County Hall, Mold

County Hall (Welsh: Neuadd y Sir Yr Wyddgrug) is a municipal facility at Raikes Lane in Mold, Flintshire. It was the headquarters of the old Flintshire County Council from 1967 to 1974, the headquarters of Clwyd County Council from 1974 to 1996 and has been the headquarters of the new Flintshire County Council since 1996.

County Hall, Mold
County Hall
County Hall is located in Flintshire
County Hall
County Hall
Location within Flintshire
General information
Architectural styleBrutalist style
AddressMold, Flintshire
CountryUnited Kingdom
Coordinates53.1763°N 3.1364°W / 53.1763; -3.1364
Completed1967
Design and construction
Architect(s)Robert Harvey

History
A 19th century print showing Llwynegrin Hall which has been retained as the local Register Office
Aerial view of County Hall

Following the implementation of the Local Government Act 1888, which established county councils in every county, Flintshire County Council set up its base at the old County Hall in Chester Street in Mold.[1] Additional facilities acquired included a local militia barracks (originally designed by Thomas Mainwaring Penson) which was converted for use as council offices in the late 1880s.[2] After finding, in the 1930s, that the Chester Street facilities were too cramped, county leaders decided to procure modern facilities:[3] the site they selected formed part of the Llwynegrin Hall estate which was acquired for the purpose.[4][lower-alpha 1]

The new building, which was designed by the county architect, Robert Harvey, in the brutalist style and influenced by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, was completed in October 1967.[3] The design for the seven-storey building, which involved a series a parallel wings, featured continuous rows of windows, every second of which had a heavy concrete surround: it was officially opened as the Shire Hall by Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon in May 1968.[3] An extension to the building was opened by Princess Anne in July 1972.[3] After the implementation of the Local Government Act 1972, the new building became the home of Clwyd County Council in 1974.[7]

On 1 April 1996, under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, Clwyd County Council was broken up and the building was acquired by the new Flintshire County Council who subsequently renamed it County Hall.[8] The new Flintshire County Council also inherited the former Alyn and Deeside Borough Council Civic Offices, which had been built in 1992 at St David's Park in Ewloe in the community of Hawarden. The building at Ewloe was leased to Unilever for some years and was renamed "Unity House". By 2018, County Hall was proving very costly to maintain, while Unilever's lease of Unity House had ended and the council had tried to sell it without success. The council therefore decided to move several departments to Unity House, which it renamed "Ty Dewi Sant" (English: St David's House).[9][10] The rear wings of County Hall were then demolished in 2020, retaining only the front part of the building which includes the council chamber and some office space. County Hall therefore continues to serve as the council's official headquarters and meeting place, but many of the council's staff are now based at Ty Dewi Sant.[11][12][13][14][15][16]

Notes
  1. Llwynegrin Hall, which was designed by Thomas Jones of Chester in the Tudor style for Philip Davies Cooke of Gwysaney, was completed in 1830.[5] It was acquired by Flintshire County Council in 1948 and became the local register office in April 2005.[6]

References
  1. Cadw. "Old County Hall (360)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  2. Hubbard, Edward (1986), Clwyd, The Buildings of Wales, London: Penguin, pp. 393–395, ISBN 0-14-071052-3
  3. "Mold's modernist masterpiece Shire Hall marks 50 years of civic service". Leader Live. 30 May 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  4. "Ordnance Survey Map". 1914. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  5. "Llwynegrin Hall (35987)". Coflein. RCAHMW. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  6. "Village register office to close". Daily Post. 8 April 2005. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  7. Whitaker's Almanack 1979, p. 677
  8. "Local planning authorities". One Planet Council. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  9. "Councillors set to approve funding to bulldoze part of County Hall". Deeside.com. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  10. "Hundreds of council staff begin move to new premises". Daily Post. 28 November 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  11. "Council staff set to move into Ewloe office complex in October". Deeside.com. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  12. Evans, Owen (21 May 2020). "Work to demolish part of County Hall in Mold gets underway". Daily Post. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  13. "Demolition work at Flintshire Council's Mold HQ set to get under way early next year". Deeside.com. 14 October 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  14. "Flintshire Council defends decision to go ahead with Mold HQ demolition work during coronavirus pandemic". Deeside.com. 6 April 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  15. "Work to demolish part of County Hall in Mold gets underway". Daily Post. 21 May 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  16. "Council office addresses". Flintshire County Council. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
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