Gloucester Guildhall is a former municipal building in Eastgate Street,
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
, which is now used as a arts and theatre venue. It 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 original town hall, known as "the Tolsey" meaning "town hall", was a 15th century building located on the corner of Westgate Street and Southgate Street.
It was rebuilt in the
neo-classical style
Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...
in 1751 but was inadequate for the needs of civic leaders by the late 19th century.
[
The site chosen for the new building had previously been occupied by ]Sir Thomas Rich
Sir Thomas Rich, 1st Baronet (c. 1601 – 15 October 1667) was an English merchant and politician who sat in House of Commons in 1660. He established Sir Thomas Rich's School, a grammar school.Sir Thomas Rich's School
Sir Thomas Rich's School is a grammar school with academy status for boys (aged 11–18) and girls (aged 16–18, in the sixth form) in Longlevens, Gloucester, England, locally known as "Tommies". It was founded in 1666 by Sir Thomas Rich, 1st ...
, but had become vacant when the school moved to the site of the former Crypt School in Barton Street in 1889.
The new building, which was designed by George H. Hunt in the French Renaissance style, was completed in 1892.[ The exterior design involved five bays with an entrance flanked by ]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 on the ground floor; there were five french door
A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide security by ...
s with 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 ...
s interspersed by four Ionic order
The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite or ...
pilasters together with a central stone balcony on the first floor; there were three circular windows with a moulded architrave
In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns.
The term can ...
above them on the second floor and vase
A vase ( or ) is an open container. It can be made from a number of materials, such as ceramics, glass, non-rusting metals, such as aluminium, brass, bronze, or stainless steel. Even wood has been used to make vases, either by using tree species ...
s were erected at roof level.[ Internally, the principal rooms on the first floor were the main hall and the council chamber.][ Works of art contained in the guildhall included a silver gilt roundel dated 1563 bearing the arms of Sir Thomas Bell, a former mayor of Gloucester.
]King Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...
visited the guildhall on 23 June 1909 before departing for the Royal Agricultural Show
The Royal Show, also known as the Royal Agricultural Show, was an annual agricultural show/ fair held by the Royal Agricultural Society of England every year from 1839 to 2009. The event encompassed all aspects of farming, food and rural life ...
at the Oxlease Showground on Alney Island
Alney Island is an island in the River Severn near Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England. The Severn splits into two channels (known as East Channel and West Channel) at Upper Parting (the northernmost tip of Alney), and merges again at Lower ...
. The guildhall also received a visit by the 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 Duke of Edinburgh, to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the granting of the city's charter by King Henry II, on 3 May 1955.
For much of the 20th century the guildhall was the meeting place of the county borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...
of Gloucester; it continued to be the local seat of government following the formation of the enlarged Gloucester City Council
Gloucester City Council is the local authority for Gloucester, which is split into 18 wards, with a total of 39 councillors elected to serve on the City Council.
History
The district was formed from the County Borough of Gloucester on 1 April 1 ...
in 1974. However, in 1985 the council decided to move their meeting place to a converted warehouse at Gloucester Docks
Gloucester Docks is an historic area of the city of Gloucester. The docks are located at the northern junction of the River Severn with the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal
The Gloucester and Sharpness Canal (also known as the Gloucester and ...
.[
The ground floor was converted into offices in 1987; a lease on the floor was taken by a branch of ]Cheltenham & Gloucester
Cheltenham & Gloucester plc (C&G) was a mortgage and savings provider in the United Kingdom, a subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group. C&G specialised in mortgages and savings products. Previously, C&G was a building society, the Cheltenham and Glouc ...
which, in September 2013, evolved into a branch of TSB Bank. Meanwhile, on the upper floors, an arts centre was established; the council chamber was converted into a cinema with capacity to seat 100 people in 1991, while the main hall, which has a capacity to seat 400 people, is still available for public use.[ The ]rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band, EMF, recorded a video of their first single, " Unbelievable", which reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, in the main hall one night in 1990.
References
{{Buildings and structures in Gloucester
Grade II listed buildings in Gloucestershire
Buildings and structures in Gloucester
City and town halls in Gloucestershire
Government buildings completed in 1892