The New Town Hall is a municipal building in The Bull Ring in Brading, a town on the Isle of Wight, in England. It accommodates the offices and meeting place of Brading Town Council.
| New Town Hall, Brading | |
|---|---|
 The building in 2009 | |
| Location | The Bull Ring, Brading |
| Coordinates | 50°40′49″N 1°08′38″W / 50.6802°N 1.1440°W |
| Built | 1903 |
| Architect | John Newman |
| Architectural style(s) | arts and crafts style |
  Shown on the Isle of Wight | |
History
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The new building was commissioned to replace the Old Town Hall, which had been converted for use as a free library.[1] The site selected for the new building was occupied by an old malt house which was duly demolished.[2] It was in a street named The Bull Ring where, from the from the Middle Ages until 1820, the mayor's dog was decked with coloured ribbons and allowed to bait a bull, the meat from which would subsequently be given to the poor.[3][4] The old ring to which the bull was tethered remains fixed to the ground outside the building.[5][6]
Construction work on the new building started in 1902. It was designed by James Newman, broadly in the Arts and Crafts movement style, built in red brick, and was officially opened by Princess Beatrice on 11 February 1903.[2][7][8] The design involved a gabled main frontage facing onto The Bull Ring. It was fenestrated by a two-storey mullioned window, which was flanked by half-timbered panels and surmounted by a wooden pediment. There was a small entrance block with a double-panelled doorway to the right.[9] Internally, the principal room was the main hall, which was 55 feet (17 m) long and 25 feet (7.6 m) wide.[10]
Although the building remained in the ownership of the Brading Town Trust,[11] it also became the meeting place of Brading Town Council, which had been formed in 1895,[12] and also accommodated the local post office.[13]
A large wooden carving of a black bull, sculpted by local artist, Paul Sivell, was installed to the right of the town hall in late 2003.[14][15]
References
edit- ^ Turner, Wendy (2023). A-Z of the Isle of Wight Places-People-History. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1398109339.
- ^ a b Page, William (1912). "'Parishes: Brading', in A History of the County of Hampshire". London: British History Online. pp. 156–170. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ Long, W. H. (1888). The Oglander Memoirs: Extracts from the manuscripts of Sir John Oglander Kt. of Nunwell, Isle of Wight, Deputy-Governor of Portsmouth and Deputy Lieutenant of the Isle of Wight 1595 to 1648 (PDF). Reeves and Turner. p. xi.
- ^ Merrylees, John (1885). Paterson's Guide Book to the United Kingdom with Maps and Plans. William Paterson. p. 156.
- ^ "The Brading Bull Ring used for Baiting Bulls from the Middle Ages up until 1820". Alamy. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ Historic England. "The Bull Ring (1034357)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ "Programme of Entertainment for opening of the New Town Hall". Brading Community Archive. 11 February 1903. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
- ^ "Princess Beatrice visits Brading 1903". Brading Community Archive. 11 February 1903. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
- ^ Lloyd, David Wharton; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2006). The Isle of Wight (Buildings of England Series). Yale University Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-0300107333.
- ^ "Brading's New Town Hall: Opening proceedings". 11 February 1903. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ "Brading Town Trust". Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ "Brading Town Council: Some interesting facts about your town council" (PDF). Brading Buzz. 2012. p. 3. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ "The New Town Hall". Brading Town Council. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ "7 reasons to visit popular Isle of Wight town of Brading". Isle of Wight County Press. 13 April 2024. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ "No bull about Brading Poem" (PDF). Retrieved 29 June 2024.