The Civic Centre is a

municipal building Municipal Building may refer to the following places: United States Arkansas *Crossett Municipal Building, Crossett, AR *Municipal Building (El Dorado, Arkansas), El Dorado, AR *Texarkana, Arkansas, Municipal Building, Texarkana, AR California *V ...

located in the Cultural Quarter area within the city of

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, England. It comprises offices occupied by

Southampton City Council Southampton City Council is the local authority of the city of Southampton in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, England. Southampton has had a council since medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1997 the council ...

, the

SeaCity Museum The SeaCity Museum is a museum in Southampton, England, which opened on 10 April 2012 to mark the centenary of RMS ''Titanics departure from the city. It is housed within a part of the Grade II* listed civic centre building which previously h ...

, the

Guildhall A guildhall, also known as a guild hall or guild house, is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Europe, with many surviving today in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commo ...

, the

Southampton City Art Gallery The Southampton City Art Gallery is an art gallery in Southampton, southern England. It is located in the Civic Centre on Commercial Road. The gallery opened in 1939 with much of the initial funding from the gallery coming from two bequests, o ...

, and the city

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

. It was designed by the English architect

Ernest Berry Webber Ernest Berry Webber, (29 April 1896 – 19 December 1963)''England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1995'', p. 130. was an English architect, surveyor and town planner best known for his desig ...

in the

Classical style Classical architecture typically refers to architecture consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or more specifically, from ''De architectura'' (c. 10 AD) by the Roman architect Vitruvius. Va ...

in 1929 and constructed over a ten-year period. It was completed in 1939. Pevsner's ''Hampshire: South'' describes it as "the most ambitious civic building erected in the provinces in the interwar years". It was designated as 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, Hi ...

in 1980.

History

Early history

Since the 1870s, there has been debate in the council over the housing of the borough offices: departments were scattered around the town, making co-ordination and timely response fairly difficult, with the old Audit House opposite

Holyrood Church Holyrood Church (or Holy Rood Church) was one of the original five churches serving the old walled town of Southampton, England. Built in 1320, the church was destroyed by enemy bombing during the blitz in November 1940. In 1957 the shell of the ...

being totally inadequate. After extensive discussions about the proposed civic centre, Herbert Austin-Hall was appointed to assess a design competition for the new building. Following the competition,

was chosen to design the centre in the

with a budget of just under £400,000. The foundation stone was laid by the

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of List of English monarchs, English (later List of British monarchs, British) monarchs ...

on 1 July 1930. The first block to be opened, known as the south wing, contained the municipal offices. Some of the material dug out during the construction of the south wing was used to fill in an old reservoir on

Southampton Common Southampton Common is a large open space to the north of the city centre of Southampton, England. It is bounded by the districts of Shirley, Bassett, Highfield and Portswood. The area supports a large variety of wildlife, including one of t ...

as part of the process of converting it into a paddling pool. It was opened by the Duke of York, and his wife, the

Duchess of York Duchess of York is the principal courtesy title held by the wife of the Duke of York. Three of the eleven Dukes of York either did not marry or had already assumed the throne prior to marriage, while two of the Dukes married twice; therefore, th ...

, on 8 November 1932. The second block, known as the west wing, contained the law courts and the police headquarters. It also contained "Kimber's Tower", which is high and named after Sir Sidney Kimber, who had chaired the civic centre development committee. The block was opened by

Viscount Sankey A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case of French viscounts, the title is so ...

, the Lord Chancellor, on 3 November 1933. The tower contained a clock and nine bells, manufactured and installed by

Gillett & Johnston Gillett & Johnston was a clockmaker and bell foundry based in Croydon, England from 1844 until 1957. Between 1844 and 1950, over 14,000 tower clocks were made at the works. The company's most successful and prominent period of activity as a be ...

of Croydon. As well as chiming the Westminster quarters, and striking the hour on the largest bell (which weighed 68 cwt), the mechanism was designed to play the hymn tune ''

Our God, Our Help in Ages Past "Our God, Our Help in Ages Past" (or "O God, Our Help in Ages Past") is a hymn by Isaac Watts in 1708 that paraphrases Psalm 90, the 90th Psalm of the Book of Psalms. It originally consisted of nine stanzas; however, in present usage the fourth ...

''; this initially took place at noon, during the opening ceremony, and was then repeated every four hours thereafter. The third block, known as the east wing, contained

Southampton Guildhall Southampton Guildhall (branded the O2 Guildhall Southampton) is a multipurpose venue which forms the East Wing of the Civic Centre in Southampton, England. There are three venues in the Guildhall catering for various event formats: the Guildhal ...

. Work on the Guildhall (the east wing) began in March 1934. The Guildhall was intended as a social location for municipal functions. The Guildhall was opened by

Earl of Derby Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the en ...

on 13 February 1937. The fourth block, known as the north wing, contained

and Southampton Central Library. This began later than the others, and late alterations to the designs were required to incorporate a public

, that was not originally planned for. The expansion of this wing led to an increase in costs for the project, but the budget increase was approved by Parliament. This was opened in 1939.

Later history

During the

Southampton Blitz The Southampton Blitz was the heavy bombing of Southampton by the Nazi German ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II. Southampton was a strategic bombing target for the Luftwaffe as it contained both busy docks with associated business premises an ...

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...

, head of the ''Luftwaffe'', targeted the Civic Centre. He remarked that the building appeared like a "piece of cake" from the air, and that he was going to "cut himself a slice". During a raid in November 1940 twelve bombs were dropped, including a direct hit on the Civic Centre with a high explosive. The bomb (which hit around 14:30) penetrated to the lower floors of the art gallery killing 35 people, including 15 children, who were having an art lesson in the basement. Following the implementation of the

Courts Act 1971 The Courts Act 1971The citation of this act by this short title is authorised bsection 59(1)of this act. (c. 23) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the purpose of which was to reform and modernise the courts system of England and ...

, the former assizes courthouse in the west wing became the venue for hearings of the newly designated Southampton Crown Court. The crown court moved to the new Courts of Justice in London Road in 1986. At the end of the 1980s the fountain from the city's rose garden was moved to a position outside the entrance to the art gallery. The magistrates' courts moved to a larger complex in The Avenue in 1999, while the police moved out of the west wing to new facilities in Southern Road in 2011. In 2012 the

moved into the refurbished west wing complete with a modern pavilion extension. File:Southampton-CivicCentre-South.jpg, The south wing of the civic centre, containing mostly council offices File:Southampton-CivicCentre-West.jpg, The west wing, originally courts, now hosting

, and the monumental clock tower also holding many council offices File:Southampton-CivicCentre-East.jpg, The Guildhall (east wing), with colonnaded façade File:Southampton-CivicCentre-North.jpg, The north wing, hosting the art gallery and library

References

External links

Southampton City Council
{{Buildings in Southampton Art Deco architecture in England Buildings and structures in Southampton Grade II* listed buildings in Hampshire City and town halls in Hampshire Tourist attractions in Southampton Government buildings completed in 1932