Shirehall,_Shrewsbury

Shirehall, Shrewsbury

Shirehall, Shrewsbury

County building in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England

Shirehall is a municipal facility in Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, Shropshire. The building, which is the headquarters of Shropshire Council, is just north of Lord Hill's Column.

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History

The building was commissioned to replace the Old Shirehall in Market Square.[1] After deciding in the Old Shirehall was inadequate for their needs, county leaders decided to procure a new building: the site they selected had previously been occupied by a country house known as "Nearwell".[2][lower-alpha 1]

The foundation stone for the new building was laid by Sir Offley Wakeman, a former chairman of the county council, on 25 July 1964.[8] It was designed by Ralph Crowe, the County Architect, in the Modernist style, built at a cost of £1.8 million and was completed in April 1966.[9] It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, on 17 March 1967.[10] The design for the six-storey building facing Abbey Foregate involved continuous bands of glazing with concrete panels above and below: it also included an unusual ovoid-shaped council chamber which jutted out to the south-west of the main building.[9] Pevsner described the building as "the major monument to post-war modernism in the county".[9]

A single storey extension, also designed by Crowe, was added to the Shirehall, to accommodate the assizes and the local quarter session hearings, shortly after it opened.[11][12] Following the implementation of the Courts Act 1971, the former assizes courthouse became the venue for hearings of the newly designated Shrewsbury Crown Court.[13] The magistrates' courts moved to a new courthouse in Preston Street in 1994.[14][15]

Originally established as the headquarters of Shropshire County Council, the building became the offices of the new unitary authority, Shropshire Council in April 2009.[16] A scheme to refurbish the building at a cost of £24 million was proposed in December 2018.[17] However, in September 2020, the council indicated that it would rather sell the building and move to the town centre.[18] Then in October 2020, following an application for a certificate of immunity from listing requested by the county council, English Heritage decided not to list County Hall as the building did not meet the criteria for listing post-1945 buildings.[19] In May 2021 the Twentieth Century Society placed the site on its Top 10 Buildings at Risk List.[20]

Works of art in the building include a cast iron mural by Rosalind Alexander, located in the entrance hall, depicting Shropshire industries.[21]

Notes

  1. The house was commissioned by a local solicitor, William Wybergh How, in 1868[3] and became the home of his son, Walsham How, who went on to be the first Bishop of Wakefield:[4] it subsequently remained in the How family until the mid-1940s[5][6] and then became a hostel for boys studying at Shrewsbury Technical College before being demolished in August 1963.[7]

References

  1. [1]
    "New book takes colourful look at Shrewsbury past". Shropshire Star. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  2. [2]
    "Ordnance Survey Map 1954". Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  3. [3]
    Hinton, Nigel. "Notes on the history, landmarks and people of the Portland Nurseries area of Shrewsbury". Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  4. [4]
    How, Frederick Douglas (1931). Bishop Walsham How: a memoir. Isbister and Company. p. 15. ISBN 978-1010111740.
  5. [5]
    "Obituary: Thomas Maynard How". 19 January 1904. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  6. [6]
    "No. 36425". The London Gazette. 14 March 1944. p. 1255.
  7. [7]
    "Nearwell boys far from home". Shropshire Star. 29 February 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  8. [8]
    "Clock ticking for 1960s Shirehall". Shropshire Star. 23 October 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  9. [9]
    Newman, John; Pevsner, Nikolaus; Watson, Gavin (1958). Shropshire. Yale University Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-0300096422.
  10. [10]
    "The Queen at 90: Her Majesty in Shropshire". Shropshire Star. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  11. [11]
    "Law Courts and Courtrooms 1: The Buildings of the Criminal Law". Historic England. 1 August 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  12. [12]
    Mulcahy, Linda; Rowden, Emma (2019). The Democratic Courthouse: A Modern History of Design, Due Process and Dignity. Taylor and Francis. ISBN 978-0429558689.
  13. [13]
    Courts Act 1971 (Commencement) Order 1971 (SI 1971/1151)
  14. [14]
    "UK: Contract – Shrewsbury, Shropshire; M. A. Boswell (Contractors)". Construction News. 8 October 1992. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  15. [15]
    "Proposal on the provision of court and tribunal services in the Midlands region" (PDF). Ministry of Justice. 16 July 2015. p. 34. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  16. [16]
    "Shropshire (Structural Change) Order 2008". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  17. [17]
    "£1 million study on future of Shirehall in Shrewsbury". Shropshire Star. 14 December 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  18. [18]
    "Council leader believes £10m sale of Shirehall can fund Pride Hill centre transformation". Oswestry and Border Counties Advertiser. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  19. [19]
    "Case Name: The Shirehall, Shrewsbury" (PDF). Historic England. 13 October 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  20. [20]
    "Top 10 C20 Society Buildings at Risk List 2021". The Twentieth Century Society. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  21. [21]
    "Shirehall and Law Courts" (PDF). The Architects' Journal. 29 March 1967. p. 777. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
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