{{Short description|Municipal building in Penrith, Cumbria, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Use British English|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox historic site | name =Penrith Town Hall | native_name = | image = Penrith Town Hall.jpg |caption = Penrith Town Hall | locmapin =Cumbria | map_caption =Shown in Cumbria | coordinates ={{coord|54.6667|N|2.7544|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}} | location =Corney Square, [[Penrith, Cumbria|Penrith]] | area = | built =1906 | architect = J. J. Knewstub | architecture =[[Renaissance Revival architecture|Renaissance Revival style]] | designation1 =Grade II Listed Building | designation1_offname = Penrith Town Hall | designation1_date =25 July 2014 | designation1_number = 1420806 | website= }} '''Penrith Town Hall''' is a municipal building in Corney Square, [[Penrith, Cumbria]], England. The structure, which was the headquarters of [[Eden District|Eden District Council]], is a Grade II [[listed building]].<ref name=listed>{{NHLE|desc=Penrith Town Hall |num=1420806|access-date=8 August 2021}}</ref>
==History== The current building has its origins in a pair of identical, late 18th century, [[Neoclassical architecture|neoclassical style]] houses; the left hand building was once occupied by a local clinician, Dr Livingstone, and the right hand house was once occupied by the former [[East Indiaman]] commander, John Wordsworth, who was a cousin of the poet, [[William Wordsworth]].<ref name=listed/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lk4dDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT98 |title=Secret Penrith|first=Andrew Graham|last=Stables|publisher=Amberley Publishing|year=2016|isbn=978-1445653815}}</ref>
Following significant population growth, largely associated with the status of Penrith as a market town, the area became an [[Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland)|urban district]] in 1895.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10137196 |title=Penrith UD|publisher=Vision of Britain| access-date=8 August 2021}}</ref> The new civic leaders decided to acquire the two buildings and to combine them into a single municipal structure.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.explorepenrith.org.uk/cg/panel15/ |title=Coronation Garden|publisher=Explore Penrith| access-date=8 August 2021}}</ref> The [[Scottish Americans|Scottish-American]] [[industrialist]] and [[Philanthropy|philanthropist]], [[Andrew Carnegie]], made a contribution of £1,200 towards the cost of the construction to support the inclusion of a public library.<ref name=listed/> Progress was temporarily delayed when it was thought, incorrectly, that the houses had been designed by [[Robert Adam]]: nevertheless, following the intervention of Canon [[Hardwicke Rawnsley]], much of the interiors of the two houses was retained.<ref name=listed/>
The new structure was designed by the district surveyor, J. J. Knewstub, in the [[Renaissance Revival architecture|Renaissance Revival style]], built in red sandstone from [[Lazonby]] with buff sandstone dressings from [[Stanton Moor]] and was completed in 1906.<ref name=listed/> The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with six bays facing onto Corney Square.<ref name=listed/> The second bay on the left, which slightly projected forward, featured a pair of round headed windows on the ground floor flanked by [[Corinthian order]] [[pilaster]]s supporting an [[entablature]] and a [[balustrade]]; there were two round headed windows on the first floor separated by a Corinthian order column and flanked by Corinthian order pilasters supporting a [[modillion]]ed [[cornice]] and, at roof level, there was a blind [[dormer]] containing a panel bearing the [[coat of arms]] of the town.<ref name=listed/> The fourth bay on the left, which was also elaborate and also slightly projected forward, featured a short flight of steps leading up to a doorway with a [[fanlight]] flanked by pairs of Corinthian order columns and, beyond that, Corinthian order pilasters supporting an entablature inscribed with the words "Town Hall" and a balustrade; there were two round headed windows on the first floor flanked by columns and pilasters supporting a modillioned cornice and, at roof level, there was a dormer window with a broken [[pediment]] and a pair of [[urn]]s.<ref name=listed/> The other bays contained three-light windows on both floors.<ref name=listed/> Internally, the principal room was the council chamber on the first floor.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://democracy.eden.gov.uk/mgLocationDetails.aspx?RID=1 |title=Council Chamber, Town Hall, Penrith|publisher=Eden District Council| access-date=8 August 2021}}</ref>
The new public library was established in a wing on the northwest side of the town hall at the same time that the main building opened, and the [[Penrith and Eden Museum|Penrith Museum]], which had been founded in 1894, also moved into the town hall at that time.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.eden.gov.uk/leisure-culture-and-events/penrith-and-eden-museum/about-the-museum/history-of-the-museum/ |title=History of the Museum|publisher=Eden District Council|access-date=8 August 2021}}</ref>
