Pontypool Town Hall ( cy, Neuadd y Dref Pont-y-pŵl) is a municipal structure in Hanbury Road,

Pontypool Pontypool ( cy, Pont-y-pŵl ) is a town and the administrative centre of the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales. It has a population of 28,970. Location It is situated on the Afon Lwyd ri ...

, Wales. The town hall, which forms the original part of a civic centre that now serves as the headquarters of Torfaen County Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building.

History

Until the opening of the town hall, Pontypool did not have a hall for the transaction of public business, a fact which was considered by the local newspaper to be "anomalous". The town hall was a gift to the town from the Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire, Capel Hanbury Leigh, whose seat was at

Pontypool Park Pontypool Park ( cy, Parc Pont-y-pŵl) is a park in Pontypool, Torfaen, Wales. The park was formerly the grounds of Pontypool House and was laid out in the closing years of the 17th century for John Hanbury, an ironmaster, who is closely associ ...

, to celebrate the birth of his son. The foundation stone for the building was laid by Mrs Hanbury Leigh on 15 May 1854. It was designed by Bidlake and Lovett of Wolverhampton in the Italianate style, was 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 William Prosser of

Abergavenny Abergavenny (; cy, Y Fenni , archaically ''Abergafenni'' meaning "mouth of the River Gavenny") is a market town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a ''Gateway to Wales''; it is approximately from the border wi ...

and was officially opened on 5 January 1856. The official opening was celebrated with an evening concert which was attended by Mr and Mrs Hanbury Leigh. The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Hanbury Road with the left hand end bay slightly projected forward and topped with a small clock tower and the right hand end bay slightly set back; the two end bays originally had openings on the ground floor. The central bay featured a doorway with an arched surround flanked by Tuscan order pilasters supporting an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

and a canopy; above the ground floor, which was rusticated, was a band inscribed with the name of the benefactor and the date of opening. There were rounded headed

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned window (architecture), paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double gla ...

s in the other bays on the ground floor and on the first floor, except for the left hand end bay on the first floor which contained a niche. At roof level there was a frieze with triglyphs and a parapet bearing the Hanbury coat of arms. In the mid-19th century the town was managed by magistrates but a local board of health was established in 1871 and, following population growth largely associated with the tinplate industry, the area became an urban district with the town hall as its headquarters in 1895. The town hall was also the meeting place for hearings of the county court. The town hall continued to serve as the headquarters of the urban district for much of the 20th century and remained the local seat of government after the enlarged Torfaen County Borough Council was formed in 1974. A programme of works was undertaken to a design by the David Preece Partnership, to extend the building to the south west thereby creating a modern civic centre, in 1991. The works involved the demolition of an old police station and an old town gaol and the construction of a modern six-storey office block.

References

{{reflist Government buildings completed in 1856 City and town halls in Wales Pontypool Grade II listed buildings in Torfaen