The Rolls Hall, Whitecross Street, Monmouth, Monmouthshire is a Victorian hall, now public library, donated to the town in celebration of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

's Golden Jubilee by

John Rolls John Rolls (27 February 1735 – 8 September 1801) was a native of Bermondsey, Southwark, London, Surrey, England. A member of the Rolls family of The Grange in Bermondsey and The Hendre, Monmouthshire, he married heiress Sarah Coysh. T ...

, the future Lord Llangattock. It is a Grade II listed building as of 8 October 2005, and is one of 24 buildings on the

Monmouth Heritage Trail The Monmouth Heritage Trail is a walking route which connects various sights in the town of Monmouth, Wales. History In 2009 Monmouth Civic Society identified 24 historic and interesting buildings in the town, and organised the production and fix ...

.Monmouth Civic Society, ''Monmouth Heritage Blue Plaque Trail'', n.d., p.14

History

The hall was constructed in 1887-8 by F. A. Powell in a Jacobean style, at a cost of £8,000.Keith Kissack, ''Monmouth and its Buildings'', Logaston Press, 2003, , p.64 The materials are

Old Red Sandstone The Old Red Sandstone is an assemblage of rocks in the North Atlantic region largely of Devonian age. It extends in the east across Great Britain, Ireland and Norway, and in the west along the northeastern seaboard of North America. It also exte ...

and

Forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

ashlar.John Newman, ''The Buildings of Wales: Gwent/Monmouthshire'', Penguin Books, 2000, , p.408 The Rolls family of

The Hendre The Hendre, ( cy, Yr Hendre a farmer's winter residence; literally meaning old home) in Rockfield, is the only full-scale Victorian country house in the county of Monmouthshire, Wales. The ancestral estate of the Rolls family, it was the child ...

were substantial Monmouthshire landowners and benefactors to the town, and attended the building's opening on 24 May 1888. The building was designed by F.A.Powell who was the eldest son of the

Mayor of Monmouth The Mayor of Monmouth is an elected position given to a town councillor in Monmouth in Wales. The position dates back about 750 years. History The position of Mayor in Monmouth was established in the thirteenth century by the people who were ...

, Mr Champney Powell. The hall was given to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee in 1888. A new organ was installed in 1889 which had novel additions to its design by William Sweetland, and the following year several paintings were installed. In September 1890, a successful Fine Art and Industrial Exhibition was held in the building; the catalogue can be seen in the

Monmouth Museum The Monmouth Museum, alternatively known as The Nelson Museum and Local History Centre, is a museum in Monmouth, Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It features a collection of artifacts associated with Admiral Horatio Nelson. The museum is loca ...

. Between 1897 and 1903, the Hall was used for a number of plays staged by the actor, director and impresario

Ben Greet Sir Philip Barling Greet (24 September 1857 – 17 May 1936), known professionally as Ben Greet, was a Shakespearean actor, director, impresario and actor-manager. Early life The younger son of Captain William Greet RN and his wife, Sarah Ba ...

In 1963 the organ was inspected by an organ tuner who declared it to be useless. Water had affected the sounding boards and the instrument was falling to pieces. This was reported in the local paper but the organ remained in place for at least three years when the hall was used as a

dance hall Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for dancing. From the earliest years of the twentieth century until the early 1960s, the dance hall was the popular forerunner of the discothèque or nightclub. The majority of towns and cities in ...

, and later as a

night club A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

. In 1992, the building became used for the town's public library, which had previously been located at the Shire Hall. The Library was refurbished in 2010 with a £210,000 grant from the Museums Archives and Libraries: Wales, which matched funding from the

County Council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irel ...

. The library still honours its original benefactors as large full length portraits of

John Rolls, 1st Baron Llangattock John Allan Rolls, 1st Baron Llangattock, (19 February 1837 – 24 September 1912) was a Victorian landowner, Conservative Party politician, socialite, local benefactor and agriculturalist. He lived at The Hendre, a Victorian country house ...

, his wife Lady Llangattock and his son John Rolls, 2nd Baron Llangattock are the main decoration on one wall. However the floor mosaic, that showed the Rolls and Monmouth symbols linked together, is now exhibited on another wall. In 2012 the library installed

QRpedia QRpedia is a mobile Web-based system which uses QR codes to deliver Wikipedia articles to users, in their preferred language. A typical use is on museum labels, linking to Wikipedia articles about the exhibited object. QR codes can easily be gene ...

codes to each bookcase as their part of the "

MonmouthpediA Monmouthpedia (styled as ) is a collaborative project linking the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia and the town of Monmouth in South Wales. The project uses QRpedia QR codes to provide multilingual smart phone access to Wikipedia articles coveri ...

" project which provides visitors with information about all aspects of the town.Wikipedia project to cover life in Monmouth
BBC News, 30 December 2011 The staff also installed these codes in dozens of books that linked to the book's author.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rolls Hall, Monmouth History of Monmouthshire Buildings and structures in Monmouth, Wales Grade II listed buildings in Monmouthshire Tourist attractions in Monmouthshire Organisations using QRpedia Cultural infrastructure completed in 1888