East Suffolk County Hall is a historic building located in St Helen's Street in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

. The building, which was the headquarters of East Suffolk County Council until 1974 and then of

Suffolk County Council Suffolk County Council is the administrative authority for the county of Suffolk, England. It is run by 75 elected county councillors representing 63 divisions. It is a member of the East of England Local Government Association. History Establ ...

until 2004, is a

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

The oldest part of the building was designed by William McIntosh Brooks in the

Tudor style Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

and completed in 1837. The design for this building, known as the "main entrance block", involved a roughly symmetrical main frontage facing St Helen's Street; the central section featured an arched doorway on the ground floor and a transomed window on the first floor flanked by twin

castellate A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

d towers; there were also castellated side wings and two end pavilions which were slightly projected forwards. The building was originally used as a prison and as a facility for dispensing justice but, 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 also became necessary to find a meeting place for East Suffolk County Council. Extensions to the main building, designed by John Corder and Henry Miller, which included a wing to the east known as "St Andrew's House" and a wing to the west known as "St Helen's Court", were completed for this purpose in 1906. St Helen's Court included a clock tower, the clock for which was a gift from the

High Sheriff of Suffolk This is a list of Sheriffs and High Sheriffs of Suffolk. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown and is appointed annually (in March) by the Crown. The Sheriff was originally the principal law enforcement officer in the county a ...

, Sir Thomas Henry Tacon. Internally, the principal room was the council chamber which was located on the first floor of St Helen's Court; there were offices on the ground floor below the council chamber. The proceedings for the divorce between

Wallis Simpson Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986), was an American socialite and wife of the former King Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused ...

and

Ernest Simpson Ernest Aldrich Simpson (6 May 1897 – 30 November 1958) was an American-born British shipbroker, best known as the second husband of Wallis Simpson, later wife of the former King Edward VIII. Simpson served as an officer in the Coldstream Gu ...

took place at the county hall with the

decree nisi A decree nisi or rule nisi () is a court order that will come into force at a future date unless a particular condition is met. Unless the condition is met, the ruling becomes a decree absolute (rule absolute), and is binding. Typically, the condi ...

being granted on 27 October 1936. This was followed, on 16 November 1936, by the decision of

King Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 1 ...

to announce his intention to marry Wallis Simpson which itself led to the

abdication crisis In early December 1936, a constitutional crisis in the British Empire arose when King-Emperor Edward VIII proposed to marry Wallis Simpson, an American socialite who was divorced from her first husband and was pursuing the divorce of her secon ...

. Following the implementation of the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

the building became the headquarters of

in 1974; it continued to serve in that role until the county council decided to move out of the building to more modern premises in 2003. The Council moved to

Endeavour House Endeavour House is a municipal building in Russell Road in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. It is the meeting place and offices of Suffolk County Council. The Babergh District Council and Mid Suffolk District Council also use the building for the ...

the following year and County Hall was acquired by a developer in 2005. After significant deterioration in the condition of the building, it was placed on the local buildings at risk register in 2011. A planning application to carry out urgent repairs was submitted in October 2019 and planning consent was given for the conversion of the building into some 40 apartments in January 2020.

References

{{reflist Grade II listed buildings in Ipswich County halls in England Government buildings completed in 1837