomas Perry and M ...

, by the sculptor,

William Theed William Theed, also known as William Theed the younger (1804 – 9 September 1891), was a British sculptor, the son of the sculptor and painter William Theed the elder (1764–1817). Although versatile and eclectic in his works, he specialised ...

References

{{reflist Essex County Council Chelmsford Grade II listed buildings in Essex County halls in England Government buildings completed in 1909