Nottinghamshire County Hall is a large municipal building located at Loughborough Road on the south bank of the

River Trent The Trent is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midland ...

West Bridgford West Bridgford is a town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Rushcliffe in the county of Nottinghamshire, England. It lies immediately south of the city of Nottingham, from which the River Trent divides it. Forming part of the Nott ...

Rushcliffe Rushcliffe is a local government district with borough status in Nottinghamshire, England. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 Census was 111,129. Its councilRushcliffe Borough Council Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

, England. It is the headquarters of

Nottinghamshire County Council Nottinghamshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Nottinghamshire in England. It consists of 66 county councillors, elected from 56 electoral divisions every four years. The most recent election ...

which is the upper tier local authority and has jurisdiction across the whole of Nottinghamshire except the City of Nottingham which is administered independently by the unitary authority of

Nottingham City Council Nottingham City Council is the local authority for the unitary authority of Nottingham in Nottinghamshire, England. It consists of 55 councillors, representing a total of 20 wards, elected every four years. The council is led by David Mellen, of ...

History

During much of the 20th century the county council was based at the old Shire Hall in the

Lace Market The Lace Market is a historic quarter-mile square area of Nottingham, England. It was the centre of the world's lace industry during the British Empire and is now a protected heritage area. It was an area of salesrooms and warehouses for storin ...

in Central Nottingham. After deciding that the existing premises were inadequate for their needs, county leaders decided to procure a new building: the site they selected had been occupied by the Castle Cricket Ground. The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the

Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire. Since 1694, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Nottinghamshire. *Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland 1552–1563? *Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of R ...

William Cavendish-Bentinck, 7th Duke of Portland William Arthur Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 7th Duke of Portland, (16 March 1893 – 21 March 1977), styled Marquess of Titchfield until 1943, was a British peer and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician. Biography Portland was the ...

, on 21 November 1939. It was designed by

Vincent Harris Emanuel Vincent Harris (26 June 1876 – 1 August 1971), often known as E. Vincent Harris, was an English architect who designed several important public buildings in traditional styles. Early life He was born in Devonport, Devon, and e ...

(who is also credited with designing

Leeds Civic Hall Leeds Civic Hall is a municipal building located in the civic quarter of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It replaced Leeds Town Hall as the administrative centre in 1933. The Civic Hall houses Leeds City Council offices, council chamber and a b ...

, Bristol City Hall and

Sheffield City Hall Sheffield City Hall is a Grade II* listed building in Sheffield, England in Barker's Pool, one of the city's central squares. It was built and is owned by Sheffield City Council but is now managed by the Sheffield City Trust, under a 99-year l ...

) but, because of a pause to construction during 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 ...

, it was only completed in 1954. The original plans included the construction of a landmark bell tower which would have been three times as tall as the main building. When construction resumed after the war this part of the plan was mothballed to reduce overall costs.

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, visited County Hall on 28 July 1977. In 2016, county leaders decided that a 1960s concrete prefabricated extension, which had been built as part of the

Consortium of Local Authorities Special Programme The Consortium of Local Authorities Special Programme (abbreviated and more commonly referred to as CLASP), was formed in England in 1957 to combine the resources of Local Authorities with the purpose of developing a prefabricated school building p ...

(CLASP), was deemed surplus to requirements and unfit for purpose. The building was subsequently demolished. In March 2019, it was announced that a new landmark building could be built on the site of the former CLASP building site as part of Nottinghamshire County Council's aspiration to rationalise its countywide estate portfolio.

Architecture

The County Hall has a base made of Portland stone and a roof made of copper. Exposure to precipitation has resulted in the copper roof turning green in colour. The design involves a main frontage facing with fifteen bays facing Loughborough Road; the central bay features a stone porch with

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. The two main entrances around the front and back of the building are flanked by statues of miners depicting the county's mining history. The statues were designed by Robert Kiddey, a local Nottingham artist during the building's construction.

Art

The County Hall houses an extensive collection of artifacts, many of which have been gifted to Nottinghamshire by various visiting dignitaries from around the world and are displayed around the hall. The grand staircase which links the ground and first floors of the building, includes oil paintings depicting historic distinguished members and officers of the county council amongst local scenes. The collection included portraits by the local artist,

Arthur Spooner Arthur Eugene Spooner is a fictional character played by Jerry Stiller in the American sitcom ''The King of Queens''. He lives with his daughter Carrie and her husband, Doug Heffernan, in Rego Park, Queens, New York. Biography Little is know ...

, of

Lord Belper Baron Belper, of Belper in the County of Derbyshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1856 for the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician Edward Strutt, 1st Baron Belper, Edward Strutt, Chancellor of the Duchy o ...

and

Viscount Galway Viscount Galway is a title that has been created once in the Peerage of England and thrice in the Peerage of Ireland. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1628 in favour of Richard Burke, 4th Earl of Clanricarde. He was made Earl ...

, who served respectively as the first and second chairmen of the county council. It also includes a landscape painting by David Payne depicting

Newstead Abbey Newstead Abbey, in Nottinghamshire, England, was formerly an Augustinian priory. Converted to a domestic home following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, it is now best known as the ancestral home of Lord Byron. Monastic foundation The prio ...

References

External links

* {{cite web , title=Hire County Hall , publisher=Nottinghamshire City Council , url=https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/business-community/doing-business-with-us/venue-hire/hire-county-hall , access-date=23 July 2019 Buildings and structures in Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire County Council N Government buildings completed in 1954