County_Hall,_Worcester

County Hall, Worcester

County Hall, Worcester

County building in Worcester, Worcestershire, England

County Hall is a municipal facility at Spetchley Road in Worcester, Worcestershire. It is the headquarters of Worcestershire County Council.

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History

For much of the 20th century the Shire Hall in Foregate Street was the meeting place of Worcestershire County Council.[1] Following the amalgamation of Worcestershire County Council and Herefordshire County Council to form Hereford and Worcester County Council in 1974, the new county leaders decided to procure a purpose-built county hall: the site they selected had been open land just south of Nunnery Wood.[2]

Construction of the new building began in 1974.[3] It was designed by Robert Matthew Johnson-Marshall & Partners[4] in the Brutalist style, built by the local contractor, Espley-Tyas, and was officially opened by the Duke of Edinburgh on 4 May 1978.[5] The design for the building, which made extensive use of red brick, took the form of a series of interconnected pavilions.[3] The central pavilion contained the public areas, meeting rooms and Riverside Café while the other pavilions accommodated the council officers, their departments and the council chamber.[3] The landscaping included a lake, together with a waterfall, to the south west of the main building.[6] Internally, the principal room was the council chamber: an exhibition space was subsequently established outside the council chamber at which local artists would display their work.[7]

The County Record Office was installed in a purpose-built annex to the north east of the main building in 1985,[3] and, following the children's television series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, live terrapins were released into the lake in the 1990s.[8]

The building became the home of Worcestershire County Council following the local boundary changes in 1998.[9] The former TV-am weather presenter Wincey Willis visited County Hall to launch a scheme, organised by the British Trust Conservation Volunteers, to help unemployed people to return to work in March 2004,[10] and, following the refurbishment of the council chamber, the Duke of Kent also visited County Hall and unveiled a plaque there on 19 February 2009.[11]

Works of art at County Hall include a painting by the rural landscape artist, David Bates, depicting a herd of cows crossing the River Severn,[12] and a sculpture by Sandy O'Connor, depicting a heron eating a fish, in the lake to the south west of the building.[13]

References

  1. [1]
    Historic England. "Shire Hall, Worcester (1389831)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  2. [2]
    "Ordnance Survey Map". 1955. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  3. [3]
    "County Hall". Vanadian Avenue. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  4. [4]
    "County Hall, Worcester". RIBA. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  5. [5]
    "Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visits Worcester County Hall". Getty Images. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  6. [6]
    "Worcester News Picture of the Day: County Hall Waterfalls by Amanda Birbeck". Worcester News. 16 August 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  7. [7]
    "New art exhibition launched at Worcester's County Hall". Worcester News. 23 November 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  8. [8]
    "The Terrapins of Worcestershire County Hall". Worcestershire Biological Records Centre & Worcestershire Recorders. 1 April 2011. p. 25. ISSN 1475-9616.
  9. [9]
    "The Hereford and Worcester (Structural, Boundary and Electoral Changes) Order 1996". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  10. [10]
    "It's Wincey at work". Worcester News. 10 March 2004. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  11. [11]
    "Another royal visit for county". Worcester News. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  12. [12]
    Bates, David. "Crossing the Severn". Art UK. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  13. [13]
    ""Heron", County Hall, Worcester". Sandy O'Connor. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
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