County Hall () is a former municipal facility at Castle Ditch in

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a List of place names with royal patronage in the United Kingdom, royal town, Community (Wales), community and port in Gwynedd, Wales. It has a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the easter ...

, Wales. The County Hall, which was the headquarters of Caernarfonshire County Council from 1889 to 1974, is a Grade I

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 ...

History

The current structure was commissioned to replace an earlier courthouse which had its origins in the

justiciar Justiciar is the English form of the medieval Latin term or (meaning "judge" or "justice"). The Chief Justiciar was the king's chief minister, roughly equivalent to a modern Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The Justiciar of Ireland was ...

's courthouse which was built in the south west corner of the town in around 1296. The remains of this earlier structure, which was located within the town walls, were preserved within the foundations of the new building. The new building, which was designed by John Thomas, the county surveyor, in the

Neo-classical style Neoclassical architecture, sometimes referred to as Classical Revival architecture, is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy, France and Germany. It became one of the most promin ...

opened as Caernarvonshire Shire Hall in 1863. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of seven bays facing onto Castle Ditch; the central section of three bays featured a

tetrastyle A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cultu ...

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

with

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 ...

columns supporting a

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

inscribed "Victoria Reg County Hall AD MDCCCLXIII" ("Queen Victoria County Hall AD 1863") with

triglyph Triglyph is an architectural term for the vertically channeled tablets of the Doric frieze in classical architecture, so called because of the angular channels in them. The rectangular recessed spaces between the triglyphs on a Doric frieze are ...

s and a

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 ...

. A figure of blind justice, carved by Robert Evans, was erected at the apex of the pediment. Internally, the principal room was the full-height council chamber which has a

scallop Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve molluscs in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related famili ...

-shaped plaster ceiling at one end of the room. The building was originally used as a facility for dispensing justice, but following the implementation of the

Local Government Act 1888 The Local Government Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c. 41) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales. It came into effect ...

, which established county councils in every county, it also became the meeting place of Caernarvonshire County Council. A memorial to the County of Carnarvon Boer War Volunteers who had died in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

was unveiled in the building on 2 July 1904. Following its closure in 1921, the former

County Gaol A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

, located to the north of the County Hall was converted to create additional facilities for the county council. The former

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...

, chaired the

quarter sessions The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts that were traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388; they were extended to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535. Scotland establ ...

in the building from 1929 to 1938. After the county council was abolished in 1974, the old County Hall then became the home of the Crown Court and Magistrates' Court. The council chamber was converted to serve as the Crown Court at that time. After the courts moved to new Caernarfon Criminal Justice Centre on Llanberis Road in 2009, the old County Hall was acquired by a developer, Aaron Hill, who converted part of the building into an eight bedroom home, before putting it up for sale in September 2016. It was acquired by a musician, Moira Hartley, in February 2018; after securing planning consent in October 2018, she carried out an extensive restoration to the building and converted it into a concert hall and restaurant. The Crown Court became the concert hall while the magistrates' court and the witness room were both converted into dining facilities. Works of art in County Hall included a bust of

Thomas Bulkeley, 7th Viscount Bulkeley Thomas James Bulkeley, 7th Viscount Bulkeley, later Warren-Bulkeley, (12 December 1752 – 3 June 1822) was a Welsh people, Welsh aristocrat and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1784 when he was raised to the peerage. Ea ...

and a

bas relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

Edward Douglas-Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn Edward Gordon Douglas-Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn (born Douglas; 20 June 1800 – 31 March 1886), was a British Conservative Party politician, landowner in Wales, and slave owner in Jamaica. He played a major part in the development of the Wels ...

, both of whom served as Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire.

References

{{Government buildings in Wales County halls in Wales Grade I listed buildings in Gwynedd Government buildings completed in 1863 Caernarfon