The Old Shire Hall (Welsh: Hen Neuadd y Sir Aberteifi) is a former judicial building in the High Street in Cardigan, Ceredigion, Wales. The structure, which is now used as a British Red Cross shop, is a Grade II* listed building.[1]
| Old Shire Hall, Cardigan | |
|---|---|
| Native name Hen Neuadd y Sir Aberteifi (Welsh) | |
 The building in 2018 | |
| Location | High Street, Cardigan |
| Coordinates | 52°04′56″N 4°39′41″W / 52.0821°N 4.6615°W |
| Built | 1764 |
| Architectural style(s) | Neoclassical style |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
| Official name | Old Shire Hall |
| Designated | 16 June 1961 |
| Reference no. | 10488 |
  Shown in Ceredigion | |
History
editThe building was commissioned as a courthouse for the county of Cardiganshire, to replace the inadequate judicial facilities in Cardigan Castle.[2] The site the justices selected, on the west side of the High Street, had been occupied by the Church of the Holy Trinity.[3]
The shire hall was designed in the neoclassical style, built in rubble masonry with an ashlar stone frontage and was completed in 1764.[4] The design involved a narrow main frontage facing onto the High Street with long side elevations stretching back behind the main frontage. It featured a two-storey arch formed by two piers with imposts supporting a series of voussoirs and a raised keystone. Above the arch, there was a band which was surmounted by two rectangular attic windows in a recess. At roof level, there was a frieze, a cornice and a parapet, and there was originally also a small bell turret. Internally, there was a corn exchange on the ground floor and a courtroom on the first floor.[1]
The courtroom was used twice year for the quarter sessions, which were also held once a year at Aberystwyth Town Hall and at the Lampeter Town Hall.[5][6][7] The building was enlarged to create a room for the grand jury in 1829.[8]
The courtroom ceased to be used for judicial purposes once Cardigan Guildhall was completed in 1860,[2] and the use of the ground floor as a corn exchange declined significantly in the wake of the Great depression of British agriculture in the late 19th century.[9] The building was therefore sold for commercial use: it served as a garage and motor repair shop, operated by S. T. Jones, from 1926 to 1947,[10] and then served as a furniture shop operated by a firm of drapers, David Jones Watts.[11] It was later used as a warehouse and then as a bookshop, known as Bookend.[12] Since 2015, it has served as a charity shop for the British Red Cross.[13][14]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Cadw. "Old Shire Hall (10488)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
- ^ a b "Cardigan Trail". Visit Cardigan. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
- ^ Lloyd, Thomas; Orbach, Julian; Scourfield, Robert (2006). Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion (Buildings of Wales Series). Yale University Press. p. 445. ISBN 978-0-300-10179-9.
- ^ "Cardigan". Dyfed Archaeology. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
- ^ "Early improvements". Aberystwyth Town Council. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
- ^ "Lampeter Town Hall History". Welsh Quilts. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
- ^ Fourteenth report of inspectors of prisons. UK Parliament. 1849. p. 70.
- ^ Lewis, Samuel (1849). "'Cardigan - Carew', in A Topographical Dictionary of Wales". London: British History Online. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
- ^ Fletcher, T. W. (1973). 'The Great Depression of English Agriculture 1873-1896' in British Agriculture 1875-1914. London: Methuen. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-136-58118-2.
- ^ Davies, Donald (1991). Those Were the Days: A History of Cardigan, The Locality and its People. The Cardigan and Tivy-Side Advertiser. ISBN 978-0-9517607-0-3.
- ^ "Complete bedroom suites available for £46.13.3 at Shire Hall". 18 March 1949. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
- ^ ""Bookend", Shire Hall High Street, Cardigan, SA43 1HQ". Retrieved 22 August 2024.
- ^ "Red Cross charity shop in Cardigan". British Red Cross. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
- ^ "'Concern' as tenth charity shop opens in Cardigan". Tivy-side Advertiser. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2024.