Peterborough Town Hall is a municipal building in Bridge Street,

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

, England. It is a locally

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 current structure was commissioned to replace the 17th century

guildhall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...

in Cathedral Square. The whole of the eastern side of Narrow Bridge Street had to be demolished, doubling the width of the street, before the foundation stone for the new building could be laid by Prince George in June 1929. The new building was designed by

Ernest Berry Webber Ernest Berry Webber, (29 April 1896 – 19 December 1963)''England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1995'', p. 130. was an English architect, surveyor and town planner best known for his design ...

in the Neo-Georgian style and built by John Thompson and Sons. The design included colonnades built out over the pavement in order to reduce the visual impact of a very long west facade. Four plaques were erected on the west side of the building representing jurisprudence, education, biology and industry & reward. The builder got into financial difficulties during the construction and the official opening was delayed until October 1933. The

Princess Royal Princess Royal is a substantive title, style customarily (but not automatically) awarded by a United Kingdom, British monarch to their eldest daughter. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of th ...

met american servicewomen during a function held in the reception room of the town hall in 1944 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 building, which had served as the meeting place of both the Peterborough Municipal Borough Council and of the Soke of Peterborough County Council, became the headquarters of the

non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non-m ...

on the re-organisation of local government in 1974. In 2005, a 19th century

turret clock A turret clock or tower clock is a clock designed to be mounted high in the wall of a building, usually in a clock tower, in public buildings such as churches, university buildings, and town halls. As a public amenity to enable the community ...

, which had originally been installed on the face of a jewellers' shop at No. 8 Narrow Bridge Street, was mounted on the west side of the town hall, very close to its original position. In September 2018 the council moved most of its officials to modern facilities at Sand Martin House, a refurbished Victorian railway building at Fletton Quays on the south side of the

River Nene The River Nene ( or : see below) is a river in the east of England that rises from three sources in Northamptonshire.OS Explorer Map sheet 223, Northampton & Market Harborough, Brixworth & Pitsford Water. The river is about long, about of w ...

. The council chamber in the town hall continues to be used as the main venue for meetings of the council. In March 2020 work began on refurbishment works at the town hall, expected to cost £5.1 million, so that the

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) provides community, mental health and learning disability services in Cambridgeshire, England, and specialist services across the east of England and nationally. History The Trust bec ...

could move into the vacant areas of the building in 2021.

Notes

References

{{reflist City and town halls in Cambridgeshire Buildings and structures in Peterborough Government buildings completed in 1933