Scarborough Town Hall

Scarborough Town Hall
Gardens to the south elevation of the Town Hall
General information
Architectural style	Jacobean Revival
Classification
Listed Building– Grade II
Designated	8 June 1973
Reference no.	1273023
Town or city	Scarborough,North Yorkshire
Country	England
Coordinates	54.2818°N 0.3981°W/54.2818; -0.3981
Completed	1844 or 1870
Opened	28 July 1903
Renovated	1898–1903
Cost	£2,300
Renovation cost	£19,500
Client	John Woodall
Owner	Scarborough Borough Council
Website
North Yorks County Council

Scarborough Town Hall,originallySt Nicholas House,is a red brickJacobean Revivalmansion inScarborough,North Yorkshire,England, currently used as a municipal building for theBorough of Scarboroughand an events venue. It was built in the 19th century as a home for John Woodall, a prominent local businessman, and then converted and extended for municipal use in 1903. Situated overlooking the South Bay, it is a grade IIlisted building.

History

The origins oflocal governmentinScarboroughdate to a charter granted byHenry IIin 1163.An ancient town hall based on Sandside, facing the harbour on a site now occupied by the former Bethel Mission Chapel,moved in 1800 to William Newstead's Assembly Rooms on Long Room Street (now St Nicholas Street).This was the Corporation's seat until 1867, when a new town hall and courthouse were opened in Castle Road. By 1898, this too was considered inadequate and the Corporation sought a new town hall site.

The mansion which was to become the town hall was St Nicholas House, which was commissioned by John Woodall – part of a prominent and successful Scarborough family – to replace his previous home, 22 Long Room Street. The date and architect of the construction appears to be contested; research by Scarborough Civic Society suggests it was byHenry Wyattin 1844,while thelisting descriptionfromHistoric Englandascribes it to W B Stewart, 1869–70.It cost approximately £2,300 (equivalent to £278,000 in 2023) at a time when Scarborough's population was 18,377.

In 1898 – by which point the population had grown to 33,776 and needed further resources for administration– John Woodall's son, John W Woodall, whose portrait hangs inside the building'sfoyer,and who had inherited the property in 1879, put forward and sold St Nicholas House to the Corporation. It paid £33,575 (equivalent to £4,720,000 in 2023) for the building; this price also included other properties on the cliff which have been demolished. The house needed work to make it suitable for use as a town hall, and this was designed by the newly appointedborough engineerandsurveyorHarry W Smith in 1898–1903. This involved a new eastwingto fit new rooms such as departmental offices and thecouncil chamber.The cost of conversion was about £19,500.

A blue plaque on Scarborough Heritage Trail

An official opening ceremony took place on 28 July 1903,during whichQueen Victoria's youngest daughter,Princess Beatrice,formally opened the Town Hall – the ceremonial key used is displayed in a cabinet inside the building – and unveiled a newbronze statueof Victoria byCharles Bell Birchin gardens outside. The memorial statue, which is separately grade IIlisted,is the only statue of apublic figurein Scarborough.

Later history

Further extensions were made in King Street and St Nicholas Street in 1962–64 in a standard modern office block style. This is used as further accommodation for the borough council and as a "customer first centre".

Scarborough Town Hall is recorded in theNational Heritage List for Englandas a Grade IIlisted building,having been designated on 8 June 1973.Grade II is the lowest of the three grades of listing, and is applied to "buildings that are nationally important and of special interest".

A proposed plan to sell the Victorian building and move to a new out-of-town purpose-built site was considered by theConservative-run Scarborough Borough Council in March to July 2012. It was estimated thatmaintenanceof the building could cost £5.7 million over the following 25 years and that an estimated £1.7 million would be needed for anITupgrade.Though the plan was rejected, the office accommodation was considered too large, in poor condition and costing too much to bring up to standard, leading to a second plan in December 2012 to reduce office space by up to 71 per cent.A sum of £90,000 was invested in a complete replacement of the security system of the Town Hall in 2018.

Five of Scarborough Town Hall's historic rooms are licensed for weddings and other civil ceremonies, giving the Council a stream of income to help conserve and maintain it.

Architecture

The Town Hall takes the form of aJacobean-style mansion with two-storeys plus attic, of red brick with stone dressings,string courses,corniceandparapet,whose main south front is set on astrapworkbalustraded terrace to public gardens. Along this main front areDutch gabledbaysto the left and centre, and to the right, a pair of square turrets withleadedogeedomes, between which is a largestained-glassoriel window.Another Dutch gabled block at the western end forms the main entrance from St Nicholas Street. The doorway is flanked byengagedstoneIoniccolumns on pedestals, topped by an entablature with acartouchewith pyramid finials.

Internally, the Town Hall features a Civic Parlour, Mayor's Parlour, Mayoral Corridor, Committee Room and Council Chamber. These are all lavishly decorated in a style Edwardian municipal grandeur, with plaster ceilings, fine carpets, and hardwood furniture and panelling; the Council Chamber also has an intricate wooden arched ceiling and raised public gallery.

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  Oriel window and turrets
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  Side entrance
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  The 1960s extension to King Street
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  View from Foreshore Road
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  Statue of Victoria and view of the South Bay

References

Bibliography

• Cunningham, Colin (1981).Victorian and Edwardian Town Halls.Routledge.ISBN978-0-7100-0723-0.
• Page, William,ed. (1923). "The Borough of Scarborough".A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 2'.Victoria County History.Institute of Historical Research.pp. 538–560.