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An anniversary tale |
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An anniversary tale |
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The Autumn 2007 Newsletter of Cheshire Archives & Local Studies includes a story headed ‘Happy Birthday County Hall!’ which caught our attention. July 2007 marked the 50th anniversary of Cheshire’s County Hall. It opened nearly seventy years after the county council was established in 1889, so why did it take so long? Basically, the new council got by using the offices of other organisations, but by 1930 its increasing range of duties and responsibilities made this increasing difficult, so a ‘Permanent Accommodation for Staffs Sub-Committee’ was established. After a couple of diversions along the way, the council finally made a decision in 1935 to develop a scheme for offices by Chester Castle at an estimated cost of £136,000. Work on Cheshire County Hall commenced in June 1938 and by the time that the Second World War intervened building work had reached 2nd floor level — which is where it stayed until 1954 when the government finally authorised the necessary loans for the building’s completion, including an extra floor and an annexe. On 11 July 1957 the Queen formally opened Cheshire County Hall. It had taken a long time to get there and in the end cost about £677,000. What makes the story endearing is that whilst one admires the tenacity of those involved in the project, you also know that it is not an uncommon tale, nor will anyone knowing this story ever see the building without thinking of its long gestation period! I wonder if any other county hall took as long to build? The pictures accompanying this story have been provided by Cheshire and Chester Archives and Local Studies. Thanks to Mike Eddison, who also provided the captions.
A rear view. It shows part of the the 1788–1822 Greek Revival architecture of Thomas Harrison — the Gatehouse at the right, the Shire Hall and Crown Court at the centre and the barracks of the Cheshire Regiment (now housing the Military Museum) to the left. Behind the barracks can be seen St Mary's Church and just to the right of that the two small columns mark the rear entrance of the present County Hall. The courtyard, where soldiers can be seen drilling, is now used as a car park.
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7 December 2007 An artist's impression of Cheshire County Hall prior to construction, viewed from the south-east across the Dee Bridge. |
