The Old Town Hall is a former municipal building on Chapel Road in

St Just in Penwith St Just (), also known as St Just in Penwith, is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It lies along the B3306 road which connects St Ives, Cornwall, St Ives to the A3 ...

, a town in

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, ...

, in England. The building, which was in municipal use for much of the 20th century, is now managed as a community venue.

History

The building was commissioned as a

drill hall A drill hall is a place such as a building or a hangar where soldiers practise and perform military drills. Description In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, the term was used for the whole headquarters building of a military reserve unit, ...

for the

1st Cornwall (Duke of Cornwall's) Artillery Volunteers The 1st Cornwall (Duke of Cornwall's) Artillery Volunteers were formed in 1860 as a response to a French invasion threat. They served as a Coast Artillery unit during both World Wars, and also manned batteries serving overseas. The unit continue ...

, which was raised in Cornwall in response to the threat of a French invasion. It consisted of thirteen Artillery Volunteer Corps and the last numbered of these was the 13th (St Just) Cornwall Artillery Volunteer Corps, which was raised in St Just in Penwith on 26 September 1862. The drill hall was designed in the Victorian Free style, built in local

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

and was completed in late 1862. The design involved a canted main frontage at the southwest corner of the building. The frontage was fenestrated with a

Diocletian window Diocletian windows, also called thermal windows, are large semicircular windows characteristic of the enormous public baths (''thermae'') of Ancient Rome. They have been revived on a limited basis by some neo-classical architecture, classical rev ...

on the ground floor and a single casement window on the first floor. Above that, in the swept back section of the gable, there was a small roundel containing three artillery pieces surrounded by olive leaves and surmounted by the number "13", identifying the corps which it accommodated. The design of the Chapel Road frontage involved three bays fenestrated by

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 ...

s on both floors, while the side elevation of four bays was fenestrated in a similar style but with a doorway in the first bay. It was a substantial two-storey stone building, which has been described by the Drill Hall Project as "of no great architectural merit". The 13th (St Just) Cornwall Artillery Volunteer Corps formed the guard of honour for a visit by the

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

and

Princess of Wales Princess of Wales (; ) is a title used since the 14th century by the wife of the Prince of Wales. The Princess is the apparent future queen consort, as "Prince of Wales" is a title reserved by custom for the heir apparent to the Monarchy of the ...

Botallack Mine The Botallack Mine () is a former mine in Botallack in the west of Cornwall, UK. Since 2006 it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site – Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape. The mine is within the Aire Point to Carrick Du SSSI, ...

in 1867. The unit was re-designated No. 10 Battery, Duke of Cornwall Artillery Volunteers in May 1880, but was then absorbed into No. 9 Battery at

Marazion Marazion (; ) is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish and town, on the shore of Mount's Bay in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is east of Penzance and the tidal island of St Michael's Mount is half-a-mile offshore. At tide, low wa ...

in 1883. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the building was used as a drill hall for No. 2 Heavy Battery, Cornwall Royal Garrison Artillery – Defended Ports, which was responsible for coastal defence. Thereafter, the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

had no further use for the drill hall: it was deemed surplus to requirements and made available for community use, and became the offices and meeting place of St Just Urban District Council. It continued to serve as the local seat of government for much of the 20th century, and, following local government re-organisation in 1974, continued to be used by

Penwith District Council Penwith (; ) is an area of Cornwall, England, located on the peninsula of the same name. It is also the name of a former local government district, whose council was based in Penzance. The area is named after one of the ancient administrati ...

as an office for the delivery of local services, and by St Just in Penwith Town Council as their meeting place. However, following the introduction of

unitary authorities A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

in 2009, Penwith District Council was abolished and, by 2010, the St Just in Penwith Town Council had relocated to new offices at No.1 Chapel Street, also known as "Bank House". Since then, the old town hall has been managed by St Just Community ABC as a community venue.

References

{{reflist City and town halls in Cornwall St Just in Penwith Government buildings completed in 1862