Great Torrington Town Hall

- under threat

A SHORT HISTORY

Great Torrington Town Hall dominates the centre of the town and was for several centuries the hub of the civic, social and judicial life of this ancient borough.  In 1724 fire destroyed many documents and papers relating to the history of the town so information about the building before that period is very sparse. It is Grade 2 listed.

By the mid 18C the buildings associated with what was then called The Guildhall had all fallen into considerable dilapidation.  As it was also the trading centre of the town and associated with a Leather Hall, Cordwainers’ Chamber, Yarn Hall and the Shambles Meat Market it was urgent to make some repairs.

In 1761 rebuilding started on the first phase of what we see today.  The estimated cost of this part was a little under £400 shared equally by The Town Council and The Almshouse, Town Lands and Poors Charity (The Town Trust).  On completion there was then a gap of almost 100 years before work re-commenced and it was not until 1861 that our present Town Hall was completed. The cost of about £600 was paid wholly by the Town Trust.

Since then there has been little change save for the provision of a small toilet suite adjacent to the Council Chamber and the construction of ground floor offices for the Trustees, in what was, for many years, a public convenience.

 The building is an imposing one in the classical style with a rusticated limestone lower storey and red brick with stone dressings above.  The pedimented centre reaches out into The Square and has arched openings leading on to a cobbled and paved area beneath the large assembly room.  This open space has provided a meeting area for young and old alike for many decades but has long been the subject of much abuse.  From this area two doors lead to imposing staircases.  One goes directly into the assembly hall and the other leading to an impressive landing outside the Council Chamber.

 The Council Chamber itself is at the rear of the building which is the oldest part dating from the 17C.  Its walls are completely covered in fine oak panelling rescued at the turn of 20C from The Plough Inn. 

The Assembly Room is a large imposing galleried room as befits its previous purpose.  It has an ornate, semi-vaulted beamed ceiling with a central rose. Decorative bosses mark the end of each beam.  The ceiling plaster, which dates from the reconstruction 140 years ago, is nearing the end of its natural life. The walls are hung with a number of large oil paintings, mainly of the Rolle family, formerly in the ownership of the Lords Clinton. There are a number of smaller rooms associated with the main chamber. There are no modern facilities and access for the disabled is not possible at present.

A NEW TOWN HALL FOR TORRINGTON  Tim Wormleighton

Click here for the original document

The document transcribed below was found among records of Torrington
Borough Council, held by the North Devon Record Office, Bamstaple (ref:2558add2/64). It is undated, although there is a later note written on the back
recording that 'the Town Hall was built in 1763'. This date can be verified by
evidence from the Town Receiver's account book, also in the North Devon Record Office (re: 2558/5/1).

The accounts for the year 1761-62 record payments of 5s for 'wine at the Globe Inn for Mr Wall', 12s to Richard and John Lugg for ‘carring off ye Rubbish of ye old Hall' and 10s 6d to 'Mr Wall at laying ye foundation stone of  ye Hall'. The accounts for the following year have, for some reason, not been entered into the book although there are six blank pages left for them. It is probable that the missing accounts contained full details of payments for the construction of the new Hall. The accounts for subsequent years record the payment of several instalments to Mr Wall 'towards his Bill'. For the record, the section relating to the Town Hall in Alexander & Hooper's History of Great Torrington (1948) is misleading; they assert that 'the Mr Wall mentioned was probably John Rolle Walters, lord of the manor, who laid the foundation stone of the new buildings' and their interpretation of one of the Receiver's accounts entries is incorrect. The present Town Hall was built in 1861 on the same site.

An Estimate for Building a new town Hall for ye Corporation of Torrington,
Estimated by Robert Wall

To pulling down ye old Buildings & Clareing foundations                             £6.1Os
To Building ye front walls with good Courser, Brick, Labour & metariels       £73.10s
To Building ye Back front. Ends & party, walls, all metariels Except stones  £46.16s
To Carkessing ye house, viz. Roofing, naked flooring & Ceiling joys             £104.9s
To heleing. Labour & all metariels Except slate                                       £20.0.0
To a plain deal Cornice outside in propotion to ye height                          £11.5
To laying ye Boarded flooring deal Labour & metariels                             £32.11s
To ye sash windows of dealwood & all other metariels                              £8.8s
To one Venetian window in ye Back front                                              £3.3s
To one stair case, with Rails & ballusters                                              £4.4s
To 3 doors & doorcases, Labour & all metariels                                      £3.
To Plastering ye 3 Rooms above stairs, plain work 3 Coats                       £21.18s
To Pitching ye Ground floor etc. Labour only                                          £2.1Os
To Lintles, Centers, Bond timber etc                                                    £5.1Os

                              £ 347.4s
the above to be done in a strong, plain, workmanlike manner with out any ornaments of Bath stone, but if the Bath stone ornaments is aded the Expence is under

Expence of Bath stone

To Rusticks for ye Coines                                                                   £5.15s
To windowstools to ye front windows                                                   £ 1.1Os
To Architrave Round ye front windows                                                 £6.5s
To Facia to ye front                                                                         £4.
To Impost, & Keystones to ye arches                                                  £ 1.1Os

                                                          £19.0.0
 

Click here for the original document

WHY IS THE TOWN HALL AT RISK?

