Chapel-en-le-Frith Town Hall is a municipal building in Market Street, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, England. The structure operates as a community events venue, as well as the offices and meeting place of Chapel-en-le-Frith Parish Council.
| Chapel-en-le-Frith Town Hall | |
|---|---|
 Chapel-en-le-Frith Town Hall | |
| Location | Market Street, Chapel-en-le-Frith |
| Coordinates | 53°19′26″N 1°54′47″W / 53.3238°N 1.9131°W |
| Built | 1851 |
| Architectural style(s) | Gothic Revival style |
  Shown in Derbyshire | |
History
editThe building was commissioned by a medical doctor, Thomas Slacke, who lived at Bowden Hall, as dedicated accommodation for the local magistrates, who had previously held their hearings in the Old Oak Inn. The site he selected was on the southeast side of Market Street.[1] Slack retained ownership of the building but assigned all rentals for the benefit of local schools.[2]
The building was designed in the Gothic Revival style, built in rubble masonry at a cost of £2,000, and was opened as the "New Sessions House" in 1851.[3][4] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of three bays facing onto Market Street. The central bay contained a segmental headed doorway with an architrave and a keystone. It was flanked, in the outer bays, by two narrow casement windows. On the first floor there were three tall lancet windows with the central window placed higher than the others to allow the installation of a clock. The there was a high gable above surmounted by a trefoil-shaped finial. Internally, the principal rooms were the main hall on the first floor, which featured a vaulted timber roof, and the courtroom behind.[5]
County court hearings as well as monthly petty sessions were held in the building, which was enlarged in 1882.[6] After judicial hearings in the town hall were discontinued, the courtroom was later converted for use as a library.[7] Ownership of the building was transferred to the parish council in 1928.[8]
After the Second World War, proposals were developed to expand the building, as a lasting memorial to local service personnel who had died in the war. In the event, civic leaders decided to create an annex extending to the southwest of the exiting structure. The annex, which created a new room on the first floor, adjacent to the main hall and fenestrated by four square casement windows, was completed in 1970.[1] Meanwhile, the building continued to serve as the offices and meeting place of Chapel-en-le-Frith Parish Council,[5] as well as a local venue for public meetings,[9][10] and community events.[11]
Works of art in the town hall include eleven landscape paintings by Neil Bennett depicting the town and surrounding villages, as well as a series of paintings by Norman Phillips depicting local scenes.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c Smith, Mike (2010). Chapel-en-le-Frith Through Time. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1445627342.
- ^ "Chapel-en-le-Frith". London: Kelly's Directory of the Counties of Derby, Nottinghamshire, Leicester and Rutland. 1 May 1891. pp. 75–78.
- ^ History, Gazetteer and Directory of the County of Derby, with the Town of Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, Comprising a General Survey of the County. Francis White & Company. 1857. p. 537.
- ^ Wilson, John Marius (1866). The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales; Embracing Recent Changes in Counties, Dioceses, Parishes, etc. A. Fullarton and Company. p. 394.
- ^ a b "Welcome Pack". Chapel-en-le-Frith Parish Council. p. 16. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
- ^ Tourist's Guide to Derbyshire Its Towns, Watering-places, Dales and Mansions. Adam and Charles Black. 1888. p. 79.
- ^ "Chapel-en-le-Frith Heritage Trail" (PDF). Chapel-en-le-Frith Community Group. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
- ^ "Copy deed of grant by William Slacke and others to Samuel Needham the elder and others of the Town Hall in Chapel-en-le-Frith". Derbyshire Record Office. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
- ^ "Latest on plans to turn Monsal Trail in the Peak District back into a railway line". Derby Telegraph. 16 April 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
- ^ "New business park planned for Chapel-en-le-Frith". Buxton Advertiser. 14 March 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
- ^ "Ensuring the Chapel community is warm over winter". Quest Media Network. 22 November 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2023.