The Old Town Hall is a former events venue in Bridge Street,

Loddon, Norfolk Loddon is a town and civil parish in Norfolk, England, about south-east of Norwich. The town lies on the River Chet, a tributary of the River Yare within The Broads. The name "Loddon" is thought to mean ''muddy river'' in Celtic in reference t ...

, England. The structure, which is currently occupied for commercial use, 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

In the mid-19th century, a group of local businessmen decided to form a company to raise funds for the erection of an events venue in the town: the site they selected on the west side of Bridge Street was owned by an individual, James Copeman, from whom they bought it for £30. The building was designed in the

Jacobean style The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James VI and I, with whose reign (1603–1625 in England) it is associated. At the start of James's reign, the ...

, built in red brick and was completed in time for the first court hearing on 10 August 1870. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with three bays facing onto Bridge Street with the outer bays projected forward as

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings; * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

s; the central bay featured a round headed doorway flanked by banded

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 supporting a

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 ...

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...

while the outer bays contained

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...

ed and transomed

bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. A bow window is a form of bay with a curve rather than angular facets; an oriel window is a bay window that does not touch the g ...

s with ornate

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 ...

s above. All three bays were surmounted by

Dutch gable A Dutch gable or Flemish gable is a gable whose sides have a shape made up of one or more curves and which has a pediment at the top. The gable may be an entirely decorative projection above a flat section of roof line, or may be the terminat ...

s containing oculli and, in the case of the outer bays, decorated with

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

s. Internally, the principal room was the main assembly hall.

Petty session Courts of petty session, established from around the 1730s, were local courts consisting of magistrates, held for each petty sessional division (usually based on the county divisions known as hundreds) in England, Wales, and Ireland. The session ...

hearings were held in the building once a fortnight in the 19th century. The building was used for various public events including political meetings and, in March 1923, the first-class cricketer and local member of parliament, Michael Falcon, gave a speech there: Falcon lost his seat at the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

nine months later. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the building served as a civil defence report centre, as a recruiting post for ARP staff and as a first aid post; it also acted as an administration centre for children evacuated from London to families in the Norfolk area. After the war the use of the building as an events venue declined and it was sold for commercial use: the company that had originally developed it was wound up in the 1960s. Following local government re-organisation in 1974, the building also became the offices of the local parish council. By the early 21st century part of the building was in use as a

tourist information centre A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center or tourist information centre is a physical location that provides information to tourists. Types A visitor center may be a Civic ce ...

, but it also accommodated a local hairdressing salon. A programme of works to convert three of its rooms into additional guest accommodation for an adjacent

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

, The Swan, was completed in August 2017.

References

{{Reflist Government buildings completed in 1870 City and town halls in Norfolk Loddon, Norfolk Grade II listed buildings in Norfolk