The Old Council Offices are in Trevenson Street,

Camborne Camborne (from Cornish language, Cornish ''Cambron'', "crooked hill") is a town in Cornwall, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 20,845. The northern edge of the parish includes a section of the South West Coast Path, Hell's Mouth, C ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, England. The building, which was used as the offices of Camborne-Redruth Urban District Council and is currently vacant, is 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 ...

History

Following significant population growth, largely associated with the

tin mining Tin mining began early in the Bronze Age, as bronze is a copper-tin alloy. Tin is a relatively rare element in the Earth's crust, with approximately 2 ppm (parts per million), compared to iron with 50,000 ppm. History Tin extraction and use ca ...

industry, a

local board A local board of health (or simply a ''local board'') was a local authority in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulat ...

was established in Camborne in 1873. The local board, which usually met in the parish vestry room in Church Street, was replaced by the Camborne Urban District Council in 1894. In the early 20th century, the council decided to commission dedicated council offices. The site they selected on Trevenson Street had, in part, been occupied by an old smithy. The new building was designed in the

Renaissance Revival style Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of ...

, built in

rubble masonry Rubble masonry or rubble stone is rough, uneven building stone not laid in regular courses. It may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or ashlar. Some medieval cathedral walls have outer shells of ashlar wi ...

with

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

dressings and was completed in 1903. The original design involved a broadly symmetrical main frontage of five bays facing onto Trevenson Street. The central bay, which was slightly projected forward, featured a doorway flanked by

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric) ...

columns of polished granite supporting an open

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 ...

; on the first floor, there was

cross-window A cross-window is a window whose lights are defined by a mullion and a transom, forming a cross.Curl, James Stevens (2006). ''Oxford Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture'', 2nd ed., OUP, Oxford and New York, p. 214. . The Late ...

surmounted by a moulded gable which contained an ''

oeil-de-boeuf An oculus (; ) is a circular opening in the center of a dome or in a wall. Originating in classical architecture, it is a feature of Byzantine and Neoclassical architecture. A horizontal oculus in the center of a dome is also called opaion (; ...

'' and was flanked by chimney stacks. The other bays were mainly fenestrated with cross windows. The first and fifth bays were also slightly projected forward and were also surmounted by moulded gables. The structure was extended to the right by three extra bays in a similar style to create a fire station in 1909. The building continued to serve as the council offices for the district council until the enlarged Camborne-Redruth Urban District Council was formed at Veor House in South Terrace in

Redruth Redruth ( , ) is a town and civil parishes in Cornwall, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. According to the 2011 census, the population of Redruth was 14,018 In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, ...

in 1934. The fire service continued to use the building as a fire station until a modern fire station was erected in College Street in 1963. The building in Trevenson Street was subsequently used as a religious centre in the 1980s, and as an office for the local

Conservative Association A Conservative Association (CA) is a local organisation composed of Conservative Party members in the United Kingdom. Every association varies in membership size but all correspond to a parliamentary constituency in England, Wales, Scotland and N ...

in the 2010s. An extensive programme of works to restore the exterior of the building was carried out with grant aid from the Camborne, Roskear and Tuckingmill Townscape Heritage Initiative in the early 21st century.

References

{{Reflist Government buildings completed in 1903 Camborne City and town halls in Cornwall Grade II listed buildings in Cornwall Grade II listed government buildings