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Okehampton Town Hall

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Municipal building in Okehampton, Devon, England

Okehampton Town Hall
Okehampton Town Hall
LocationFore Street, Okehampton
Coordinates50°44′21″N 4°00′12″W / 50.7391°N 4.0033°W / 50.7391; -4.0033
Built1685
Architectural style(s)Neoclassical style
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameTown Hall, Fore Street
Designated5 February 1952
Reference no.1105855
Okehampton Town Hall is located in DevonOkehampton Town HallShown in Devon

Okehampton Town Hall is a municipal building in Fore Street, Okehampton, Devon, England. The town hall, which is the meeting place of Okehampton Town Council, is a Grade II* listed building.

History

The first municipal building in the town was a medieval guildhall in Middle Row which itself was located in the centre of Fore Street. By the early 19th century Middle Row was in a dilapidated state and, in 1800, legislation was enacted giving authority to the borough council to demolish the whole street.

The current building was commissioned by John Northmore, an attorney to the Court of King's Bench. It was designed in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar granite and was completed in 1685. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Fore Street; the central bay featured a doorway flanked by pilasters supporting a canted bay window with an ogee-shaped roof on the first floor; there was a sash window with a cornice supported by consoles on the second floor. The outer bays were fenestrated with sash windows on all three floors. At roof level, there was a modillioned cornice which was broken to create an open pediment above the central bay. Internally, the principal room was a large wooden panelled reception room on the ground floor.

The building was acquired by the local member of parliament, John Luxmoore, in 1740. It then passed down the Luxmoore family until it was acquired by the borough council for use as a town hall in 1821. A carving of the borough coat of arms, finished in gold and silver leaf, was installed in the open pediment. Okehampton had a very small electorate and two dominant patrons, who in the 18th century were Thomas Pitt and the Duke of Bedford, which meant it was recognised by the UK Parliament as a rotten borough. Its right to elect members of parliament was removed by the Reform Act 1832 and its borough council, which continued to meet in the town hall, was reformed under the Municipal Corporations Act 1883.

A classroom for teaching science and technology was established in the town hall in 1893. The town hall continued to serve as the headquarters of the borough council for much of the 20th century, but ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged West Devon District Council was formed at Tavistock in 1974. It instead became the meeting place of Okehampton Town Council.

Works of art in the town hall include three paintings by Richard Caton Woodville Jr. depicting Saladin's cavalry charging the Crusaders, Napoleon and his marshals watching a battle and a 19th-century cavalry charge. There is also a portrait of an old man by Gaspar de Crayer entitled Memento mori, a painting by John Frederick Herring Sr. depicting a farmyard and a still life painting by Cornelis de Heem.

See also

References

  1. ^ Historic England. "Town Hall, Fore Street (1105855)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  2. Young, Edward H. (1930). Okehampton. Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art. p. 76.
  3. Journals of the House of Commons. Vol. 55. UK Parliament. 1799. p. 218.
  4. "Northmore, Thomas (c.1643-1713), of St. Thomas Nigh, Exeter, Devon and the Inner Temple". History of Parliament. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  5. "Okehampton Town Hall". Heritage Gateway. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  6. "Okehampton Town Hall". Studio OK. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  7. "The Constituencies". History of Parliament. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  8. "The History of Politics: The Rotten Boroughs of England". Julia Herdman Books. 21 April 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  9. Municipal Corporations Act 1883 (46 & 46 Vict. Ch. 18) (PDF). 1883. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  10. "Okehampton MB". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  11. "Okehampton". Kelly's Directory of Devon. 1902. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  12. "No. 45930". The London Gazette. 16 March 1973. p. 3540.
  13. Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c.70. The Stationery Office Ltd. 1997. ISBN 0-10-547072-4.
  14. "Welcome". Okehampton Town Council. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  15. Woodville, Richard Caton. "Saladin's Cavalry Charging the Crusaders". Art UK. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  16. Woodville, Richard Caton. "Napoleon and His Marshals Watching a Battle". Art UK. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  17. Woodville, Richard Caton. "A Cavalry Charge". Art UK. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  18. de Crayer, Gaspar. "Memento mori". Art UK. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  19. Herring, John Frederick. "Farmyard". Art UK. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  20. de Heem, Cornelis. "Still Life with Grapes, Peaches and a Bohemian Glass Goblet". Art UK. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
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