The Old Town Hall, also known as The Locarno or Locarno Ballroom, is a former municipal building of 1854 in the High Street,

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, England. It 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

Until the construction of the town hall on the High Street, the town council had met in the ''Goddard Arms'' on the High Street. This small

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

had been owned by the

Goddard family The Goddard family were a prominent landed gentry, landed family chiefly living in the northern regions of the English counties of Wiltshire and Hampshire and the western part of Berkshire, between the Tudor period and the early 20th century. ...

since 1621 and was a small cottage alehouse known as the ''Crown'' until 1820. The ''Goddard Arms'' was used for public meetings in the early 19th century and was used in this way by

Ambrose Goddard Ambrose Goddard (c.1727–1815) was a British merchant and landowner who sat in the House of Commons from 1772 to 1806. Goddard was the third son of Ambrose Goddard and his wife Elizabeth Awdry, daughter of Ambrose Awdry of Seend, Wiltshire. He ...

to report progress on the

Wilts & Berks Canal The Wilts & Berks Canal is a canal in the historic counties of Wiltshire and Berkshire, England, linking the Kennet and Avon Canal at Semington near Melksham, to the River Thames at Abingdon. The North Wilts Canal merged with it to become a ...

. The town hall was designed by Sampson Sage and E Robertson 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

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 ...

stone by a local builder, George Major, and was completed in 1854. The main frontage has five bays separated by full-height

Tuscan order The Tuscan order (Latin ''Ordo Tuscanicus'' or ''Ordo Tuscanus'', with the meaning of Etruscan order) is one of the two classical orders developed by the Romans, the other being the composite order. It is influenced by the Doric order, but wit ...

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, with arched windows on the ground floor,

casement window A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a c ...

s on the first floor and a

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 ...

and

roof lantern A roof lantern is a Daylighting (architecture), daylighting architectural element. Architectural lanterns are part of a larger roof and provide natural light into the space or room below. In contemporary use it is an architectural skylight stru ...

above. The building was extended to the northeast with a tower, as well as accommodation for a

corn exchange A corn exchange is a building where merchants trade grains. The word "corn" in British English denotes all cereal grains, such as wheat and barley; in the United States these buildings were called grain exchanges. Such trade was common in towns ...

at ground floor level, to the designs of Wilson and Willcox of Bath in 1866. A wine store was built on an adjoining site and its upper hall was used as a

magistrates' court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several Jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) ...

from 1871 to 1891. After civic functions transferred to the new town hall in 1891, the building became a roller skating rink in 1910, and a cinema known as the Rink in 1919. After 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 ...

it was refurbished and re-opened as the Locarno Dance Hall. Performers at the dance hall included the singer,

Cilla Black Priscilla Maria Veronica White (27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015), better known as Cilla Black, was an English singer and television presenter. Championed by her friends the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her singles "A ...

, in April 1964, followed by the

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

bands,

The Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1963. The band started the careers of three of rock's most famous guitarists: Eric Clapton (1963–1965), Jeff Beck (1965–1966) and Jimmy Page (1966–1968), all of whom ...

in July 1964,

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

in October 1965, The

Small Faces Small Faces were an English Rock music, rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966 ...

in November 1965 and

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...

in November 1968. The building subsequently served as a bingo hall but became vacant in the mid 1980s. The building was acquired by bar owner, Gael Mackenzie, in 1999. Major fires occurred in the building in May 2003 and again in May 2004. In November 2016, Swindon council entered into a development agreement with Swindon Corn Exchange Limited, a business managed by housebuilder, Steve Rosier, under which Rosier agreed to pursue a development on the site. However, after no progress was made with the development and the building continued to decay,

the Victorian Society The Victorian Society is a UK charity and amenity society that campaigns to preserve and promote interest in Victorian and Edwardian architecture and heritage built between 1837 and 1914 in England and Wales. As a statutory consultee, by la ...

added the structure to its list of most endangered buildings in September 2019. The council also threatened to use a

compulsory purchase order A compulsory purchase order (CPO; , ) is a legal function in the United Kingdom and Ireland that allows certain bodies to obtain land or property without the consent of the owner. It may be enforced if a proposed development is considered one for ...

to re-acquire the property in January 2020.

References

{{Commons category Grade II listed buildings in Wiltshire Grade II listed government buildings City and town halls in Wiltshire Government buildings completed in 1854 Corn exchanges in England