The Town Hall, Christchurch is a municipal building in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, England. The building, which incorporates a room known as the mayor's parlour on the first floor, and is a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

. It is currently the base of Christchurch Town Council.

History

The first town hall was a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

timber structure built in Millhams Street. The current town hall, which was designed in the

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

, was originally built in the Market Square in 1746 but, in order to improve traffic flow, it was dismantled and rebuilt in its current position in the former Blanchard's Yard in the High Street in 1859. The move to Blanchard's Yard was funded by

public subscription Subscription refers to the process of investors signing up and committing to invest in a financial instrument, before the actual closing of the purchase. The term comes from the Latin word ''subscribere''. Historical Praenumeration An early form ...

and financially supported by the local member of parliament, Admiral John Edward Walcott. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with six bays facing onto the High Street; the central section of two bays, which slightly projected forward, featured arcading on the ground floor to allow markets to be held, and a stone balcony and Venetian window on the first floor flanked by full-height

Doric order The Doric order is one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of t ...

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s supporting an open

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

. There was a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

with a

weather vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

at roof level. Internally, the principal room was the mayor's parlour on the first floor. There was a lock-up under the stairs to accommodate criminals. The borough council, which met in the town hall, was reformed under the

Municipal Corporations Act 1883 A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...

. A technical school, which had been built to the north of the town hall in 1902, was later acquired by Christchurch Borough Council and converted for municipal use to accommodate a new council chamber. The town hall continued to serve as the headquarters of Christchurch Borough Council and became the local seat of government of the enlarged

local government district Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

of Christchurch, which was formed by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Christchurch with part of

Ringwood and Fordingbridge Rural District Ringwood and Fordingbridge was a rural district in Hampshire from 1932 to 1974. It was formed by the merger of part of the disbanded Christchurch Rural District along with Ringwood Rural District and Fordingbridge Rural District. Its main ur ...

, in 1974. However, in the light of the new district council's increased responsibilities, civic leaders decided to move to new civic offices in Bridge Street in 1978. Some restoration work including replacement of the cupola was carried out in autumn 1988. The old technical school, which had become surplus to requirements, was demolished to make way for Saxon Square in 1992. Proposals to glaze the ground floor of the town hall were recommended to the local council in August 2015. After

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Dorset, England. It was created in 2019 and covers much of the area of the South Ea ...

(BCP), was created as the

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

for the area in April 2019, Christchurch Town Council, the first tier of local government, was created at the same time as the unitary authority, with its offices in the town hall. An extensive programme of restoration works, including replacement of the lead pipework and further work on the cupola, began in January 2020.

References

{{Authority control 1745 establishments in England Grade II listed buildings in Dorset Government buildings completed in 1745 Buildings and structures in Christchurch, Dorset C

History

See also

References