Aylesbury Town Hall

Aylesbury Town Hall is a municipal building in the Market Square, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England. The town hall, which was the meeting place of Aylesbury Borough Council, is a Grade II* listed building.[1]

Aylesbury Town Hall
Aylesbury Town Hall
LocationMarket Square, Aylesbury
Coordinates51.8158°N 0.8117°W / 51.8158; -0.8117
Built1865
ArchitectDavid Brandon
Architectural style(s)Jacobean style
Listed Building – Grade II*
Designated7 April 1952
Reference no.1117935
Shown in Buckinghamshire

History

The building was originally commissioned as a corn exchange by a consortium of local businessmen, who formed a venture known as the Aylesbury Market Company, which was established with capital of £18,000 under an Act of Parliament in 1863.[2][3] The site chosen for the building had been occupied the White Hart Inn, a coaching inn.[4][lower-alpha 1]

The White Hart Inn was acquired and demolished in 1864.[4] The new building was designed by David Brandon in the Jacobean style, built in red brick with stone dressings and completed in 1865.[7] The design involved a near-symmetrical main frontage with four bays facing onto the Market Square; the right hand three bays, which slightly projected forward, featured a wide carriageway in the middle bay flanked by full height columns with a bay window on the first floor and a parapet and a gable containing an oculus above.[1] The outer bays in the right hand section featured pedestrian archways flanked by full height columns with a mullion window on the first floor and a parapet above.[1] The left hand bay, which was barely visible, was topped with a mansard roof.[1]

The Aylesbury Market Company got into financial difficulties caused by the agricultural depression in the 1870s.[8] After the area had been designated an urban district in 1894,[9] the new council, which had decided to establish a new town hall, acquired the market rights to hold markets (and ownership of the corn exchange) from the company in 1901.[10] The council established municipal offices on the first floor[1] and went on to secure municipal borough status, with the town hall as its headquarters, in 1917.[9]

The interior of the town hall was badly damaged in a fire, which was attributed to arson, on 14 March 1962 and the rear façade was subsequently rebuilt but without any of the original decoration.[11][12] Aylesbury Vale District Council, which was formed in 1974, established modern offices on Gateway Road,[13] while Aylesbury Town Council established its own offices at 5 Church Street.[14]

See also

Notes
  1. The White Hart Inn, which had been designed in the neoclassical style, was completed in the 17th century[5] and refaced in stone recovered from Eythrope House in 1814.[6]

References
  1. Historic England. "The County Hall, including the former town hall, the former county constabulary headquarters and the judge's lodgings, Aylesbury (1117935)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  2. "Aylesbury Market Act 1863". Vlex. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  3. "Aylesbury". Kelly's Directory of Buckinghamshire. 1899. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  4. "White Hart Hotel". Aylesbury Remembered. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  5. "Buckinghamshire Historic Towns Assessment Report: Aylesbury" (PDF). Buckinghamshire County Council. p. 121. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  6. Colvin, H. M. (1964). "Eythrope House and its demolition in 1810-11" (PDF). Buckinghamshire County Council. p. 226. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  7. "Brandon, D., F.R.I.B.A., 24 Berkeley Square, London". The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  8. Hanley, Hugh; Hunt, Julian (1993). Aylesbury a Pictorial History. Phillimore & Co.
  9. "Aylesbury UD/MB". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  10. Page, William (1925). "'The borough of Aylesbury: Introduction and borough', in A History of the County of Buckingham". London: British History Online. pp. 1–11. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  11. "Town Hall fire, March 1962". Aylesbury Remembered. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  12. "Arson Theory after Hall is Wrecked". Aylesbury Advertiser. 16 March 1962. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  13. "Aylesbury Vale District Council Offices". Aylesbury Map. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  14. "Aylesbury Town Council". Buckinghamshire Family Information Service. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
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