Gravesend Town Hall
Gravesend Town Hall
LocationHigh Street, Gravesend
Coordinates51°26′37″N 0°22′11″E / 51.4435°N 0.3696°E / 51.4435; 0.3696
Built1764
ArchitectCharles Sloane and Amon Henry Wilds
Architectural style(s)Neoclassical style
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameThe Town Hall
Designated23 January 1952
Reference no.1054761
Gravesend Town Hall is located in Kent
Gravesend Town Hall
Shown in Kent

Gravesend Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street in Gravesend, Kent, England. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Gravesend Municipal Borough Council, is a Grade II* listed building.[1]

History

The first town hall in Gravesend, which was designed with arcading on the ground floor to allow markets to be held and with an assembly room on the first floor, was erected on the east side of the High Street in 1573.[2] It had a lock-up for prisoners.[2] The hall was financed from the revenues received from the Gravesend–Tilbury Ferry and from the granting of freedoms of the borough as well as the revenues from the markets themselves.[3] It remained under the ownership of the lord of the manor of Parrock in Milton-next-Gravesend until Gravesend Corporation purchased the manor, the ferry and the hall from George Etkins, who was the lord at that time, in 1694.[2][4]

The current town hall was designed by Charles Sloane and completed in 1764.[3] It was remodelled by Amon Henry Wilds in the neoclassical style with ashlar stone in 1836.[1] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto the High Street; the central section of three bays featured a tetrastyle portico which was modelled on the Parthenon in Athens.[1] Doric order columns supported a frieze with the borough shield repeated in the metopes between each of the triglyphs.[1] There was a large pediment above on which statues of Minerva, Justice and Truth were erected.[1] Internally, the principal room in the building was the grand hall.[5]

The building was altered and extended to the rear in 1882 and again in 1898 to create extra office space to accommodate additional council staff in the context of the increasing responsibilities of local authorities.[3] After making her last record-breaking flight, from Gravesend Airport and regaining her Britain to South Africa record, on 4 May 1936,[6] the pilot, Amy Johnson, attended a dinner in the town hall in her honour.[7]

The statues on the pediment became unstable and were removed in 1949.[1] However, the town hall remained the local seat of government of Gravesend Corporation until Gravesend Civic Centre opened in Windmill Street in 1968.[8] The last public function to be held in the town hall was in 1969 and the building was subsequently adapted to serve as a magistrates' court.[9] It continued in that role until 2000 when, despite local opposition and an appeal to the Lord Chancellor's Department, the court closed.[10][11] The building fell into a state of disrepair in the early 21st century: an extensive programme of restoration works to the building was completed in 2010 and it subsequently became available as a venue for marriages and civil partnership ceremonies.[12][13]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Historic England. "The Town Hall (1054761)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 "The Old Town Hall". Discover Gravesham. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 "History". Old Town Hall, Gravesend. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  4. ↑ Hasted, Edward (1797). "'Parishes: Milton', in The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent". Canterbury: British History Online. pp. 335–346. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  5. ↑ "The Grand Hall". Old Town Hall, Gravesend. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  6. ↑ De Vries, G. Wingfield. A Pictorial History 1991 p.99 with photo ISBN 0620159391
  7. ↑ "Gravesend Chronology 1932-1937". Discover Gravesham. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  8. ↑ "Site of the Civic Centre". Discover Gravesham. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  9. ↑ "Gravesend Chronology 1967-1973". Discover Gravesham. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  10. ↑ "Gravesend Chronology 1999-2000". Discover Gravesham. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  11. ↑ "Row erupts at court scheme: Gravesend County Court may close in new plan". News Shopper. 27 March 2001. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  12. ↑ "Gravesend Old Town Hall". Kent Venues. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  13. ↑ "Gravesend". Gravesend Historical Society. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
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