The Guildhall (; ) is a municipal building in

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the county ...

, Wales. It is located in the

city centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

alongside the

Llwyn Isaf Llwyn Isaf ("lower grove") is a green space in the centre of Wrexham. It is surrounded on two sides by the city's guildhall and on another by the library. The space is most popular with students from the nearby Yale College. It is home to a b ...

open space. It is the headquarters of

Wrexham County Borough Council Wrexham County Borough Council () is the governing body for Wrexham County Borough, a principal area in north Wales, covering Wrexham and the surrounding area. History Elections take place every five years. The Labour Party held power on the ...

and is the administrative centre of

Wrexham County Borough Wrexham County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Wrecsam) is a county borough, with city status, in the north-east of Wales. It borders England to the east and south-east, Powys to the south-west, Denbighshire to the west and Flintshire to the no ...

, as it was of its predecessor

Wrexham Maelor Wrexham Maelor ( cy, Wrecsam Maelor) was a local government district with borough status, being one of six districts in the county of Clwyd, north-east Wales, from 1974 to 1996. History The borough was created on 1 April 1974, under the Local Go ...

Architecture and history

The Guildhall is located on the grounds where the mansion house once stood, first recorded to be located here by 1700. The house later became known as

, whose name survives as the name of the field in front of the Guildhall. The house was purchased by the council in the early 1950s, and subsequently demolished to construct the modern Guildhall. The Guildhall's construction faced some opposition over fears its construction would lead to the destruction of the Llwyn Isaf field. There were earlier proposals after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

to surface the area with

tarmac Tarmac may refer to: Engineered surfaces * Tarmacadam, a mainly historical tar-based material for macadamising road surfaces, patented in 1902 * Asphalt concrete, a macadamising material using asphalt instead of tar which has largely superseded ta ...

and construct a bus station on the site instead. The current building was commissioned to replace the Old Guildhall in what was Guildhall Square, between Henblas Street and Lambpit Street. The new building was built between 1959 and 1961 and was opened by Princess Alexandra on 25 May 1961. The building is in the Neo-Georgian style, to a design modelled on

Stockholm City Hall Stockholm City Hall ( sv, Stockholms stadshus, ''Stadshuset'' locally) is the seat of Stockholm Municipality in Stockholm, Sweden. It stands on the eastern tip of Kungsholmen island, next to Riddarfjärden's northern shore and facing the isla ...

by the architects Stephenson, Young & Partners. It has a red brick façade with three storeys of Georgian arched windows, a cantilevered gallery towards Llwyn Isaf, and a copper tower. The building cost £150,000 (equivalent to £ million in ). It is surrounded with flowerbeds that have been described as a "notable addition to the amenities of the town". The frontage was modified in 2018 as a security measure, blocking off the front stairs but maintaining two ramps either side of the front of the building. It was partly extended between 1980 and 1981.

Political activity

In October 2011, it held a meeting of the Welsh Grand Committee of the House of Commons, the first to be held in Wales for 10 years. As the centre of local government in Wrexham, protests and political rallies have been held outside the building, including a 2021 protest against the council's application for

city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, city status ...

and a 2022 rally for

Welsh independence Welsh independence ( cy, Annibyniaeth i Gymru) is the political movement advocating for Wales to become a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom. Conquest of Wales by Edward I, Wales was conquered during the 13th century by Edward ...

Other uses

Ceremonies for appointing mayors of Wrexham are held in the building, as are other ceremonies such as for awarding the title "Freeman of Wrexham". The Guildhall is used as a wedding venue, and is lit up to mark special occasions. For a few months in 2023, it housed Contact Wrexham, the council's in-person support office.

References

{{Government buildings in Wales Buildings and structures in Wrexham City and town halls in Wales Government buildings completed in 1961 1961 establishments in Wales Politics of Wrexham County halls in Wales