Bovey_Tracey_Town_Hall

Bovey Tracey Town Hall

Bovey Tracey Town Hall

Municipal building in Bovey Tracey, Devon, England

Bovey Tracey Town Hall is a municipal building in Town Hall Place, Bovey Tracey, Devon, England. The town hall, which is the meeting place of Bovey Tracey Town Council, is a Grade II listed building.[1]

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History

One of the two gargoyles on the building

The site occupied by the current building previously formed part of Bovey Tracy Village Green: two cottages were demolished and the local market cross was relocated to the southwest corner of the site to make way for the new development.[2] The new building was designed in the Italianate style, built in rubble masonry at a cost of £1,000 and was completed in 1866.[1][3][4]

The original design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Town Hall Place; the ground floor was rusticated and provided openings for the local horse-drawn fire engine, while the first floor featured a row of five pointed windows forming a piano nobile.[1] At roof level, there was a prominent modillioned cornice.[1] Extensions were added on the side and rear elevations at a later date.[1] At the northeast and southwest corners of the building brightly painted gargoyles were fitted as heads to the iron rainwater pipes.[1] Internally, the principal room was the main hall on the first floor which was used for civic meetings, balls and concerts.[5]

On account of the relatively small population of the town,[6] the borough council, which had met in the town hall, was abolished under the Municipal Corporations Act 1883.[7] A local parish council, which was formed in 1896,[8] established its offices in the building and used it as its main meeting place.[9] In the early 1920s, the market cross was adapted to form the centrepiece of a memorial to commemorate the lives of local service personnel who had died in the First World War.[10]

Following local government re-organisation in 1974,[11] the local parish council became known as Bovey Tracey Town Council.[8] In October 2020, the town council established a new community hub in Station Road, known as the Riverside Community Centre: the centre became the home of the local library, an information centre, a space for growing businesses and a local meeting place: the town council staff subsequently vacated the town hall and also relocated to the new centre.[12][13]

References

  1. [1]
    Historic England. "Town Hall, Town Hall Place (1165878)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  2. [2]
    "Grade II Listed Building suitable for a variety of Commercial Uses" (PDF). Noon Roberts. p. 2. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  3. [3]
    Report of the Commissioners Appointed to Inquire into Municipal Corporations not subject to the Municipal Corporations Act. H. M. Stationery Office. 1880. p. 18.
  4. [4]
    Cherry, Bridget; Pevsner, Nikolaus (January 2002). Devon (Buildings of England Series). Yale University Press. p. 192. ISBN 978-0300095968.
  5. [5]
    White, William (1879). History, Gazetteer and Directory of the County of Devon. Simpkin, Marshall and Co. p. 167.
  6. [6]
    Imperial Cyclopedia. Charles Knight. 1850. p. 955.
  7. [7]
    Municipal Corporations Act 1883 (46 & 46 Vict. Ch. 18) (PDF). 1883. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  8. [8]
    "Town Council". Bovey Tracey Town Council. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  9. [9]
    "Recreation Parks and Property Committee" (PDF). Bovey Tracey Town Council. 22 February 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  10. [10]
    Historic England. "Cross incorporated in war memorial, about 2 metres from south-west corner of town hall (1334105)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  11. [11]
    Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c.70. The Stationery Office Ltd. 1997. ISBN 0-10-547072-4.
  12. [12]
    "Bovey Tracey hub is ready for business". Mid-Devon Advertiser. 27 September 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  13. [13]
    "New era for Bovey Tracey Library as it moves to Riverside Community Centre". 20 October 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
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