Town Hall

From Chester Wiki

Contents 1 History 2 Ornaments 3 works of sculpture 4 links and sources

[edit] History

After the Exchange fire of 1862 a competition was organized for a new Town Hall. Entrants were to submit designs which were "substantial and economical" and in accordance with "the general features of this ancient city" and costing no more than £16,000. Some thirty designs were submitted in 1864 and the competition was won by the Belfast architect W. H. Lynn with a design said to be based on the medieval "Cloth Hall" in Ypres, Flanders.

The site chosen lay west of the Exchange, bounded by Princess Street to the north, the Saracen's Head Inn to the south, and the road to the new market hall to the rear. Previously it was occupied mainly by inns and alehouses. Work began in 1865 and lasted some four years, prolonged by the increasingly strained relations between corporation and architect. The principal difficulty was that Lynn's scheme cost more than £16,000, and although the committee grudgingly accepted a tender of £21,610, it continued to consider various modifications. Costs soared to almost £50,000, and the stone-masons went on strike. Nevertheless, in 1869 the new town hall was completed. Built of red and grey sandstone in a style best described as Venetian Gothic, its main facade was symmetrical, of ten bays with a central tower. The interior included a large assembly room, a court room for the city quarter sessions, and on the first floor, reached by a fine staircase rising in an apse, a council chamber, mayoral suite, and committee room. It was opened on October 15th 1869 by the Prince of Wales (and then also Earl of Chester), later King Edward VII.

One often-mentioned feature of the town hall is that the clock tower only has a clock on three of the four sides, and that the clock face facing Wales is missing because the inhabitants of Chester "would not give the welsh the time of day" (see "Shooting the Welsh!" for am explanation). The clock is recent (1980), as plans for the inital purchase of a clock were cut for cost reasons and the discovery that the clock would require an hour of winding each day!

[edit] Ornaments

The porch contains four sculptures in Bath stone. These depict:

• Roman soldiers building the Walls of Chester see: Roman remains;
• Egbert (802-39), King of the West Saxons and conqueror of Mercia see: Dark Age Chester;
• The entry of Charles I into Chester in 1642 (see: Civil War); and
• Hugh of Avranches receiving the earldom of Chester from William the Conqueror, c.1077 see also The Earls of Chester.

Sculptures at the end of the Waiting Hall depict:

• Edward the Black Prince (Earl of Chester (1330-76) see: "Royal earls") granting a charter in 1354; and Henry VII (1485-1509) granting Chester county status in 1506.
• Above the entrance to the Court Room, Sir William Brereton is shown before the Mayor's court, following his arrest in 1642 for attempting to raise recruits for the Parliamentary army (see: Civil War).
• Above the central doors of the Assembly Room, a sculpture shows a group of minstrels marching to the aid of Ranulf_of_Blundeville, who was besieged by the Welsh in Rhuddlan Castle. The story depicted (which appears to have taken place sometime around 1198-1205) is found in Leycester's Prolegomena:

Being distressed by the Welsh and forced to retreat to the castle of Rethelent (Rhuddlan) in Flintshire, where they besieged him, he presently sent to his Constable of Chester, Roger de Lacy, surnamed 'Hell' [Yclept] for his fierce spirit, that he would come with all speed and bring what forces he would towards his relief ..

It was the time of the Midsummer's Fair, de Lacy gathered a large group of fiddlers, players and cobblers and marched them immediately to the earl's rescue. Seeing a great multitude approaching, the besiegers fled. It may be that it was because of this event that Hugh Dutton, Roger's seneschal at Halton Castle was granted control and licencing of the musicians of Cheshire by Roger - see Minstrel Court.

On display in the Mayor's Parlour at the Town Hall is a clock, carved to resemble the west front of Chester Cathedral, is one of six similar clocks presented to HMS Chester by the citizens of Chester in May 1916. The war memorial outside the Assembly Room bears the names of 768 Chester citizens who died in the First World War. A small plaque commemorates those from Chester who died in the Second World War.

