The Old Town Hall is a historic building in the High Street in
Falmouth, Cornwall
Falmouth ( ; ) is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.
Falmouth was founded in 1613 by the Killigrew family on a site near the existing Pendennis Castle. It developed as a po ...
, a town in England. The structure, which accommodates a small art gallery, 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 as a
Congregational
Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational ...
chapel probably around 1700.
It was designed in the
Queen Anne style, built in brick, and was completed in around 1710. It is one of the oldest surviving non-conformist chapels in Cornwall, with only the Marazion Quaker Meeting House being older, and the one in Kea being of similar date.
In 1715, a new, larger chapel was constructed, and the old building was acquired by the
lord of the manor
Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...
, Martin Lister Killigrew of
Arwenack Manor.
He presented it to the people of Falmouth, together with two
ceremonial mace
A ceremonial mace is a highly ornamented staff of metal or wood, carried before a Head of state, sovereign or other high officials in civic ceremonies by a mace-bearer, intended to represent the official's authority. The mace, as used today, der ...
s, in 1725, and the local corporation then used it as a
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 ...
. It was also used as a courthouse, accommodating both the assizes and the County Court. Following the implementation of the
Municipal Corporations Act 1835
The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 ( 5 & 6 Will. 4. c. 76), sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales. The le ...
, the mayor,
aldermen
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking membe ...
and
burgesses of Falmouth were replaced by an elected council which met in the town hall to discuss issues such as the response to the
cholera pandemic of September 1849.
The responses included whitewashing the town hall and altering the diet of patients being treated there.
In 1866 the corporation moved to larger premises on The Moor, now the
Palacio Lounge, and the old town hall was sold to the
Odd Fellows
Odd Fellows (or Oddfellows when referencing the Grand United Order of Oddfellows or some British-based fraternities; also Odd Fellowship or Oddfellowship) is an international fraternity consisting of lodges first documented in 1730 in 18th-cen ...
. However, it continued to be used for judicial purposes: in 1884, it was the venue for the initial hearing, before magistrates, of the case of ''
R v Dudley and Stephens
''R v Dudley and Stephens'' (188414 QBD 273, DCis a leading English criminal case which established a precedent throughout the common law world that necessity is not a defence to a charge of murder. The case concerned survival cannibalism foll ...
'', the trial of two sailors accused of
cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well document ...
, having eaten the cabin boy when marooned at sea on the
yacht
A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...
, the ''Mignonette''. The magistrates at Falmouth referred the matter to the assizes at
Exeter
Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol.
In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...
and the sailors were eventually sentenced to 6 months in prison.
In 1948, the Odd Fellows sold the hall, which was converted into an antiques shop in 1986, and which, since June 2015, has served as an art gallery.
Significant works of art in the gallery include a painting by the local artist,
John Opie
John Opie (16 May 1761 – 9 April 1807) was a British painter whose subjects included many prominent men and women of his day, members of the British royal family and others who were notable in the artistic and literary professions.
Early ca ...
, depicting a beggar boy.
Architecture
The building is constructed of painted brick, with the
quoin
Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th-century encyclopedia, ...
s and the
Gibbs surround
A Gibbs surround or Gibbs Surround is a type of architectural frame surrounding a door, window or niche in the tradition of classical architecture otherwise known as a rusticated doorway or window. The formula is not fixed, but several of th ...
s finished in a
rusticated 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 ...
style. The design involves a symmetrical main frontage of three bays facing the High Street. The central bay features a short flight of steps leading up to a doorway with a
fanlight
A fanlight is a form of lunette window (transom window), often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing (window), glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open Hand fan, fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, ...
and a Gibbs surround. The outer bays are fenestrated by round headed windows, also with Gibbs surrounds. At roof level, there is a
cornice
In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...
and a
parapet
A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...
. Internally, the building is two rooms deep. Inside, there is a decorative plaster ceiling, 18th-century
dado panelling, and a staircase with reused 18th century elements. 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 1968.
See also
*
References
External links
*{{official website, https://www.oldtownhallgallery.com/
City and town halls in Cornwall
Buildings and structures in Falmouth, Cornwall
Churches completed in 1710
Government buildings completed in 1710
Grade II* listed buildings in Cornwall
Grade II* listed government buildings
Grade II* listed churches in Cornwall