The Guildhall on Broad Street in

South Molton South Molton is a town and civil parish in the North Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. The town is on the River Mole. In 2021 it had a population of 6225. South Molton is a market town trading mostly in sheep and cattle. There wa ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

was built between 1739 and 1743 Pevsner, N. & Cherry, B., The Buildings of England: Devon, 2004, p.749 and has been 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 ...

on the Register of

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

since 1951. Today the building is the

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

for South Molton. Beside it, beneath the Old Assembly Room, is the entrance to the

Pannier Market A pannier market is a form of indoor market especially popular in Devon in the West Country of the United Kingdom where they can be found in various cities and towns. They take their name from the panniers once used to carry goods to market on the ...

for the town.

History

Completed in two phases - 1743 and 1773 - much of the materials used in the building of the 1743 phase were bought following the demolition of

Stowe House Stowe House is a grade I listed building, listed country house in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is the home of the Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Stowe School and is owned by the Stowe House Preserv ...

in 1739, the former 17th-century mansion in Cornwall. The façade is built of

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone geological formation (formally named the Portland Stone Formation) dating to the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic that is quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The quarries are cut in beds of whi ...

with the Court Room supported by three arches extending out over the pavement. The building's two-storeys are

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

ed while the ground floor is rusticated. The upper storey stands over the pavement on three round-headed arches with keystones. The first floor has four

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s with Corinthian capitals and a pediment displaying the Royal Arms. Atop the building is a wooden

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

with a clock and

weather vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

erected in 1753.South Molton Guildhall - Heritage Gateway database
/ref> A central niche holds a bust of Hugh Squier (1625-1710) of Petty France,

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, a wealthy merchant best remembered as a generous benefactor to the town of

, the place of his birth, where in 1684 he founded a "free school". The bust was placed here in 1910 on the bi-centenary of his death with a floral wreath below it. Hugh Squier bust South Molton

The building of 1743 contains the Court Room with its fine 17th-century panelling and gilded moulding brought here following the demolition of

in 1739; the Constable's Room, the Mayor's Parlour and a fine early 18th-century staircase with twisted balusters and dado panelling. The Mayor’s Parlour includes 17th-century materials bought from Stowe House including plasterwork decorative picture frames, a decorated plaster ceiling, four doorcases with gilded pediments, a large overmantel painting in the style of

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of clas ...

of "

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

presented with the head of the

Calydonian Boar The Calydonian boar hunt is one of the great heroic adventures in Greek legend. It occurred in the generation prior to that of the Trojan War, and stands alongside the other great heroic adventure of that generation, the voyage of the Argonauts, ...

Meleager In Greek mythology, Meleager (, ) was a hero venerated in his '' temenos'' at Calydon in Aetolia. He was already famed as the host of the Calydonian boar hunt in the epic tradition that was reworked by Homer. Meleager is also mentioned as o ...

" and four classical capriccio scenes in small rectangular panels above the doors. The wooden dock in the Court Room was a portable type which could easily be jumped by prisoners. In 1773 a two-storey wing of stone rubble was constructed at the building's rear to hold a large dining room to provide meals and other services for visiting notables, with the kitchen and other offices below. This wing is now known as the Old Assembly Room and retains its plain 18th-century marble fireplace and paneling. The original early 18th-century jury benches survive while the Kings Arms were made by William Puckridge of London in 1743. Beneath this is the entrance to the town's

. The clock was first illuminated in 1903.

South Molton Museum

South Molton Museum is located on the Guildhall's first floor and is managed by South Molton Town Council and volunteers. The Museum displays the social history of South Molton and its development across the centuries. The Museums's collections reflect the life and times of the historic market town and the surrounding district including two Town Charters, granted by

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

and Charles II, local archaeological finds, agricultural implements, items of domestic interest, textiles, documents, maps, toys, etc. Apart from the permanent exhibition there is also a regularly changing programme of displays. Displayed are the Newsham Fire Engine used in the town from 1736 to 1886 until it was replaced by the Merryweather Fire Engine which was still in use until the early 1930s and which is also displayed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guildhall, South Molton

Buildings and structures in South Molton 1739 establishments in England Grade I listed buildings in Devon

Government buildings completed in 1739