County Hall in

Northallerton Northallerton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of Mowbray and at the northern end of the Vale of York. It had a population of 16,832 in the 2011 census, an increase ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, England, serves as the headquarters of

North Yorkshire County Council North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) is the county council governing the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire; an area composing most of North Yorkshire in England. The council currently consists of 90 councillors. The council is current ...

(NYCC). The building was opened in 1906 and has also been the headquarters of the North Riding County Council (NRCC), the NYCC’s predecessor, up until 1974. County Hall is at the south western edge of Northallerton (in the parish of

Romanby Romanby is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. Romanby is situated just south-west of Northallerton, and at the 2001 UK census had a population of 6,051, increasing to 6,177 at the 2011 Census. The ...

) and is now a

grade II* listed 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 ...

building.

History

Northallerton has been the administrative centre of the

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres). From the Restoration it was used as ...

since the end of the 17th century. Many buildings across the town were used for the various councils and local offices of the North Riding. The land that the hall is built upon was formerly part of Northallerton Racecourse in the Broomfields area of the town. The road to the north of the building connecting the

A167 The A167 and A167(M) is a road in North East England. It is partially a trunk road and partially a motorway, where it is commonly referred to as Newcastle Central Motorway. Most of the road’s route was formerly that of the A1, until it was ...

and A168 roads is known as ''Racecourse Lane''. Racecourse Lane was the finishing straight of the track and the big grandstand was located where County Hall is now. The racing died off gradually after the railway was built on its south western corner which had restricted its space. The last race meet was held in 1880; after this, the racecourse was abandoned. As far back as 1891,

North Riding County Council North Riding County Council (NRCC) was the county council of the administrative county of the North Riding of Yorkshire. It came into its powers on 1 April 1889 and was abolished on 31 March 1974. The council met at County Hall in Northallert ...

had recognised the need to replace their offices in East Road in the town and the twelve other sites that they occupied that were scattered throughout Northallerton. In 1895, Walter Brierley and John Demaine were employed to be the architects for the new building; however, the process of acquiring new land and the council members voting on the preferred locations, made for a protracted eight year gap before work was started. In the eventuality, the building was designed by Walter Brierley alone, who by that time was the favoured architect of the North Riding County Council. Work on the new offices started in 1903, with John Hutton MP laying the first stone in July of that year, with it being blessed by the vicar of Northallerton and the Bishop of Richmond. The hall was opened to the council in January 1906. The external walls were made from local stone (from

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

and

Farndale Farndale is a valley and community in Ryedale district, North Yorkshire, England, which is known for the daffodils which flower each spring along a stretch of the River Dove. The valley is in the North York Moors National Park, some nor ...

), with the west facing main entrance side of the building being faced with red bricks from

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

, although local bricks were used internally. The roof was finished with slate from

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

and the main entrance into the grounds that the hall is set in, has been described as "impressive" as it is lined with hedging, trees and decorative ponds. The interior of the building included Derbyshire Limestone, and white Sicilian and black Belgian marble in the entrance floor. When built, the council chamber was markedly different as it had

Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

windows and a cupola that hid an early air conditioning system. The building had extra sections added in 1916, 1930 and 1940 and many other ancillary buildings were added to the site. Between October 1914 and January 1919, part of the hall served as a

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

hospital helping sick and injured service personnel from the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The temporary hospital had over 60 beds and over 1,600 patients were nursed during that time. In May 1941, the town of Northallerton was subject to a bombing run by the Luftwaffe. Several incendiary devices were dropped on the town, one of which caused a fire in County Hall though it was soon extinguished with no lasting damage. In 1974, the government shake up of the counties led to a vast increase in land and population under

, particularly from the newly transferred non-industrial areas of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

. It was felt that a new headquarters should be situated at

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

which was to be part of the new county of North Yorkshire. However, it was decided to retain County Hall as the headquarters purely on grounds of cost; it was £7 million cheaper to enhance County Hall than to move to new premises. The main building was grade II* listed in June 1987 and was subject to a £500,000 renovation in 1999.

References

Sources

External links

{{commonscat, County Hall, Northallerton Buildings and structures in North Yorkshire Government buildings completed in 1906 North Riding of Yorkshire N Grade II* listed buildings in North Yorkshire 1906 establishments in England