Godalming Borough Hall is a municipal building in Bridge Street in Godalming, a town in Surrey, England. The building was the meeting place of Godalming Town Council.
| Godalming Borough Hall | |
|---|---|
 Godalming Borough Hall | |
| Location | Bridge Street, Godalming |
| Coordinates | 51°11′13″N 0°36′34″W / 51.1869°N 0.6094°W |
| Built | 1861 |
| Architect | Henry Peak |
| Architectural style(s) | Neoclassical style |
  Shown in Surrey | |
History
editThe town of Godalming was incorporated as a borough by a charter issued in 1575 from Elizabeth I.[1] The first municipal building in Godalming was an 18th-century market hall in the High Street which was used to accommodate French prisoners following the capture of Belle Île in June 1761.[2] It was replaced by the current market hall, The Pepperpot, which was designed by John Perry in the neoclassical style, built by public subscription and completed in 1814.[3][4] The borough was reformed with elected officials in accordance with the Municipal Corporations Act 1835.[5]
After civic leaders decided that the assembly room in the Pepperpot was inadequate for public meetings, a public hall was erected in Bridge Street: it was designed by Henry Peak, built using brown rubble masonry and completed in 1861.[6][7][8]
In May 1907 tenders were invited from contractors to extend the public hall in Bridge Street to the west to create new municipal buildings for the borough.[9] The extension was built in red brick with stone dressings and the work was completed in 1908.[4] The design of the enlarged structure involved an asymmetrical main frontage with ten bays facing onto Bridge Street; the central section of three bays, which slightly projected forward, featured arcading on the ground floor, three sash windows with stone surrounds on the first floor and a pediment above with an oculus in the tympanum. The left hand section featured, in the central bay, a doorway with a canopy on the ground floor and a panel containing the borough coat of arms on the first floor. The right hand section featured, in the end bay which slightly projected forward, a round headed doorway on the ground floor and a tri-part sash window on the first floor with a pediment above.[10]
The building continued to serve as the meeting place of Godalming Borough Council for much of the 20th century,[11] but ceased to be the local seat of government when Waverley Borough Council was formed with its headquarters in Guildford in 1974.[12][13] Waverley Council moved to new council offices in The Burys just behind the borough hall in 1980.[8][14] The borough hall subsequently served as the headquarters of Godalming Town Council,[15] until 2021 when the council moved its offices to a converted shop at 107–109 High Street and its meetings to the Waverley council chamber at The Burys.[16][17]
Works of art in the borough hall include a portrait by Godfrey Kneller of the locally-born sailor, Admiral Sir John Balchen,[18] who became governor of the Greenwich Naval Hospital in March 1743.[19]
References
edit- ^ "Godalming Town Council - A brief history". Godalming Town Council. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
- ^ "Timeline to 1836". Godalming Museum. Archived from the original on 28 June 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ Historic England. "The Pepper Pot (1044496)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ a b Malden, H. E. (1911). "'Parishes: Godalming', in A History of the County of Surrey". London: British History Online. pp. 24–42. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ Municipal Corporations Act. 1835. p. 462. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
- ^ "Godalming". The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales. 1870. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ "Ordnance Survey Map". 1871. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ a b "Timeline from 1837". Godalming Museum. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ Contracts. The Builder. 11 May 1907. p. 582.
- ^ "Godalming Municipal Buildings". Francis Frith. 1908. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ "No. 45920". The London Gazette. 2 March 1973. p. 2912.
- ^ Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c.70. The Stationery Office Ltd. 1997. ISBN 0-10-547072-4.
- ^ "No. 46409". The London Gazette. 22 November 1974. p. 11667.
- ^ "No. 48292". The London Gazette. 29 August 1980. p. 12247.
- ^ "Full Council Minutes" (PDF). Godalming Town Council. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ "Town council's new office is in building dating back to 1446". Godalming Nub News. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
- ^ "Council agenda, 13 May 2021" (PDF). Godalming Town Council. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
- ^ Kneller, Godfrey. "Vice Admiral Sir John Balchin". Art UK. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ "No. 8309". The London Gazette. 10 March 1743. p. 11.
Media related to Godalming Borough Hall at Wikimedia Commons