Lydney Town Hall is a municipal structure in the High Street,

Lydney Lydney is a town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is on the west bank of the River Severn in the Forest of Dean District, and is 16 miles (25 km) southwest of Gloucester. The town has been bypassed by the A48 road since 1995 ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England. The structure, which is used as an events venue, is listed by the local authority as a "building of local architectural or historical interest".

History

In the 1880s, following significant population growth associated with the town's role as a port for the shipment of coal and timber, a group of local businessmen decided to form a company to finance and to erect a town hall. The land selected for the new building, which was to the immediate south of the

market cross A market cross, or in Scots, a mercat cross, is a structure used to mark a market square in market towns, where historically the right to hold a regular market or fair was granted by the monarch, a bishop or a baron. History Market crosse ...

, was donated by the

lord of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

, Charles Bathurst (1837–1907) of

Lydney Park Lydney Park is a 17th-century country estate surrounding Lydney House, located at Lydney in the Forest of Dean district in Gloucestershire, England. It is known for its gardens and Roman temple complex. House and gardens Lydney Park wa ...

. The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the benefactor's son,

Charles Bathurst Charles Bathurst PC (1754 – 13 August 1831), known as Charles Bragge from 1754 to 1804, was a British politician of the early 19th century. Background and education Born Charles Bragge, Bathurst was the son of Charles Bragge, of Cleve Hill ...

(1867–1958), on 15 December 1888. It was designed by William Howard Seth-Smith in the Jacobethan style, built in

rubble masonry Rubble stone is rough, uneven building stone not laid in regular courses. It may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or ashlar. Analogously, some medieval cathedral walls are outer shells of ashlar with an inn ...

and was officially opened by the benefactor's daughter, Mary Bathhurst, in September 1889. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto the corner of the High Street and Church Road; the central section of three bays, which was gabled, featured a recessed doorway with an

ogee An ogee ( ) is the name given to objects, elements, and curves—often seen in architecture and building trades—that have been variously described as serpentine-, extended S-, or sigmoid-shaped. Ogees consist of a "double curve", the combinatio ...

-shaped stone surround flanked by two-light

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

ed windows. On the first floor there were two five-light mullioned windows and on the second floor there was a single five-light mullioned window. The outer bays were fenestrated on the ground floor by three-light mullioned windows and the gable was surmounted by a

finial A finial (from '' la, finis'', end) or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a d ...

. Internally, the principal room was a large assembly hall with a sprung dance floor. After the area became a

rural district Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the Ad ...

in 1894, the new rural district council chose to make the town hall its main meeting place in 1898. The building was used as a

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

Voluntary Aid Detachment The Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) was a voluntary unit of civilians providing nursing care for military personnel in the United Kingdom and various other countries in the British Empire. The most important periods of operation for these units we ...

auxiliary hospital for wounded service personnel during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and it was used as an ARP control centre 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 ...

. The town hall continued to serve as the local seat of government until the rural district council moved to purpose-built council offices in 1956: ownership of the building was then transferred to a board of trustees in 1957. The assembly room continued to be used for public events and performers there included the

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

, ''

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

'', who gave a concert in August 1962. In 1968, ownership of the building passed to the parish council which, following local government reorganisation in 1974, became known as Lydney Town Council.

References

{{reflist Government buildings completed in 1889 City and town halls in Gloucestershire Lydney