Egremont Town Hall

Egremont Town Hall is a municipal building in Main Street, Egremont, Cumbria, England. The town hall, which is currently used as a public library, is a Grade II listed building.[1]

Egremont Town Hall
Egremont Town Hall
LocationMain Street, Egremont
Coordinates54.4836°N 3.5285°W / 54.4836; -3.5285
Built1890
Architectural style(s)Gothic Revival style
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameTown Hall, Main Street
Designated9 August 1984
Reference no.1086707
Egremont Town Hall is located in Cumbria
Egremont Town Hall
Shown in Cumbria

History

Following significant growth in the population, largely associated with the expansion of open-pit iron mining in the area,[2] Egremont became a local government district with its own local board of health in 1879.[3] In this context, the local board decided to commission a new market hall: the site they chose for the market hall was open land to the west of Main Street.[4] The market hall was completed in 1883 and the local board followed this up, a few years later, with the procurement of a town hall on a site to the east of the market hall.[5]

The new town hall was designed in the Gothic Revival style, built in fine sandstone at a cost of £5,000 and was completed in 1890.[6] The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Main Street; the central bay was formed by a five-stage clock tower with a doorway with a fanlight in the first stage, a segmental window in the second stage, a segmental niche in the third stage, a belfry in the fourth stage and a series of clock faces in the fifth stage: the tower was surmounted by a pyramid-shaped roof. The two outer bays on the left were surmounted with a gable, as were the two outer bays on the right: the outer bays were fenestrated by pointed windows on the ground floor and segmental windows on the first floor. Internally, the principal room was the office for the local board.[3]

After the area became an urban district, with the town hall as its headquarters, in 1894,[7] the new council designated some rooms for teaching and a new school was established in the building in 1895.[8] The town hall ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged Ennerdale Rural District Council was formed at Cleator Moor in 1934.[7][9] It was subsequently used as a venue for community events including theatre and cinema performances.[10]

The declining use of the building caused Copeland District Council to market the building for sale in 2010.[11] However, there was limited interest from purchasers and the building was withdrawn from sale, so that the local public library could relocate to the town hall later that year.[12][13]

See also

References

  1. Historic England. "Town Hall, Main Street (1086707)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  2. "Egrement". Cumbria County History. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  3. Kelly's Directory of Cumberland & Westmorland, 1914. Kelly's Directories Ltd. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  4. "Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Scotland First Series". 1887. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  5. "Egremont Conservation Area Appraisal" (PDF). Copeland Borough Council. p. 18. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  6. Routledge, Alan W. (2011). Whitehaven and District Through Time. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1445602844.
  7. "Egremont UD". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  8. Calendar, History, and General Summary of Regulations of the Department of Science and Art. H. M. Stationery Office. 1896. p. 28.
  9. "No. 45644". The London Gazette. 13 April 1972. p. 4409.
  10. "Arts Development" (PDF). Copeland District Council. 20 October 2005. p. 23. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  11. "Former Town Hall, Main Street, Egremont, Cumbria, CA22 2DB". Pugh Auctions. 2010. Archived from the original on 17 March 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  12. "Community Engagement" (PDF). 2 June 2010. p. 8. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  13. "Egremont Library, Town Hall, Egremont". Families Online. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
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