Grange Court is a former

market hall A market hall is a covered space or a building where food and other articles are sold from stalls by independent vendors. A market hall is a type of indoor market and is especially common in many European countries. A food hall, the most usual ...

Leominster Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England, at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of 11,700, Leominster is t ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

, England. It was built in 1633 by

John Abel John Abel (1578/79 – January 1675) was an English carpenter and mason, granted the title of 'King's Carpenter', who was responsible for several notable structures in the ornamented Half-timbered construction typical of the West Midlands. Joh ...

, and moved to its present location in 1859. It was then used as a private house until the 1930s, and is now once again a civic building.

Architecture

The

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

building is extravagantly decorated with carvings, including

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

s, animals, flowers and grotesque people.Council information panel at the house The entablature above the columns includes a number of carved texts. These read: * ("To God through life all men should raise their monument of thanks and praise And clean from sin should pass their days prepared to cross beyond always") * * ("Live in such a way that you may live hereafter") * * * When built by John Abel in 1633, the market hall was open at ground level, being supported on twelve

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

columns. It was known as "the Butter Crosse". It has a stone tile roof, a bellcote, and a weathervane dated 1687.

Original site

View of the Town Hall - undated - John Varley I

The market house originally stood on the site of an earlier market building, at the junction of Broad Street, High Street, Church Street, Drapers' Lane, High Street and Burgess Street. In addition to public meetings, it was used for meetings of the town's nine

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

s (bakers, butchers,

dye A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution an ...

rs, glovers,

mercers The Worshipful Company of Mercers is the premier Livery Company of the City of London and ranks first in the order of precedence of the Companies. It is the first of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies. Although of even older origin, the c ...

shoemakers Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or cobblers (also known as ''cordwainers''). In the 18th century, dozens or even hundreds of masters, journeymen an ...

, tailors, walkers ( fullers) and

weavers Weaver or Weavers may refer to: Activities * A person who engages in weaving fabric Animals * Various birds of the family Ploceidae * Crevice weaver spider family * Orb-weaver spider family * Weever (or weever-fish) Arts and entertainment ...

) and Quarter Session courts, and the

town council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second ti ...

met there from 1750.

Rebuilding and later use

Eventually, congestion caused by the building's location at an important junction led to calls for its removal. The building was dismantled and stored in the mid-1850s. It was purchased at auction for £95 by

John Hungerford Arkwright John Hungerford Arkwright (12 July 1833 – 25 May 1905) was Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire from 27 January 1902 to 5 December 1904, and was one of the wealthiest landowners in that county. Biography Arkwright was born at the family home, ...

, who offered the building to the council if they would re-erect it, but they refused. He moved the building himself and rebuilt it near the priory church in 1859. In the process, the ground floor was enclosed, a three-storey brick extension added at the rear, and the roof replaced. At some point two

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, a ...

panels by the Leominster sculptor William Storr-Barber (died 1934) were added to the interior. In 1939,

Leominster District Council Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England, at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of 11,700, Leominster is t ...

acquired the building for £3,000 through a

compulsory purchase order A compulsory purchase order (CPO; , ) is a legal function in the United Kingdom and Ireland that allows certain bodies to obtain land or property without the consent of the owner. It may be enforced if a proposed development is considered one for p ...

, thereby thwarting an apparent plan by

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

to remove it for reuse as a gatehouse at

St Donat's Castle St Donat's Castle ( cy, Castell Sain Dunwyd), St Donats, Wales, is a Middle Ages, medieval castle in the Vale of Glamorgan, about to the west of Cardiff, and about to the west of Llantwit Major. Positioned on cliffs overlooking the Bristol Ch ...

. Until 2008, it was used as council offices by the District Council, and later

Herefordshire County Council Herefordshire County Council was the county council of Herefordshire from 1 April 1889 to 31 March 1974. It was based at the Shirehall in Hereford. It was created under the Local Government Act 1888 and took over many of the powers that had pr ...

. In 2001, a campaign was started to raise money to restore the building. The work was completed in 2013 and the building, with a modern annexe, is now a community centre (a Community, Enterprise and Heritage Hub), owned by LARC Development Trust, a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...

which purchased it from Herefordshire County Council for £1 in June 2013, as an instance of community asset transfer. The building is

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 ...

and is licensed for the conduct of civil marriage ceremonies.

Model

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

model of the house in its earlier configuration now stands at its original location.

References

External links

Official website
{{Commons category, Grange Court, Leominster Buildings and structures completed in 1633 Buildings and structures in Leominster Grade II* listed buildings in Herefordshire Grade II* listed houses Market houses Timber framed buildings in England 1633 establishments in England