Weston-super-Mare Town Hall is a municipal building in Walliscote Grove Road in
Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...
,
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
, England. The building, which is the headquarters of
North Somerset Council
North Somerset Council is the local authority of North Somerset, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services including Cou ...
, 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
After town commissioners were appointed in 1842, one of their early actions was to identify a suitable meeting place: initially they met in the old Plough Hotel in the High Street and then, from 1848, in a Wesleyan Chapel. Finding this arrangement inadequate, they decided to procure a bespoke town hall: the site they selected was in a rapidly developing part of the town close to the proposed new
Weston-super-Mare railway station
Weston-super-Mare railway station serves the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset, England. It is situated on a loop off the main Bristol to Taunton Line, from the zero point at via Box.
The station is operated by Great West ...
. However, after the town clerk declared a personal interest in the land, and concerns were raised about the probity of the transaction, the local rector, The Venerable Henry Law, acquired the land himself and gifted it to the town commissioners.
The new building was designed by James Wilson in the
Italianate style
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...
, built at a cost of £3,000 and completed in 1856. The original design involved a symmetrical main frontage with three bays facing onto Walliscote Grove Road (the left hand section of the current structure); the central bay featured an arched doorway with an elaborate carved pediment with twin round headed windows on the first floor and an oculus above.
The town hall was extended to the north along Walliscote Grove Road to a design by
Hans Price
Hans Price (1835–1912) was the architect responsible for much of the development of Weston-super-Mare, in North Somerset, England, during the Victorian era.
Life
Hans Fowler Price was born in St James's parish, Bristol. He studied under Thomas ...
in 1897: the central section, which projected forward, involved an arcaded
porte-cochère
A porte-cochère (; , late 17th century, literally 'coach gateway'; plural: porte-cochères, portes-cochères) is a doorway to a building or courtyard, "often very grand," through which vehicles can enter from the street or a covered porch-like ...
with four round headed windows on the first floor, flanked by Corinthian order columns, and a pediment above. It also involved a tall clock tower, set back from the front of the building, with bells cast by Llewellyns of
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
. A right hand section, which was built in a style which was sympathetic to the original left hand section and which extended along Oxford Street, was completed in 1927. Internally, the principal room in the new extension was the new council chamber.
The building continued to serve as the headquarters of Weston-super-Mare Municipal Borough Council and remained the local seat of government after the enlarged Woodspring District Council was formed in 1974. A large modern red-brick extension was built behind the town hall for use by Woodspring District Council in the 1970s. The town hall then became the home of 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 ...
for the area,
North Somerset Council
North Somerset Council is the local authority of North Somerset, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services including Cou ...
, in 1996.
The 1970s extension was extensively refurbished and enhanced by