Leamington Spa Town Hall
The Town Hall in May 2023
LocationThe Parade, Leamington Spa
Coordinates52°17′21″N 1°32′06″W / 52.2892°N 1.5349°W / 52.2892; -1.5349
Built1884
ArchitectJohn Cundall
Architectural style(s)Tudor style / French baroque style
Listed Building – Grade II
Designated18 August 1980
Reference no.1381441
Leamington Spa Town Hall is located in Warwickshire
Leamington Spa Town Hall
Shown in Warwickshire

Leamington Spa Town Hall is a Grade II listed municipal building located in the town of Leamington Spa in Warwickshire, England.[1] It is the meeting place of Royal Leamington Spa Town Council.

History

The current hall was commissioned to replace a smaller hall found on High Street which was built in 1830.[2] The former hall was constructed on land owned by The Earl of Aylesford and the Wise family at a cost of £1,900.[2] After the new town hall opened, the old hall was used as a police station and then as a Polish community centre.[2]

Originally the plan was to build the new hall next to the Royal Pump Rooms and the adjacent gardens; however the site eventually chosen was on The Parade next to the Regent Hotel.[2] A house called Denby Villa was purchased for £10,000 and demolished to make room.[2] The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the mayor, Henry Bright, on 17 October 1882.[1] It was designed by architect John Cundall who incorporated elements of both the Tudor style and the French baroque style.[1] The exterior design included a portico on the ground floor surmounted by six Corinthian columns between windows at the first floor level.[1] Construction was undertaken by builder John Fell at a cost of £14,000.[1] It was constructed of Pinkish-red brick with sandstone ashlar dressings with a Welsh slate roof, partly fish-scaled.[1] It was officially opened by the then-mayor, Sidney Flavel, on 18 September 1884.[1] The efforts of Alderman Henry Bright in promoting the development of the new town hall had already been recognised with an obelisk erected in Regent Grove in 1880.[3][4]

Two of the building's most notable features are its clock tower on the southern end of the building and the statue of Queen Victoria outside it. The statue, designed by Albert Toft, was erected in 1902 and cost £1,500 to create, and was allegedly moved slightly by a German bomb on 14 November 1940 during The Blitz.[5]

After defeating Sugar Ray Robinson to win the world middleweight boxing title championship on 10 July 1951, the locally-born boxer, Randolph Turpin, waived to the crowd from the town hall balcony.[6] The town hall was the headquarters the municipal borough of Leamington[7] but ceased to be local seat of government on the formation of Warwick District in 1974.[8] Since 2002 it has been the headquarters of Royal Leamington Spa Town Council.[9]

The 44 metres (144 ft) tall clock tower,[1] illuminated at night, has been home to a breeding pair of Peregrine Falcons and their chicks every summer since 2017.[10][11]

Internal features

The building has two main rooms, the council chamber used by Warwick District Council and a 250 capacity assembly room.[12][13]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leamington Spa Town Hall.
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Historic England. "Town Hall (1381441)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Leamington Town Halls". leamingtonhistory.co.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  3. ↑ "Alderman Henry Bright JP, 1817 -1904". Leamington History Group. 21 January 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  4. ↑ "Town Hall, Leamington Spa". Windows on Warwickshire. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  5. ↑ "Plaque on Queen Victoria's statue near Leamington Town Hall". Read the Plaque. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  6. ↑ "Randolph Turpin, Leamington Spa Town Hall". Windows on Warwickshire. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  7. ↑ Vision of Britain, citing: Young's, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 751 Archived 4 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 8 August 2009
  8. ↑ Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c.70. The Stationery Office Ltd. 1997. ISBN 0-10-547072-4.
  9. ↑ "About us". Royal Leamington Spa Town Council. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  10. ↑ "Here's how you can watch the Peregrine Falcons nesting at Leamington town hall tower". Leamington Spa Courier. 24 March 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  11. ↑ "Moment falcon catches pigeon captured in Leamington Spa". BBC. 14 May 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  12. ↑ "The Town Hall". warwickdc.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  13. ↑ "The Town Hall". Warwick District Council. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
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