Llangefni Town Hall
| Llangefni Town Hall | |
|---|---|
| Native name Neuadd y Dref Llangefni (Welsh) | |
 North facade of Llangefni Town Hall and the Town Clock | |
| Location | Llangefni |
| Coordinates | 53°15′20″N 4°18′39″W / 53.2555°N 4.3108°W |
| Built | 1884 |
| Architectural style(s) | Neo-Gothic style |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
| Designated | 10 November 1986 |
| Reference no. | 5738 |
  Shown in Anglesey | |
Llangefni Town Hall (Welsh: Neuadd y Dref Llangefni) is a civic building dating back to the mid 19th-century, in the town of Llangefni, Anglesey, Wales. It is a Grade II listed building.
Description
[edit]Llangefni Town Hall is located in the centre of the town with its main three-bay Neo-Gothic facade facing onto the south side of Bulkeley Square. It has a 6-window length range to the rear. The tall two-storey building is constructed of limestone, with a slate roof and decorative terracotta ridge tiles.[1] The Town Hall is Grade II listed, being a prominent town building which forms a visual grouping with the nearby Town Clock (erected 1902) and Bull Hotel.[1]
The front elevation has an arched main entrance centrally at ground floor level, over which is a first floor balcony and parapet. At first floor level is a tall central traceried window and, above that, an arched recess which once contained a clock.[1]
History
[edit]The building is known to date from before 1887/8[1] and variously claimed to date from 1841[2] or 1871.[3] Llangefni Town Council states that the town hall was opened on 10 March 1884.[4][note 1] In 1895, it became the administrative centre for Llangefni Urban District Council,[5] continuing to be so until 1974 when local authority reorganisation led to the Shire Hall in Llangefni being re-designated the "Borough Council Offices" and becoming the headquarters of the new Ynys Mon Borough Council.[6][7] At county level Anglesey was incorporated into Gwynedd in 1974 and the county council headquarters moved to Caernarfon.[8] Brand new council offices were built at Llangefni in the 1990s for the new unitary authority, Isle of Anglesey County Council.[8]
On 17 November 1992 the building was gutted by fire, with the roof and the whole interior severely damaged. Repairs cost £1 million and took three years to complete.[9] The building remained largely unused, in 2004 the county council invited declarations of interest from private developers to use the building more effectively.[10] By 2008 the building was costing the council £30,000 a year. A planning application was considered to introduce retail units and new offices to the building.[2] In 2012 £170,000 was secured to refurbish the building, with the intention of it housing Menter Môn and creating 40 jobs for the town centre.[3] In 2015 the newly refurbished town hall won the Community Benefit category of the Wales RICS Awards.[11] It was one of five UK projects nominated for the RICS Awards 2015 Grand Final.[12]
Notes
[edit]- ^ An article "Newyddion Cymreig – Llangefni" in Y Llan (p. 6) on 14 March 1884 says "it was mentioned some time ago about a hall built in our town by Sir Richard Bulkeley, Baron Hill. It is a beautiful room, one hundred feet long, and forty five feet wide. The room accommodates nearly two thousand people, and under it there are various sites for the traders, which are already laid out... The building will undoubtedly be a great asset to Llangefni. On Monday, the 10th of this month, the opening meeting of the Independents' eisteddfod was held, in the form of a concert... Eleazar Williams, rector of the place, had a numerous assembly, and a good recital."
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Town Hall – A Grade II Listed Building in Llangefni, Isle of Anglesey". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
- ^ a b Elgan Hearn (16 July 2008). "Future of Llangefni Town Hall debated". North Wales Post. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ a b David Powell (28 February 2012). "Llangefni town hall gets a £170k boost". North Wales Post. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ "The History of Llangefni – 1800s". Llangefni Town Council. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ "Llangefni UD". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
- ^ "No. 48503". The London Gazette. 23 January 1981. p. 1089.
- ^ "Isle of Anglesey Borough Council". Retrieved 22 October 2021.
- ^ a b Jones, Geraint; Rowlinson, Gwenllian Jones (2015). "Llangefni". Anglesey Towns & Villages (Internet ed.). Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4456-5153-8. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ Rhodri Barker (20 October 2010). "How Llangefni town hall was "destroyed" by fire". North Wales Post. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ "Confusion over town hall's fate". BBC News. 11 November 2004. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ "Top RICS honour for outstanding project". Premier Construction News. 17 July 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
- ^ "Loudoun Square and Llangefni Town Hall among five Welsh projects in the RICS Awards". Wales Online. 3 August 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Llangefni Town Hall at Wikimedia Commons
