The Shire Hall ( cy, Neuadd y Sir Hwlffordd) is a municipal structure in the High Street,

Haverfordwest Haverfordwest (, ; cy, Hwlffordd ) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire with a population of 14,596 in 2011. It is also a community, being the second most populous community in the county, ...

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

, Wales. The shire hall, which was the meeting place of the old

Pembrokeshire County Council Pembrokeshire County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Penfro) is the governing body for Pembrokeshire, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. Political control The first election to the council was held in 1995, initially operating as a shadow authorit ...

, 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 building was commissioned by the justices as accommodation for the regular

assizes The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...

: the site they selected was occupied by a

Quaker meeting House A Friends meeting house is a meeting house of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), where meeting for worship is usually held. Typically, Friends meeting houses are simple and resemble local residential buildings. Steeples, spires, and ...

. It was designed by William Owen 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 brick with a

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

finish and was completed in 1837. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto the High Street; the central section of three bays, which slightly projected forward, was fenestrated with round headed windows on the ground floor and square headed sash windows on the first floor. The windows in the central section were flanked by full height

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite or ...

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

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 ...

with a

modillion A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a cornice which it helps to support. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally translated as small teeth). All ...

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 ...

above. The end bays featured round headed doors with

fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window, often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, and is sometimes hinged to a transom. Th ...

s on the ground floor, sash windows with consoled pediments on the first floor and a modillioned cornice above. Internally, the principal room was the courtroom. In the early 1840s, the building was the venue for the trial of one of the leaders of the

Rebecca Riots The Rebecca Riots (Welsh: ''Terfysgoedd Beca'') took place between 1839 and 1843 in West and Mid Wales. They were a series of protests undertaken by local farmers and agricultural workers in response to levels of taxation. The rioters, often me ...

who had been involved in an incident at the Colby Scott Turnpike Gate. Following the implementation of the

Local Government Act 1888 Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

, which established county councils in every county, it became necessary to establish a permanent meeting place for the newly formed

: internal alterations were carried out to a design by Arthur Thomas to create a council chamber 1901. The shire hall was regularly used for concerts and other public performances; the Haverfordwest Male Voice Choir performed their first concert in the building in 1896. It was also the venue, in March 1950, for the trial of the

Rosemarket Rosemarket is a village, parish and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales, north of Milford Haven. Name The name does not refer to flowers but to the hundred of Roose, the former Welsh cantref of Rhos. History The village was a marcher borough fou ...

farmer, Albert Jenkins, who was found guilty of murdering his landlord, William Llewellyn, and subsequently executed by hanging. The shire hall continued to host meetings of the county council until it was abolished in 1974 and continued to host hearings in the courthouse until it closed in June 2003. The new

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 ...

, decided the building was surplus to requirements, conducted a competition for the disposal of the building and appointed

Wetherspoons J D Wetherspoon plc (branded variously as Wetherspoon or Wetherspoons, and colloquially known as Spoons) is a pub company operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim Martin and is based in Watford. It op ...

as its preferred bidder: the decision led to protests led by the Haverfordwest Civic Society who did not want to see the building converted into a

public house 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 ...

. Wetherspoons subsequently withdrew their interest in the shire hall and converted a property in Quay Street instead. A developer, Red Dragon Developments, acquired a 999-year lease on the shire hall, in February 2010, and carried out an extensive programme of refurbishment works. The works included the installation of a lift, the re-roofing of the building and the re-facing of the front elevation with lime plaster and red paint.

References

{{Government buildings in Wales Government buildings completed in 1837 H Haverfordwest Grade II* listed buildings in Pembrokeshire

History

See also

References