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Municipal building in Carlisle, Cumbria, England From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Old Town Hall is a municipal building in the Market Place, Carlisle, England. It is a Grade I listed building.[1]
Old Town Hall, Carlisle | |
---|---|
Location | Market Place, Carlisle |
Coordinates | 54.8948°N 2.9358°W |
Built | 1669 |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
Designated | 1 June 1949 |
Reference no. | 1218104 |
The current building was commissioned to replace an earlier "moot hall" on the site which dated back to 1345.[2] The new building, with commercial facilities on the ground floor and assembly rooms on the first floor, was completed in 1669.[1] It was extended to the east with an extra section incorporating a clock tower in 1717[3] and to the west with an extra three-storey section in the 19th century.[1] The market cross in front of the town hall, which was designed by Thomas Machell and carved from stone by Thomas Addison, with its sundial and a lion holding a scroll with the city's coat of arms, was erected in 1682.[4]
In 1853 the first pillar box in the United Kingdom was installed nearby and a replica "Penfold" pillar box, in the style of the original post boxes designed by William Penfold with acanthus leaves, balls and the Royal coat of arms,[5] was subsequently erected outside the town hall to commemorate this.[6] The original clock in the tower of the town hall, which had been made by John Sanderson of Wigton, was replaced with a modern mechanism, made by Potts of Leeds, in 1900.[7]
The assembly rooms were used for the courts of assize until 1881 and magistrates' courts were held there until 1941.[2] Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, visited the building to mark the city's 800th anniversary and signed the visitors' book there in October 1958.[8][9][10]
The building remained the headquarters of the County Borough of Carlisle until the council moved to Carlisle Civic Centre in Rickergate in March 1964.[11] After the building became vacant, a tourist information centre was established on the first floor.[12]
A major restoration of the building, involving asbestos removal, repairs to the roof and improved disabled access, was carried out at a cost of £0.5 million in 2013.[12] A 17th-century court book was discovered in the clock tower during the restoration work.[13] Further improvements, involving restoration of the original wood panelling and fireplaces, was carried out in the assembly rooms in 2017; the assembly rooms hosted the first wedding in the building's history later that year.[14]
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