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Huntingdon Town Hall

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Coordinates: 52°19′49″N 0°11′03″W / 52.3303°N 0.1843°W / 52.3303; -0.1843
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Huntingdon Town Hall
Huntingdon Town Hall
LocationMarket Hill, Huntingdon
Coordinates52°19′49″N 0°11′03″W / 52.3303°N 0.1843°W / 52.3303; -0.1843
Built1745
ArchitectBenjamin Timbrell
Architectural style(s)Neoclassical style
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameTown Hall
Designated10 January 1951
Reference no.1128584
Huntingdon Town Hall is located in Cambridgeshire
Huntingdon Town Hall
Shown in Cambridgeshire

Huntingdon Town Hall is a municipal structure on Market Hill in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Huntingdon Borough Council, is a Grade II* listed building.[1]

History

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Huntingdon War Memorial

The first municipal building on Market Hill was a 17th-century courthouse which was arcaded on the ground floor, so that markets could be held, with an assembly room on the first floor.[2][3] It was demolished in the mid-18th century to allow construction of the current building.[2]

The current building was designed by Benjamin Timbrell in the neoclassical style, built in red brick with stone dressings and was completed in 1745.[4][5][6] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with seven bays facing onto Market Hill with the ground floor rendered and painted; the central section of three bays, which projected forward, featured a doorway flanked by two pairs of Tuscan order columns supporting an entablature; there was a balcony and a French door flanked by casement windows on the first floor and there were three tall round headed windows on the second floor.[1] At roof level there was a large pediment with a clock in the tympanum and central cupola above that.[1] The building was enlarged in 1817.[1] Internally, the principal rooms were the assembly hall, which featured three chandeliers and a series of important portraits, and the council chamber, which featured boards listing the names of former mayors of the town.[7] The main staircase was recovered from the earlier courthouse.[2]

After the First World War, a war memorial in the form of a bronze statue of a soldier was designed by the sculptor, Kathleen Scott and erected in front of the town hall by the local contractor, Thackray and Co; the statue, which became known as "the Thinking Soldier", was unveiled by the Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire, the Earl of Sandwich, on 11 November 1923.[8] The building continued to serve as the headquarters of Huntingdon Borough Council and, from 1961, of Huntingdon and Godmanchester Borough Council[9] and briefly remained the local seat of government when the enlarged Huntingdonshire District Council was formed in 1974.[10] Although the district council relocated to modern facilities at Pathfinder House in St Mary's Street in Huntingdon in 1977,[11] the town hall continued to be used as a meeting place by Huntingdon Town Council[12] and, following a major programme of refurbishment works costing £0.9 million which was completed in 2012,[13] the building became an approved location for marriages and civil partnership ceremonies.[14]

Works of art in the town hall include a portrait by John Shackleton of King George II[15] and by Gainsborough Dupont of Queen Caroline,[16] as well as portraits by Allan Ramsay of King George III[17] and of Queen Charlotte.[18] There are also portraits by Peter Lely of Oliver Cromwell,[19] by Sir Joshua Reynolds of the Duke of Cumberland[20] and by Godfrey Kneller of the former local member of parliament, Sir Lionel Walden,[21] as well as portraits by Francis Grant of the Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, Sir Frederick Pollock[22] and of the former Secretary of State for War, Jonathan Peel.[23]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Historic England. "Town Hall (1128584)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Page, William; Proby, Granville; Ladds, S. Inskip (1932). "'The borough of Huntingdon: Introduction, castle and borough', in A History of the County of Huntingdon". London: British History Online. pp. 121–139. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  3. ^ Dickinson, Philip George Murgatroyd (1972). A Survey made of the Towns and Land in Huntingdon, 10th day of May 1572 in the 15th year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Huntingdon and Godmanchester Borough Council. p. 6. ISBN 978-0902295018.
  4. ^ Aymonino, Adriano; Guerci, Manolo (2016). "The Architectural Transformation of Northumberland House under the 7th Duke of Somerset and the 1st Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, 1748–86" (PDF). Antiquaries Journal. p. 4. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  5. ^ Hewlings, Richard (1995). The History of Huntingdon Town Hall, Huntingdon.
  6. ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus (1968). The Buildings of England: Bedfordshire and the County of Huntingdon and Peterborough. Penguin Books. p. 56. ISBN 978-0300095814.
  7. ^ "Huntingdon Town Hall". Huntingdon Town Council. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  8. ^ Historic England. "Huntingdon War Memorial (1417802)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  9. ^ "Huntingdon MB". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  10. ^ Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c.70. The Stationery Office Ltd. 1997. ISBN 0-10-547072-4.
  11. ^ "Local History". Huntingdon Town Council. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  12. ^ "Agenda: Full Council" (PDF). Huntingdon Town Council. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  13. ^ "Huntingdon Town Hall restoration work reaches new heights". Hunts Post. 5 March 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  14. ^ "Huntingdon Town Hall". Your East Anglian Wedding. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  15. ^ Shackleton, John. "George II (1683–1760)". Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  16. ^ Dupont, Gainsborough. "Caroline of Ansbach (1683–1737), Queen Consort of George II". Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  17. ^ Ramsay, Allan. "George III (1738–1820)". Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  18. ^ Ramsay, Allan. "Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg Strelitz (1744–1818), Queen Consort of George III". Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  19. ^ Lely, Peter. "Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658)". Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  20. ^ Reynolds, Joshua. "William Augustus (1721–1765), Duke of Cumberland, KG". Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  21. ^ Kneller, Godfrey. "Sir Lionel Walden (1620–1698), Mayor of Huntingdon". Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  22. ^ Grant, Francis. "The Right Honourable Sir Frederick Pollock (1783–1870), Lord Chief Baron of Her Majesty's Exchequer". Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  23. ^ Grant, Francis. "The Right Honourable General Jonathan Peel (1799–1879), MP for Huntingdon and Godmanchester, Late Secretary of State for War". Retrieved 8 May 2021.
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