Cheltenham Town Hall is an early-20th century
assembly rooms
In Great Britain and Ireland, especially in the 18th century Britain, 18th and 19th centuries, assembly rooms were gathering places for members of the higher social classes open to members of both sexes. At that time most entertaining was done ...
in
Cheltenham,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Unlike most
town halls, it is a public venue and not the seat of the borough council, which is housed in the nearby
Municipal Offices. It 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
In the 19th century the old Assembly Rooms in the High Street had been the main public venue for concerts in Cheltenham.
The old Assembly Rooms had been demolished to make way for a bank at the turn of the century.
[
The foundation stone for the building was laid by Alderman Colonel Richard Rogers on 1 October 1902.][ The building was designed by the ]Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
architect Frederick William Waller in the Classical style
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 works of the Roman architect V ...
and built by the Cheltenham firm of Collins and Godfrey.[ The total cost of the building, including internal decoration, fixtures and fittings, was around £45,000.][
The design for the main frontage involved a large projecting 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 ...
(i.e. gateway for horse-drawn coaches) at ground floor level.[ It also involved a three-bay frontage with Corinthian order columns between each of the three windows at first floor level with a large pediment above containing an oculus.][ Inside the building, the main hall, with ]Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to:
*Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible:
**First Epistle to the Corinthians
**Second Epistle to the Corinthians
**Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox)
*A demonym relating to ...
columns and coved ceiling, measures and is high, with a capacity of 1,000 people.[ The Pillar Room serves as a secondary performance area, with a capacity of 300 people; to the left of the entrance hall, the Central Spa dispenses the waters from all the pump rooms of Cheltenham Spa.][ The octagonal table and urns, which are of Doulton ware, are still in use.][
In 1916, two plaster-cast statues of ]King Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...
and King George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...
in coronation robes, made by Messrs R. L. Boulton & Sons of Cheltenham, were placed in alcoves on either side of the main stage.[ One was a gift from Mr. T. E. Whittaker and the other a gift from Messrs. Boulton themselves.][ The town hall organ was also a gift, from Mr and Mrs Edward J. Burrow; it was made by ]Rushworth and Dreaper
Rushworth and Dreaper was a firm of organ builders, and later general instrument suppliers associated with Paul McCartney based in Liverpool. The manufacturer was founded in 1828 by William Rushworth, operating until 2002. Upon its liquidation, ...
of Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
and was installed in 1928.[
When resident with the Royal Corps of Signals at the Moray House Hotel (now the Hotel du Vin) from 1943, Sir Norman Wisdom performed at the hall in Army charity concerts, after one of which actor Rex Harrison came backstage and urged him to turn professional.
One of the episodes from series 35 of the ]BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
was filmed at the town hall in 2013. It is now used for concerts, banquets, meetings, dances, balls, exhibitions, conferences and as one of the major homes of
. Plans were announced to refurbish the building in March 2017 but they were the put on hold pending further consideration of the different options in July 2018.