Shirehall, Hereford

The Shirehall is a building on St Peter's Square, Hereford, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II* listed building.[1]

Hereford Shirehall
LocationHereford
Coordinates52.05609°N 2.7129°W / 52.05609; -2.7129
Built1817
ArchitectCharles Heather and Sir Robert Smirke
Listed Building – Grade II*
Designated10 June 1952
Reference no.1297425
Location of Hereford Shirehall in Herefordshire

History

The Shirehall, which was designed by Charles Heather[2] under the instruction of Sir Robert Smirke, was completed in 1817.[1] It features six doric columns in the portico.[3] The exterior of the Shirehall closely follows that of Karl Friedrich Schinkel's Neue Wache (New Guardhouse, 1816) on Unter den Linden in Berlin. An Act of parliament in 1815 allowed for "erecting a Shire Hall, Courts of Justice and other Buildings, for Public Purposes; and for providing suitable Accommodations for His Majesty's Justices of Assize, in and for the County of Hereford".[4]

Although originally used as a facility for dispensing justice, following the implementation of the Local Government Act 1888, which established county councils in every county, it also became the meeting place of Herefordshire County Council.[5] After the creation of Hereford and Worcester County Council in 1974, County Hall in Worcester became the meeting place for the new combined County Council.[6] However with the creation of the unitary authority known as Herefordshire Council in 1998, meetings of the new body with county-wide responsibilities are once again held at the Shirehall in Hereford.[7]

Modern use

The Shirehall is home to Hereford Crown Court.[8] The building forms part of the "Civic Hub" and some council staff are based there.[9] Meetings of Herefordshire Council and of its committees take place in the Shirehall.[10] Rooms in the Shirehall may be hired by members of the public.[11]

See also

References
  1. Historic England. "Shirehall, Hereford (1297425)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  2. Weaver, Phillip (2015). A Dictionary of Hereford Biography. Logaston Press. p. 203.
  3. "Shire Hall, St Peter's Square, Hereford". Herefordshire Through Time. Herefordshire Council. 2015-03-02. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  4. "Local and Personal Act, 55 George III, c. ix". Parliamentary Archives. UK Parliament. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  5. "Local Government Act 1888". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  6. "County Hall, Worcester". RIBA. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  7. "Agenda and minutes Council". Herefordshire Council. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  8. "Hereford Crown Court". gov.uk. UK Government. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  9. "Herefordshire Council completes a move out of its Brockington HQ". The Hereford Times. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  10. "Notice is hereby given of the following meetings" (PDF). Herefordshire Council. Herefordshire Council. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  11. "Shirehall room hire". Herefordshire Council. Herefordshire Council. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.