The Old Town Hall is a former municipal building of 1854 in the High Street,

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, England. It 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

Until the construction of the town hall on the High Street, the town council had met in the ''Goddard Arms'' on the High Street. This small

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

had been owned by the

Goddard family The Goddard family were a prominent landed family chiefly living in the northern region of the English counties of Wiltshire and Hampshire and the western part of Berkshire, between the Tudor period and the early 20th century. The Goddard family ...

since 1621 and was a small cottage alehouse known as the ''Crown'' until 1820. The ''Goddard Arms'' was used for public meetings in the early 19th century and was used in this way by

Ambrose Goddard Ambrose Goddard (c. 1727–1815) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1772 to 1806. Goddard was the third son of Ambrose Goddard and his wife Elizabeth Awdry, daughter of Ambrose Awdry of Seend, Wiltshire. He was educat ...

to report progress on the

Wilts & Berks Canal The Wilts & Berks Canal is a canal in the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Wiltshire and Berkshire, England, linking the Kennet and Avon Canal at Semington near Melksham, to the River Thames at Abingdon, Oxfordshire, Abingdon. ...

. The town hall was designed by Sampson Sage and E Robertson 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

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

stone by a local builder, George Major, and was completed in 1854. The main frontage has five bays separated by full-height

Tuscan order The Tuscan order (Latin ''Ordo Tuscanicus'' or ''Ordo Tuscanus'', with the meaning of Etruscan order) is one of the two classical orders developed by the Romans, the other being the composite order. It is influenced by the Doric order, but with u ...

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, with arched windows on the ground floor,

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 a

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 ...

and

roof lantern A roof lantern is a daylighting architectural element. Architectural lanterns are part of a larger roof and provide natural light into the space or room below. In contemporary use it is an architectural skylight structure. A lantern roof wil ...

above. The building was extended to the northeast with a tower, as well as accommodation for a

corn exchange A corn exchange is a building where merchants trade grains. The word "corn" in British English denotes all cereal grains, such as wheat and barley; in the United States these buildings were called grain exchange. Such trade was common in towns ...

at ground floor level, to the designs of Wilson and Willcox of Bath in 1866. A wine store was built on an adjoining site and its upper hall was used as a

magistrates' court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrate's Cour ...

from 1871 to 1891. After civic functions transferred to the new town hall in 1891, the building became a roller skating rink in 1910, and a cinema known as the Rink in 1919. After 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 ...

it was refurbished and re-opened as the Locarno Dance Hall. Performers at the dance hall included the singer,

Cilla Black Priscilla Maria Veronica White (27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015), better known as Cilla Black, was an English singer, actress and television presenter. Championed by her friends the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her ...

, in April 1964, followed by the

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

bands,

The Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell ...

in July 1964,

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

in October 1965 and the

Small Faces Small Faces were an English rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966. The band w ...

in November 1965. The building subsequently served as a bingo hall but became vacant in the late 1970s. The building was acquired by bar owner, Gael Mackenzie, in 1999. Major fires occurred in the building in May 2003 and again in May 2004. In November 2016, Swindon council entered into a development agreement with Swindon Corn Exchange Limited, a business managed by housebuilder, Steve Rosier, under which Rosier agreed to pursue a development on the site. However, after no progress was made with the development and the building continued to decay,

the Victorian Society The Victorian Society is a UK amenity society and membership organisation that campaigns to preserve and promote interest in Victorian and Edwardian architecture and heritage built between 1837 and 1914 in England and Wales. It is a registered ...

added the structure to its list of most endangered buildings in September 2019. The council also threatened to use 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 ...

to re-acquire the property in January 2020.

References

{{Reflist Grade II listed buildings in Wiltshire Grade II listed government buildings City and town halls in Wiltshire Government buildings completed in 1854 Corn exchanges in England