Cowbridge Town Hall
Cowbridge Town Hall (Welsh: Neuadd y Dref, Y Bont-faen) is a public building in the South Wales market town of Cowbridge. It is the meeting place for Cowbridge with Llanblethian Town Council, and also houses the town clerk's office, administrative office, Cowbridge Museum and meeting rooms where public events are held.[1] It is a Grade II* listed building.[2]
Cowbridge Town Hall | |
---|---|
Cowbridge Town Hall | |
Location | Cowbridge |
Coordinates | 51.4618°N 3.4471°W |
Built | 1806 |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
Designated | 5 December 1963 |
Reference no. | 13200 |
Shown in Vale of Glamorgan |
History
The town hall was commissioned to replace the aging Guild Hall, located in High Street, which had previously been their meeting place.[3] The Guild Hall had also been a regular venue for the Quarter Sessions (law courts) which traveled around South Wales.[3]
The site selected for the new town hall was a building dating to 1806 which had hitherto served as a prison or "House of Correction".[4] In 1824 it was reported that "Plans and estimate of the expense attending the erection of a new Town Hall ... have been procured by the Revd. John Montgomery Traherne at his own expense".[5] On 15 October 1829 and 22 July 1830 The Court of Common Council - Cowbridge ordered that thanks be given to Isaiah Verity Esq of Ash Hall (son of John Verity of Rooley Hall, Bowling) for "offering ground for the erection of the Town Hall".[6] Verity, in gratitude for planning and directing the new town hall, was awarded freedom of the borough, after the building was completed in 1830.[7]
Eight of the original prison cells are still intact, six of which house the exhibits of Cowbridge Museum.[8]
References
- Cowbridge (Ancient Borough) with Llanblethian Town Council. Accessed 17 August 2013]
- Cadw. "Cowbridge Town Hall (13200)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- Jeff Alden, How Well Do You Know Cowbridge? (Cowbridge Record Society, 2005. ISBN 0953702952. p14
- Vale of Glamorgan Council: Cowbridge's History. Accessed 17 August 2013
- Lemuel J Hopkin-James, Old Cowbridge (1922)
- Glamorgan Archives - DXAX - Court of Common Council - Cowbridge - 1929-30
- Glamorgan Archives - DXAW - Veity Family Papers 1831 Freedom of Borough given to Isaiah Verity
- Cowbridge (Ancient Borough) with Llanblethian Town Council Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed 11 June 2013