On 8 June 1920, the town hall was the venue for the coroner's inquiry into the death of the soldier, [[Percy Toplis]], who was alleged to have taken part in the [[Étaples mutiny]] and who later became known as ''[[the Monocled Mutineer]]''; the verdict of the jury was that his death in a gunfight with police was [[justifiable homicide]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sykNEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT80|title=Etaples: Britain's Notorious Infantry Base Depot, 1914-1919|first=Stephen|last=Wynn|publisher=Pen and Sword|year=2020|isbn=978-1473846036}}</ref> During the [[World War II|Second World War]] staff in the town hall administered the accommodation arrangements for the many thousands of people evacuated from the south east to [[Cumberland]] and [[Westmorland]] and a civil defence reporting centre was also established in the basement.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eden.gov.uk/leisure-culture-and-events/penrith-and-eden-museum/local-history/wartime-at-penrith-town-hall/ |title= Wartime at Penrith Town Hall|publisher=Eden District Council| access-date=8 August 2021}}</ref>
The town hall continued to serve as the headquarters of the urban district council for much of the 20th century and remained the local seat of government after the enlarged [[Eden District|Eden District Council]] which was formed in 1974.<ref>{{cite book|title=Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c.70|publisher=The Stationery Office Ltd|isbn=0-10-547072-4|year=1997}}</ref> The museum moved out of the town hall to the Robinson's School Building in Middlegate in July 1985<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.visiteden.co.uk/news/350th-anniversary-of-robinson-s-school-building-home-to-penrith-and-eden-museum/ |title= 350th anniversary of Robinson's School building, home to Penrith and Eden Museum|publisher=Visit Eden| access-date=8 August 2021}}</ref> and the public library moved out of the town hall to facilities previously occupied by the [[Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Penrith|Queen Elizabeth Grammar School]] in St Andrew's Churchyard in 1992.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vCUHDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA149 |title= Planning Public Library Buildings: Concepts and Issues for the Librarian |page=149|first=Michael|last=Dewe|year=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn= 978-0754633884}}</ref> The registrar's office also moved out of the town hall to the library, which then became an approved venue for weddings and civil partnership ceremonies, in 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.cwherald.com/news/bid-to-safeguard-penrith-town-hall-as-community-asset-to-be-debated/ |title= Bid to safeguard Penrith Town Hall as community asset to be debated| date=17 May 2021|newspaper=Cumberland and Westmorland Herald| access-date=8 August 2021}}</ref>
In January 2018, the council considered a plan to erect a modern extension on a car park at the rear of the site.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/news/council-to-sign-off-penrith-town-hall-extension/ |title= Council to sign off Penrith Town Hall extension|date=18 January 2018|newspaper=Place North West| access-date=8 August 2021}}</ref> This was not implemented. Then, in March 2021, the council appointed consultants to develop an alternative proposal involving the redevelopment of the town hall as a creative asset.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://cumbriacrack.com/2021/03/10/eden-district-council-appoints-contractors-to-explore-redevelopment-of-penrith-town-hall/ |title= Eden District Council appoints contractors to explore redevelopment of Penrith Town Hall|date=10 March 2021|newspaper=Cumbria Crack| access-date=8 August 2021}}</ref> However, in May 2021 the council also decided to grant the building [[Asset of community value|community asset]] status, so giving the community the right to acquire the building if it ever came to be offered for sale.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cwherald.com/news/penrith-town-hall-granted-community-asset-status/ |title=Penrith Town Hall granted community asset status|date=23 May 2021|newspaper=Cumberland and Westmorland Herald| access-date=8 August 2021}}</ref>
The building ceased to be the local seat of government on 1 April 2023, when Eden District Council was abolished and its functions transferred to the new authority, [[Westmorland and Furness Council]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://newcouncilsforcumbria.info/FutureforCumbriancouncils.asp |title=Local Government Reorganisation. Delivering Two New Councils for Cumbria |accessdate=1 January 2022}}</ref> The building continued to house some offices of the new council until June 2024, when the council moved its Penrith-based staff and services to Voreda House, a refurbished office building behind the town hall.<ref>{{cite news |title=Penrith's Voreda House set to open its doors for first time |url=https://cumbriacrack.com/2024/06/13/penriths-voreda-house-set-to-open-its-doors-for-first-time/ |access-date=25 July 2024 |work=Cumbria Crack |date=13 June 2024}}</ref>
==See also== * [[Listed buildings in Penrith, Cumbria]]
==References== {{reflist}}
[[Category:Government buildings completed in 1906]] [[Category:City and town halls in Cumbria]] [[Category:Penrith, Cumbria]] [[Category:Grade II listed buildings in Cumbria]]