The Old Town Hall is a historic building in the High Street in

Crediton Crediton is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England. It stands on the A377 road, A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, Devon, Tiverton, north w ...

, a town in

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 ...

in England. The structure, which was previously used as public events venue and currently accommodates the Crediton Museum, 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

The building was commissioned by the Crediton Literary Society and Mechanic's Institute to serve as their public rooms. The society had around 150 members and was established in 1832. The building was designed by Richard Davie Gould of

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

in the

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

, built in brick with a

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 ...

finish and was completed in 1852. Near the end of the century, the building was reconstructed, but the original facade was retained. It then served as a public events venue known as the "Town Hall". It became a popular venue for theatrical performances: a comic play known as "A Bogus Bandit" by Leopold Montague was performed there in February 1896, and plays continued to be performed there until the mid-20th century. The building was not used as a town hall in the municipal sense: the local

urban district An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...

council was based at the council offices in Parliament Street. The

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acquired the building in 1951 but the Legion then sold it on for retail use in 1962. The ground floor was altered and it was subsequently occupied by a furniture and bedding shop, known as "Townsends". The building was

grade II listed 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, H ...

in 1972. In the early 21st century, the building acquired by the Crediton Area Development Trust, for use as a community events venue. A major programme of refurbishment works, funded by the

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, was completed at a cost of £478,500 in 2004. While the first floor was made available for community events, the Crediton Area History and Museum Society, which was founded in 1984, established the Crediton Museum on the ground floor in April 2010. Exhibits include a detailed drawing as well as a model of the High Street immediately before a major fire which took place in 1743.

Architecture

The two-storey building is constructed of brick on a stone plinth, with stone dressings and a slate roof. The front and the ground floor of the right side is

ed. The design involves a symmetrical main frontage of three bays. There are three round-headed openings on the ground floor with a doorway in the left-hand opening and windows in the other two openings. The first floor is fenestrated with

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass. History ...

s with

balustrades A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its c ...

in front and pediments above. The main frontage is surmounted by a large

modillion A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a Cornice (architecture), cornice which helps to support them. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally transl ...

ed pediment containing a

roundel A roundel is a circular disc used as a symbol. The term is used in heraldry, but also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of differ ...

with a projecting

bracket A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. They come in four main pairs of shapes, as given in the box to the right, which also gives their n ...

in the tympanum. Below the pediment is an inscription: "ANNO QUINTO VICTORIAE REGINAE MDCCCLII". Inside, there is an open well staircase, and the first floor room has late Victorian plasterwork.

References

{{reflist City and town halls in Devon Crediton Government buildings completed in 1852 Grade II listed buildings in Devon