Swyddfa'r Sir
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Swyddfa'r Sir ( en, County office) is a
Grade II listed 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 ...
former hotel, former main offices of
Ceredigion County Council Ceredigion County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Ceredigion) is the governing body for the county of Ceredigion, since 1996 one of the unitary authorities of Wales. The council's main offices are in Aberaeron. History The current council was created ...
and former
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 Cou ...
building located in
Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in ...
, well known as the outside of the police station in the
BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is ...
police television series '' Y Gwyll (Hinterland)''.


History

Originally constructed as a detached hotel on the town's seafront, it was opened in 1866 by the Hafod Hotel Company as the "Queen's Hotel". Designed by C. Forster Hayward of Hayward & Davis in the then popular
symmetrical Symmetry (from grc, συμμετρία "agreement in dimensions, due proportion, arrangement") in everyday language refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance. In mathematics, "symmetry" has a more precise definiti ...
Hôtel de Ville style, it was a smaller-scale version of his earlier 1863
Duke of Cornwall Hotel The Duke of Cornwall Hotel is a hotel in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. It opened in 1865 to cater for the increasing number of travellers who were coming to the region by rail and sea. The hotel survived the World War II Plymouth Bl ...
in Plymouth. The five storey premises – basement, ground floor plus three upper floors – created a total floor area of , providing 83 bedrooms. Built by George Lumley of Aberystwyth, the dressed stone exterior was capped by a
Mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...
of locally sourced
Welsh slate The existence of a slate industry in Wales is attested since the Roman period, when slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium, now Caernarfon. The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then expanded rapidly until the l ...
. Internally, the main entrance in a
gothic architecture Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It e ...
style led to a staircase, lit from above by a
stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
window in the mezzanine. The entrance area also included access to an early passenger lift, and the ballroom. Many of the main spaces included acanthus plaster ceilings, whilst other public areas were faced with
quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...
and ore panels. The ground floor toilets presently remain intact, equipped with the original
ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
sinks and
brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...
taps. Commandeered as the local
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
base and accommodation unit 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 ...
, Aberystwyth Council purchased the building post-war, and after conversion under County Architect G. R. Bruce, used the building from 1950 onwards. Due to the space available, during the council's period of occupation the building was additionally used for periods of time as: a
dentistry Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions o ...
; emergency evacuation hospital; a
police station A police station (sometimes called a "station house" or just "house") is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, al ...
; a
register office A register office or The General Register Office, much more commonly but erroneously registry office (except in official use), is a British government office where births, deaths, marriages, civil partnership, stillbirths and adoptions in England, ...
for weddings; an
Aberystwyth University , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...
lecture theatre; and the county
archives An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...
. The local circuit
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 Cou ...
later moved into the building, using the former ballroom as their main court. Ceredigion County Council moved to the newly built Canolfan Rheidol in mid-2009, with the court remaining until 2012. In December 2013 the council placed the unoccupied building up for sale at £1million, under chartered surveyors Cooke & Arkwright. After it did not sell, the council chose in June 2014 to put the building up for public
auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...
. The building was subsequently sold for £530,000 and was being converted by Hawkstone Ltd into a spa hotel that would also have 20 luxury flats and 19 studio apartments for rent. The developers expected to spend £5 million on the renovation.


''Y Gwyll'' (''Hinterland'')

From April 2013, the Welsh television production company
Fiction Factory Fiction Factory were a Scottish New wave music, new wave band from Perth, Scotland, Perth. Formed in 1982, they are best known for their single "(Feels Like) Heaven", which peaked at #6 on the UK Singles Chart. The song was written by Eddie Jo ...
started filming the police television series '' Y Gwyll (Hinterland)'', starring Richard Harrington. Filmed in both
Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
and
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
, the Welsh version was broadcast on S4C from October 2013, the bilingual on
BBC One Wales BBC One Wales is a Welsh television channel owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales. It is the Welsh variation of the UK-wide BBC One and is broadcast from Central Square in Cardiff. BBC One Wales broadcasts around three hours of non-news program ...
from January 2014 and
BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002
from March 2014. Shot over a 124-day period in and around Aberystwyth and the surrounding
Ceredigion Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...
region, the unoccupied building acted as both the series production offices, and the external face of Swyddfa'r Sir serves as the outside of the series' fictional police station. In light of the building's proposed sale, the production company requested access for the second series, which was to be filmed starting in September 2014. Only the exterior was used for filming of that second series.


References

{{reflist Hotel buildings completed in 1866 Buildings and structures in Aberystwyth Grade II listed buildings in Ceredigion Defunct hotels in Wales 1866 establishments in Wales