The Town Hall, Christchurch is a municipal building in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, England. The building, which incorporates a room known as the mayor's parlour on the first floor, and 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 ...

. It is currently the base of Christchurch Town Council.

History

The first town hall was a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

timber structure built in Millhams Street. The current town hall, which was designed in the

neoclassical style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, 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 pr ...

, was originally built in the Market Square in 1746 but, in order to improve traffic flow, it was dismantled and rebuilt in its current position in the former Blanchard's Yard in the High Street in 1859. The move to Blanchard's Yard was funded by

public subscription Subscription refers to the process of investors signing up and committing to invest in a financial instrument, before the actual closing of the purchase. The term comes from the Latin word ''subscribere''. Historical Praenumeration An early form ...

and financially supported by the local

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

, Admiral John Edward Walcott. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with six bays facing onto the High Street; the central section of two bays, which slightly projected forward, featured arcading on the ground floor to allow markets to be held, and a stone balcony and

Venetian window A Venetian window (also known as a Serlian window) is a large tripartite window which is a key element in Palladian architecture. Although Sebastiano Serlio (1475–1554) did not invent it, the window features largely in the work of the Italian a ...

on the first floor flanked by full-height

Doric order The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

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 supporting an open

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

. There was a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

with a

weather vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

at roof level. Internally, the principal room was the mayor's parlour on the first floor. There was a lock-up under the stairs to accommodate criminals. A technical school, which had been built to the north of the town hall in 1902, was later acquired by Christchurch Borough Council and converted for municipal use to accommodate a new council chamber. The town hall continued to serve as the headquarters of Christchurch Borough Council and became the local seat of government of the enlarged

local government district The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...

of Christchurch, which was formed by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Christchurch with part of

Ringwood and Fordingbridge Rural District Ringwood and Fordingbridge was a rural district in Hampshire from 1932 to 1974. It was formed by the merger of part of the disbanded Christchurch Rural District along with Ringwood Rural District and Fordingbridge Rural District. Its main urb ...

, in 1974. However, in the light of the new district council's increased responsibilities, civic leaders decided to move to new civic offices in Bridge Street in 1978. Some restoration work including replacement of the cupola was carried out in autumn 1988. The old technical school, which had become surplus to requirements, was demolished to make way for Saxon Square in 1992. Proposals to glaze the ground floor of the town hall were recommended to the local council in August 2015. After

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. It was created on 1 April 2019 by the merger of the areas that were previously administered by the unitary authorities of Bournem ...

(BCP), was created as the

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

for the area in April 2019, Christchurch Town Council, the first tier of local government, was created at the same time as the unitary authority, with its offices in the town hall. An extensive programme of restoration works, including replacement of the lead pipework and further work on the cupola, began in January 2020.

References

{{Authority control 1745 establishments in England Grade II listed buildings in Dorset Government buildings completed in 1745 Buildings and structures in Christchurch, Dorset C

History

See also

References