Huntingdon Town Hall is a municipal structure on Market Hill in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Huntingdon Borough Council, is a Grade II* listed building.

History

Huntingdon War Memorial (geograph 5256353)

The first municipal building on Market Hill was a 17th courthouse which was arcaded on the ground floor, so that markets could be held, with an assembly room on the first floor. It was demolished in the mid-18th century to allow construction of the current building. The current building was designed by Benjamin Timbrell in the neoclassical style, built in red brick with stone dressings and was completed in 1745. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with seven bays facing onto Market Hill with the ground floor rendered and painted; the central section of three bays, which projected forward, featured a doorway flanked by two pairs of Tuscan order columns supporting an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

; there was a balcony and a French door flanked by

casement window A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a cas ...

s on the first floor and there were three tall round headed windows on the second floor. At roof level there was a large pediment with a clock in the tympanum and central cupola above that. The building was enlarged in 1817. Internally, the principal rooms were the assembly hall, which featured three chandeliers and a series of important portraits, and the council chamber, which featured boards listing the names of former mayors of the town. The main staircase was recovered from the earlier courthouse. After the First World War, a war memorial in the form of a bronze statue of a soldier was designed by the sculptor, Kathleen Scott and erected in front of the town hall by the local contractor, Thackray and Co; the statue, which became known as "the Thinking Soldier", was unveiled by the

Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire This is a list of people who served as Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire. Huntingdonshire became part of Huntingdon and Peterborough in 1965; see Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdon and Peterborough. From 1672 until 1965, all Lords Lieutenant were also ...

, the Earl of Sandwich, on 11 November 1923. The building continued to serve as the headquarters of Huntingdon Borough Council and, from 1961, of Huntingdon and Godmanchester Borough Council and briefly remained the local seat of government when the enlarged Huntingdonshire District Council was formed in 1974. Although the district council relocated to modern facilities at Pathfinder House in St Mary's Street in Huntingdon in 1977, the town hall continued to be used as a meeting place by Huntingdon Town Council and, following a major programme of refurbishment works costing £0.9 million which was completed in 2012, the building became an approved location for marriages and civil partnership ceremonies. Works of art in the town hall include a portrait by

John Shackleton John Shackleton (? - 14 or 16 March 1767, London) was a British painter and draughtsman who produced history paintings and portraits. His parents and origins are unknown. Output Shackleton painted several surviving portraits, for example of He ...

of King George II and by

Gainsborough Dupont Gainsborough Dupont (20 December 1754 – 20 January 1797) was a British artist, the nephew and pupil of Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. Biography Dupont was born in Sudbury, Suffolk, on 20 December 1754 the eldest son of Thomas Gainsborough's sist ...

of Queen Caroline, as well as portraits by

Allan Ramsay Allan Ramsay may refer to: *Allan Ramsay (poet) or Allan Ramsay the Elder (1686–1758), Scottish poet *Allan Ramsay (artist) or Allan Ramsay the Younger (1713–1784), Scottish portrait painter *Allan Ramsay (diplomat) (1937–2022), British diplom ...

of King George III and of Queen Charlotte. There are also portraits by

Peter Lely Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 – 7 December 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. Life Lely was born Pieter van der Faes to Dutch ...

of Oliver Cromwell, by Sir Joshua Reynolds of the Duke of Cumberland and by

Godfrey Kneller Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (born Gottfried Kniller; 8 August 1646 – 19 October 1723), was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to Kingdom of England, English and Br ...

of the former local member of parliament, Sir Lionel Walden, as well as portraits by Francis Grant of the Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, Sir Frederick Pollock and of the former

Secretary of State for War The Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The Secretary of State for War headed the War Office and ...

, Jonathan Peel.

References

{{reflist Government buildings completed in 1745 City and town halls in Cambridgeshire Huntingdon Grade II* listed buildings in Cambridgeshire

History

See also

References