Fenland Hall is a municipal building on County Road,

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

, England, which serves as the headquarters of Fenland District Council. The building was originally called "County Hall", and was built in 1908–1909 by

Isle of Ely County Council Isle of Ely County Council was the county council of the Isle of Ely in the east of England. It came into its powers on 1 April 1889 and was abolished on 1 April 1965. The county council was based at County Hall, March. It was amalgamated with C ...

to be its meeting place and offices.

History

Isle of Ely County Council was created in 1889 under 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 ...

. The Isle of Ely

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 ...

, which preceded the county council, had met alternately at Ely and

Wisbech Wisbech ( ) is a market town, inland port and civil parish in the Fenland District, Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bordering Norfolk and ...

. The county council decided instead to hold its meetings in March, being a more central location within the Isle, and with better railway connections. For the first twenty years after its creation the county council met at the Temperance Hall in March, an assembly hall and hotel which had been built in 1885 opposite March railway station (and which was later renamed the Station Hotel). After nearly twenty years of meeting at the Temperance Hall, in which time the council's staff were based in various rented offices, the council decided to build itself a purpose-built headquarters. The council acquired a site west of Station Road, close to March station. The building was designed by Herbert John Green and the main building contractor was Reuben Shanks of Chatteris. The cost of the building was £4,295. The building was formally opened on 28 July 1909 by Joseph Martin, the chairman of the council, and called "County Hall". As originally constructed, the building included a council chamber, two large committee rooms, strong rooms and offices for the council's staff, and a caretaker's flat. The road leading from Station Road to the new building was later named County Road. The building was subsequently extended in 1928 and again in 1937. Each extension took the form of a linked block in a similar style to the 1909 original at the eastern end of the site. Isle of Ely County Council was abolished in 1965, merging with neighbouring Cambridgeshire County Council to become a short-lived authority called

Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely County Council Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely County Council was the county council of Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely in the east of England. It came into its powers on 1 April 1965 and was abolished on 1 April 1974. The county council was based at Shire Hall, C ...

. Local government was reformed again in 1974 under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

. The town of March became part of the Fenland district of an enlarged Cambridgeshire. The new Fenland District Council took over the County Hall buildings in March, renaming the building Fenland Hall. As at 2022, Fenland Hall continues to serve as the main offices and meeting place of Fenland District Council.

References

{{reflist, 30em Fenland Hall City and town halls in Cambridgeshire Government buildings completed in 1909