The Old Market Hall ( cy, Neuadd Idris) is a municipal building in Eldon Square,
Dolgellau
Dolgellau () is a town and community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the traditional county town of the historic county of Merionethshire ( cy, Meirionnydd, Sir Feirionnydd) un ...
,
Gwynedd
Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
. The structure, which is now the home to the National Centre for Folk Music, known as
Tŷ Siamas
Tŷ Siamas is the "National Centre for Folk Music" in Wales, and is situated in Dolgellau. The initiative to create such a centre was led by Ywain Myfyr (chairman and an founder of '' Sesiwn Fawr Dolgellau''), and the project was managed by Mabon ...
, 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 market square in Dolgellau was laid out 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 ...
,
Sir Robert Vaughan in the early 19th century.
However, while his masterplan included a courthouse, a school and a prison, it was not until the mid-19th century that civic officials decided to commission a market house. The site they selected was on the west side of the market square, which was renamed Eldon Square after the former
Lord Chancellor
The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...
,
Lord Eldon
Earl of Eldon, in the County Palatine of Durham, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1821 for the lawyer and politician John Scott, 1st Baron Eldon, Lord Chancellor from 1801 to 1806 and again from 1807 to 1827. ...
, who had been a close friend of Vaughan.
[
The new building was designed by William Henry Spaull of ]Oswestry
Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads.
The town was the administrative headquarters of the Borough of ...
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 ...
, 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 completed in 1870.[ It was arcaded on the ground floor, so that markets could be held, with assembly rooms on the first floor. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with four bays facing onto Eldon Square. There were four openings with impost bands and ]voussoir
A voussoir () is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault.
Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. The ...
s on the ground floor and four segmental windows on the first floor. At roof level, there were deeply overhanging eaves
The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...
supported by brackets
A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...
.[
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 ...
, the building was requisitioned for use as a grain store but, after the war the assembly rooms were re-opened again and operated as a cinema showing silent films on a regular basis. Meanwhile, the market hall on the ground floor was converted into a series of small shops. In 1949, the building hosted some of the events associated with the National Eisteddfod of Wales
The National Eisteddfod of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Eur ...
and, at that time, it was renamed Neuadd Idris, recalling the mountain, Cadair Idris
Cadair Idris or Cader Idris is a mountain in the Meirionnydd area of Gwynedd, Wales. It lies at the southern end of the Snowdonia National Park near the town of Dolgellau. The peak, which is one of the most popular in Wales for walkers and hiker ...
. Then, in 1966, Lady Megan Lloyd George
Lady Megan Arvon Lloyd George, (22 April 1902 – 14 May 1966) was a Welsh politician and the first female Member of Parliament (MP) for a Welsh constituency. She also served as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, before later becoming a Lab ...
, visited the building to present a petition signed by 240,000 people to Goronwy Roberts
Goronwy Owen Goronwy-Roberts, Baron Goronwy-Roberts, FRSA PC (20 September 1913 – 23 July 1981), was a Welsh Labour Member of Parliament.
Early life
Roberts was the younger son of Edward and Amelia Roberts from Bethesda, Gwynedd, where his f ...
calling for a Parliament for Wales.
The assembly rooms were subsequently used for dances, concerts, and theatrical performances. A season of performances of Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's tragedy, ''Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'', took place between January and April 1955, and the Dolgellau Amateur Dramatic Society, which was formed in 1978, performed in the building for many years. In October 1991, the assembly rooms were the venue for a meeting of the Snowdonia Society
The Snowdonia Society ( cy, Cymdeithas Eryri) is a members based environmental charity working to protect and enhance the beauty and special qualities of Snowdonia and to promote their enjoyment in the interests of all who live in, work in or vis ...
at which the conservationist, Esmé Kirby
Esmé Kirby (born Esmé Cummings, 31 August 1910, Croydon, died 18 October 1999, Snowdonia), was a conservationist who together with her husband Peter Kirby formed the Snowdonia National Park Society, to ensure the mountains were protected from ...
, who had led the society for 24 years, eventually stood down as its chair. The last dance function, aptly titled the ''Last Waltz
''The Last Waltz'' was a rock concert, concert by the Canadian-American rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving (United States), Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. ''The Last Waltz'' was ad ...
'', was held in August 2000.[
Following the completion of an extensive programme of refurbishment works costing £1.2 million, the building re-opened as the home to the National Centre for Folk Music, known as ]Tŷ Siamas
Tŷ Siamas is the "National Centre for Folk Music" in Wales, and is situated in Dolgellau. The initiative to create such a centre was led by Ywain Myfyr (chairman and an founder of '' Sesiwn Fawr Dolgellau''), and the project was managed by Mabon ...
, in June 2007.
References
{{reflist
Dolgellau
Grade II listed buildings in Gwynedd
Government buildings completed in 1870
Market houses