Torrington Town Hall is a fine mid-Victorian building and you may wonder why on earth it can be at any risk!  As always, it boils down to money.  The current owners, the Great Torrington Almshouse, Town Lands and Poors Charities (The Town Trust) have carefully maintained it over the years sometimes incurring a cost of £10,000 p.a. but with very little return. It is thus a financial millstone to that Trust and diverts money which should be spent supporting local people and organisations. Its trustees are well aware of this and so is the Charity Commission which has advised that this practice is not part of its charitable objects and must cease. When this substantial funding is cut off the building will quickly become a disused eyesore and fall into disrepair and dereliction. It would bring shame to the community and spell the end of an irreplaceable community asset. It would be a return to the situation reported in the North Devon Journal on 7.5.1857 regarding the Agricultural Show dinner:-

“ The Dinner took place, as usual, at the Town Hall, the floor of the dirty, unsightly, and inconvenient building being propped up for the occasion.” 

The Trustees are grateful to Chris Stacey, Chairman of The Torrington Cavaliers, for this cartoon and his support for the whole project.

Is this how you want to see our Town Hall? Boarded up and up for auction?

WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT?

The Charity Commission has strongly advised that the Town Hall should be owned, managed and maintained by a separate organisation specifically set up for that purpose and charged with making it financially independent. They even drew up a draft constitution for the new body which would be composed of representatives from the ‘Town Trust’, the Town Council, the Community Development Trust and other interested parties. A number of meetings were held with all of these groups and a Charity Commissioner. Gradually it became apparent that the formation of a Building Preservation Trust would be the best path to follow as this would also open links with the Architectural Heritage Fund and the Association of Preservation Trusts and the ability to seek funding and support from many different sources. The Charity Commission agreed to this and The Great Torrington Buildings Preservation Trust (BPT) was created with a remit to take an interest in preserving historic buildings in the Torrington area. The Town Hall became the first project of the new group.

The new Trust was incorporated on 16 October 2003 and is now a registered charity and limited liability company.

The intention is that when funds have been raised for its restoration the Town Trust will legally hand the ownership of the building without charge to the BPT which will then become responsible for supervising its refurbishment and subsequently running and maintaining it as a community asset.

WHO ARE THE TRUSTEES and ADVISORS of the BPT?

This is a community led and inspired project.

THE TRUSTEES

OTHER MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND ADVISORS

The committee seeks advice and help from other members of the community as necessary and is very grateful for this invaluable input.

Since April 2007 the Hon Treasurer, Mr John Beer, has been working away to help drought stricken farmers in New South Wales, Australia with financial advice and pastoral support. John briefly returned to the UK but is now back in Australia.r. He continues to advise us by email. We are grateful to Mrs Cheryl Russell-Cargill for acting on his behalf until his return.

WHAT DOES THE BPT HOPE TO ACHIEVE?

Alongside preserving the Town Hall for future generations it is intended to create a financially self sustaining asset for the whole community of Great Torrington and District and the north Devon region.

Without in any way compromising the architectural and historic integrity of the building it will be physically adapted to allow complete modernisation and installation of a lift and full facilities for the disabled. A new area will be created for use as rental or exhibition space by tastefully glazing and enclosing the large part of the undercroft not required for the public right of way through The Shambles. This will provide a prominent entrance and enhance the appearance of the building. The current ‘garage’ at the rear of the building will continue to be used for storage.

Crucially, the main assembly room/gallery previously housing the town’s Heritage Museum will, once again, be made available for community, social, civic, cultural and, occasionally, commercial purposes. Associated bar and kitchen facilities suitable for outside caterers will be provided to support all manner of functions including wedding receptions. In addition new equipment and furnishings will be acquired to support the newly restored ‘proper’ function of the Town Hall.

This restoration of the former uses of the Assembly Room has been longed for by very many local people ever since the museum took over the use of the area in 1976. This means, regrettably, that the museum will have to be found new premises. The BPT has been striving to help with this ever since its formation and works closely with the museum trustees to this end.P

To support the assembly rooms it will be necessary to provide a substantial block of toilets. This can only be achieved by removing the present asbestos-clad and inadequate toilets and replacing them with new build at the rear of the building alongside the Council Chamber. Further development in this area is unfortunately severely hampered by the presence of an electricity sub-station for which SWEB has a lease for another 50years!

The beautiful oak panelled Council Chamber will continue to be used for Town Council and other important meetings as at present. It is also eminently suitable for civil marriage ceremonies and board meetings for local businesses.

It is intended to run the refurbished Town Hall in close liaison with both the Plough and Beaford Arts Centres to our mutual benefit.

Charges for all the facilities will have to be realistic but, as this is essentially a community project, worthwhile concessions will be made to local organisations and groups using the premises.

The end result will be a facility long wanted in Torrington and District but impossible for many decades.

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