County Hall, Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire County Hall is a large municipal building located at Loughborough Road on the south bank of the River Trent at West Bridgford in Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire, England. It is the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Council which is the upper tier local authority and has jurisdiction across the whole of Nottinghamshire except the City of Nottingham which is administered independently by the unitary authority of Nottingham City Council.

County Hall, Nottinghamshire
County Hall
County Hall
Location within Nottinghamshire
General information
AddressWest Bridgford, Nottingham
CountryUnited Kingdom
Coordinates52.9364°N 1.1358°W / 52.9364; -1.1358
Completed1954
Design and construction
ArchitectVincent Harris

History

During much of the 20th century the county council was based at the old Shire Hall in the Lace Market in Central Nottingham.[1] After deciding that the existing premises were inadequate for their needs, county leaders decided to procure a new building: the site they selected had been occupied by the Castle Cricket Ground.[2]

The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, William Cavendish-Bentinck, 7th Duke of Portland, on 21 November 1939.[3] It was designed by Vincent Harris (who is also credited with designing Leeds Civic Hall, Bristol City Hall and Sheffield City Hall) but, because of a pause to construction during the Second World War, it was only completed in 1954.[4] The original plans included the construction of a landmark bell tower which would have been three times as tall as the main building. When construction resumed after the war this part of the plan was mothballed to reduce overall costs.[4][5]

Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Duke of Edinburgh, visited County Hall on 28 July 1977.[6]

In 2016, county leaders decided that a 1960s concrete prefabricated extension, which had been built as part of the Consortium of Local Authorities Special Programme (CLASP), was deemed surplus to requirements and unfit for purpose. The building was subsequently demolished.[7] In March 2019, it was announced that a new landmark building could be built on the site of the former CLASP building site as part of Nottinghamshire County Council's aspiration to rationalise its countywide estate portfolio.[8]

Architecture

The County Hall has a base made of Portland stone and a roof made of copper. Exposure to precipitation has resulted in the copper roof turning green in colour. The design involves a main frontage facing with fifteen bays facing Loughborough Road; the central bay features a stone porch with Doric order columns. The two main entrances around the front and back of the building are flanked by statues of miners depicting the county's mining history. The statues were designed by Robert Kiddey, a local Nottingham artist during the building's construction.[4]

Art

The County Hall houses an extensive collection of artifacts, many of which have been gifted to Nottinghamshire by various visiting dignitaries from around the world and are displayed around the hall.[9] The grand staircase which links the ground and first floors of the building, includes oil paintings depicting historic distinguished members and officers of the county council amongst local scenes.[9] The collection included portraits by the local artist, Arthur Spooner, of Lord Belper[10] and Viscount Galway,[11] who served respectively as the first and second chairmen of the county council.[12] It also includes a landscape painting by David Payne depicting Newstead Abbey.[13]

References
  1. Historic England. "Shire Hall and adjoining county gaol, High Pavement, Nottingham (1254517)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  2. "Ordnance Survey Map". 1901. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  3. "Planning statement for County Hall, West Bridgford, Nottingham; demolition of the Clasp Block". Nottinghamshire County Council. p. 4. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  4. "County Hall's split-personality". BBC. 14 September 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  5. "Design for Nottinghamshire County Hall, Nottingham: 4 drawings - elevation to River Trent and to Playing Field; elevation towards Trent Bridge; ground plan; and section and north wing, 1940". Royal Academy. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  6. Steenson, Kathryn (28 July 2017). "1977-2017: 40 years of the Queen's Medical Centre". Nottingham University. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  7. "Nottinghamshire County Council's 'springy' extension facing demolition". BBC News. 23 June 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  8. Ben Reid (14 March 2019). "Iconic offices could be built at County Hall in 'ambitious' plan to transform council's estate". NottinghamPost.com. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  9. "Nottinghamshire County Hall". Art UK. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  10. Spooner, Arthur. "The Right Honourable Lord Belper, 1st Chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council". Art UK. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  11. Spooner, Arthur. "The Right Honourable Viscount Galway, CB, Chairman of the County Council (1914–1928)". Art UK. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  12. "Supplement". Nottingham History. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  13. Payne, David. "Newstead Abbey, Nottinghamshire, View from the Lake". Art UK. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
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