Old Town Hall, Gateshead

The Old Town Hall is a municipal building in the West Street, Gateshead, England.

Old Town Hall
Old Town Hall, Gateshead
LocationWest Street, Gateshead
Coordinates54.9644°N 1.6039°W / 54.9644; -1.6039
Built1870
ArchitectJohn Johnstone
Architectural style(s)Italianate style
Shown in Tyne and Wear

History

The first town hall in Gateshead was in Bush Yard.[1] The council subsequently established itself in a building in Greenesfield in 1844.[2] The foundation stone for the current building was laid in 1868: a stand collapsed during the ceremony killing a member of the public.[3] The current building was designed in the Italianate style by John Johnstone who had also designed Newcastle Town Hall.[4] Construction work on the Gateshead building was delayed after preparatory work penetrated a coal seam leading to the collapse of nearby properties and the building was eventually completed in 1870.[2]

The old town hall also served as a magistrates' court and a police station.[4] In 1892 an ornamental clock, which is Grade II listed and stands in front of the town hall,[5] was presented to Gateshead by the mayor, Walter de Lancey Willson, on the occasion of him being elected for a third time.[4] He was also one of the founders of Walter Willson's, a chain of grocers in the North East and Cumbria.[4] Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, visited the town hall on 29 October 1954.[6][7]

The building remained the headquarters of the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead until the council moved to Gateshead Civic Centre in Regent Street in 1987.[2] The town hall was occupied by the Microelectronics Applications Research Institute ('MARI') who established their head office in the building from 1987 to 2001.[8] It was then briefly used by the management of Sage Gateshead while they waited for their new building at Gateshead Quays to be competed in December 2004.[9]

The Tyneside Cinema occupied the town hall under a short term lease while a restoration and renovation project was undertaken on their premises in Newcastle upon Tyne between November 2006 and May 2008.[10] The main performance hall in the old town hall was refurbished in 2009[11] and the building was managed by Sage Gateshead from January 2013.[12] In 2018 it was acquired by "Dinosauria" which has announced plans to convert it into an "unnatural history museum".[13]

References
  1. "A Short History of Gateshead". Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council. 1998. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  2. "Gateshead". Historic England. p. 13-18. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  3. "Gateshead Civic Centres". Gateshead History. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  4. Donaghy, Peter; Laidler, John (2012). Discovering NewcastleGateshead. Sigma Leisure. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-85058-913-6.
  5. Historic England. "Clock Tower in forecourt to west of Town Hall (1277624)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  6. "Jack Lawson Papers: Programme for events at Gateshead Town Hall" (PDF). University of Durham. 29 October 1954. p. 66. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  7. "Programme for the visit of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh to Newcastle". Tyne and Wear Archives. 29 October 1954. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  8. "Death of Ponteland businessman and church stalwart". Hexham Courant. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  9. "Sage fans wise up to music". Chronicle Live. 22 September 2003. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  10. "It's a wonderful life for revived cinema with rare history". nebusiness.co.uk. 2009-03-30. Archived from the original on 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2009-10-12.
  11. "New chapter in life of town hall". BBC. 19 August 2009. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  12. "Sage move for Gateshead Town Hall". BBC. 18 November 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  13. "Gateshead Old Town Hall to house new offices as well as mythical monster museum". Chronicle Live. 8 April 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
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