Wellington Town Hall
Wellington Town Hall
Location	Fore Street, Wellington
Coordinates	50°58′43″N 3°13′40″W / 50.9785°N 3.2277°W / 50.9785; -3.2277
Built	1833
Architectural style(s)	Neoclassical style
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	Town Hall Offices of Wellington Weekly News
Designated	25 January 1951
Reference no.	1059915
Shown in Somerset

Wellington Town Hall is a municipal building in Fore Street, Wellington, Somerset, England. The structure, which was previously used as a civic events venue, is a Grade II listed building.^[1]

History

The first municipal building in the town was a market hall which was located in the middle of the street at the junction of South Street and Fore Street and dated back to the late 17th century.^[2] It contained a courtroom and a lock-up but by the early 19th century it was regarded by civic leaders as an obstruction to the highway and was demolished.^[2]

In 1814, the lord of the manor, the Duke of Wellington, agreed to grant a long lease to a group of local businessmen who intended to erect a new municipal building.^[3] Their objective was to provide proper accommodation for the farmers' stalls which continued to block the highway.^[4] The new building was designed in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1833.^[1] The building was originally open on the ground floor, so that markets could be held, with an assembly room on the first floor. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Fore Street; there was an arcade of five round headed sash windows on the first floor and, at roof level, there was a cornice, a parapet and a small sculpted pediment containing a clock. Internally, the principal rooms were the assembly hall, which was used for concerts and public events, and a smaller room, which was used as a library and reading room by the Wellington Literary Institute.^[5] The assembly room also became the venue for county court hearings.^[6]

In 1876, the lease was surrendered to the then lord of the manor, the 2nd Duke of Wellington, and, in 1884, the freehold of the property was acquired by a newly formed entity, the Wellington Market and Town Hall Company, which carried out internal improvements to the building.^[7] Following a significant increase in population, largely associated with the status of Wellington as a market town, the area became an urban district in 1894.^[8] Animated pictures were first shown in the town hall in 1896.^[7] The council continued to use the town hall as a venue for civic events but located its council officers and their departments at council offices further southwest along Fore Street.^[9] The building became the Rex Cinema in 1938 and suffered a serious fire while being used as a cinema during the 1940s.^[10]

After the cinema closed in the 1950s, the condition of the building began to deteriorate and demolition was seriously considered in the 1960s.^[7] Following a refurbishment the building became the offices of Wellington Weekly News,^[1] but by the early 21st century it was being used as a clothes shop and as the offices of an estate agent and a firm of accountants.^[11] After another refurbishment, undertaken at a cost of £2.3 million, the building re-opened as a Wetherspoons public house named as the Iron Duke, recalling the nickname for the 1st Duke of Wellington, in August 2016.^[12]

References