Inside the town hall are stained glass windows depicting the earls:

• John Canmore - in stained glass at (Stoneleigh Abbey) - at Stoneleigh he is shown in the arms of Ranulf Blundeville;
• Ranulf of Blundeville - in stained glass at (Stoneleigh Abbey) - arms are three gold sheaves on blue;
• Hugh of Cyfeiliog - in stained glass at (Stoneleigh Abbey) - arms are six gold sheaves on blue;
• Ranulf de Gernon - in stained glass at (Stoneleigh Abbey) - arms are gold lion on red or red lion on gold?;
• Ranulf de Meschines - in stained glass at (Stoneleigh Abbey) - arms are silver lion on red or red lion on gold?;
• Richard of Avranches - in stained glass at (Stoneleigh Abbey) - arms are silver wolf head on red with crosses;
• Hugh of Avranches - in stained glass at (Stoneleigh Abbey) - arms are silver wolf head on blue;
• Gherbod the Fleming

see also The Earls of Chester.

There is a conflict between the arms in the Town Hall and those on the Queens Park Suspension Bridge. Ranulf de Meschines has arms which are, on the Suspension Bridge, a white lion on a red ground and, in the stained glass of the Town Hall, possibly a red lion on a gold ground. To add further confusion some versions of the arms of his son Ranulf de Gernon and that shown on the bridge also differ.

There are also eight late 16thcentury (1578) painted boards depicting the Norman earls and Edric Sylvestris (Eadric the wild), supposed ancestor of the Sylvesters of Storeton in Wirral. The depictions are entirely imaginary as they show the earls in Tudor armour. These panels were formerly in the possession of the Stanleys of Hooton, they were purchased by Sir Thomas Gibbons Frost and presented by him to the city during his mayoralty in 1883.

The old police station used to be in the cellars of the Town Hall. It's rooms are now the records office but the cells still exist. In April 1966, the infamous 'moors murderers', Ian Brady and Myra Hindley were held there while facing trial at Chester Castle.

[edit] works of sculpture

• A Celebration of Chester (sculpture)
• Bronze bust of George V (sculpture)
• Bust of Horatio Lloyd (sculpture)
• Town Hall Clock
• Figures of Minstrels (sculpture)
• Ranulph III (sculpture)
• Henry VII Granting Chester County Status in 1506
• James II on his Visit to Chester in 1687
• Edward I receiving homage(sculpture)
• Edward the Black Prince (sculpture)
• William Brierton (sculpture)

While one of the sculpture's is described as Edward I receiving homage, the inscription on the sculpture reads "Edward Price of Wales Receiving Homage: First Royal Earl Of Chester AD 1254". This presents something of a problem: King Henry III passed the Lordship of Chester, but not the title of Earl, to his son the Lord Edward in 1254, and as King Edward I he in turn conferred the title and the lands of the Earldom on son, Edward (later Edward II), who was also made the first English Prince of Wales in 1301, when King Edward I of England, completed the conquest of Wales. So the figure above the doors of the Mayor's parlour is not Edward I ("Hammer of the Scots") but his somewhat disappointing son Edward II (of hot poker fame), Prince of Wales, who was only born in 1284. This is not the only inaccurate work of sculpture in the town hall. The sculpture over the waiting room door is entitled "The Earl of Chester Ranulph II Granting a Charter to the City in 1181". The problem is that in 1181 Ranulf of Blundeville, Earl of Chester was only nine years old and became Earl when his father Hugh of Cyfeiliog died on the 30 June 1181. Ranulph did not achieve his majority until 1187. The sculpture portrays Ranulph as being much older than nine, and no Chester charter from that year has ever been identified.

[edit] links and sources

• Chester Town Hall on British History Online
• The Virtual Town Hall on the City Council site (features some 360 tours).
• The Town Hall at Virtual Stroll
• A history and very detailed description of the Police Station at the Town Hall.