Newtown Old Town Hall
50°42′48″N 1°24′05″W / 50.7132°N 1.4013°W
Newtown Old Town Hall was built in 1256,[1] and is the town hall of the former mediaeval and later rotten borough of Newtown on the Isle of Wight in England. Newtown is now a small village, and its town hall is owned by the National Trust.[2] It is a Grade II* listed building. [3]
After many years of neglect the building was repaired in 1933 under the supervision of John Eric Miers Macgregor OBE, a specialist conservation architect who managed to save the derelict structure. The repair was funded by Ferguson’s Gang, a mysterious group of young annonymous benefactors who endowed Newtown Old Town Hall to the National Trust and agreed for it to be run as a Youth Hostel for fifteen years.[1]
An exhibition of the exploits of the Gang can be seen in the building today, which is open to the public during the summer months, for a small admission fee.[4]
The Gang were influenced to save the Old Town Hall by Black Mary, a supporter of Ferguson's Gang and the mother of Peggy Pollard (AKA Bill Stickers) whose home on the Island was close by.[5]
References
- ^ a b Bagnall, Polly; Beck, Sally (2015). Ferguson's Gang: The Remarkable Story of the National Trust Gangsters. Pavilion Books. ISBN 978-1-909-88171-6.
- ^ "Newtown Old Town Hall". National Trust. Retrieved 11 January 2007.
- ^ "Name: NEWTOWN TOWN HALL List entry Number: 1209336". Historic England. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ^ "Newtown Old Town Hall - What to do and see". National Trust. Archived from the original on 2 July 2007. Retrieved 11 January 2007.
- ^ Hutton-North, Anna (2013). Ferguson's Gang - The Maidens behind the Masks. Lulu Inc. ISBN 978-1-291-48453-3.
External links
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