Old Town Hall, Carlisle

54°53′41″N 2°56′09″W / 54.8948°N 2.9358°W / 54.8948; -2.9358Built1669Designated1 June 1949Reference no.1218104

The Old Town Hall is a municipal building in the Market Place, Carlisle, England. It is a Grade I listed building.^[1]

History

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]

References