Northampton Guildhall
Encyclopedia
Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
, England.
Original building
It was built to the design of Edward William GodwinEdward William Godwin
Edward William Godwin was a progressive English architect-designer, who began his career working in the strongly polychromatic "Ruskinian Gothic" style of mid-Victorian Britain, inspired by The Stones of Venice, then moved on to provide designs in the "Anglo-Japanese taste" of the Aesthetic...
begun when he was only 28 between 1861 and 1864 in neo-gothic
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
style. As well as housing Northampton Borough Council, it is also used for a variety of civic purposes, such as weddings or civil partnerships. The building also houses the records of births, marriages and deaths. Historically the building had a court
Court
A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...
, now used as a meeting room known as the court room and prison cells in the basement. The basement is quite extensive and quite eerie in places. There is also a hidden room in the attic accessible via a secret staircase and this was possibly once the home of a caretaker or other similar worker. There is an impressive Great Hall
Great hall
A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, nobleman's castle or a large manor house in the Middle Ages, and in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries. At that time the word great simply meant big, and had not acquired its modern connotations of excellence...
with walls decorated in 1925 by Colin Gill. These represent famous men connected with the town. There are also murals painted in 1949 by Henry Bird
Henry Bird (artist)
thumb|220px|right|[[Conversion of St Paul]], a mural by Henry Bird painted in 1973, in [[Denton, Northamptonshire|St Margaret's Church, Denton]]Henry Bird was a British artist from Northampton who painted murals and female nudes. He went to the Royal College of Art and then designed sets at the...
of "The Muses Contemplating Northampton".
Extensions
The Guildhall has been extended twice. The original part of the building was symmetrical with three first-floor windows either side of the main entrance. The west wing was extended in the same style as the original between 1889-92 by Matthew Holding. Despite the shifting architectural trends between the 1860s and the 1890s, the extension was done with great care to match the existing building, and today the joint is hardly perceptible. In 1992 a further, more modern extension was made to the east wing. This later extension was made to be sympathetic to the style of the rest of the building and the final choice made by public ballot from a list of several alternatives. It comprises two storeys of offices around a courtyard with cloisters to the east linking it with the existing building.Description
The building's facade is decorated with a number of statues and friezes. The statues are mostly of monarchs who either visited Northampton or have an historical connection with the town, and there are also statues of St George of England, St Andrew of ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and St Patrick of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The lobby of the east extension has a statue of Spencer Perceval
Spencer Perceval
Spencer Perceval, KC was a British statesman and First Lord of the Treasury, making him de facto Prime Minister. He is the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated...
, a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Northampton and the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated.
The building is Grade II* listed.
Princess Diana memorial
Although born in NorfolkNorfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, Diana came to Althorp
Althorp
Althorp is a country estate of about and a stately home in Northamptonshire, England. It is about north-west of the county town of Northampton. The late Diana, Princess of Wales is buried in the estate.-History:...
, just north of Northampton. when her father Earl Spencer moved to the family seat there on the death of his father and Diana spent most of her childhood there. A plaque on the eastern extension marks the fact that Diana was made a Freeman
Freeman
- Things :* An individual not tied to land under medieval serfdom, unlike a villein or serf* A person who has been awarded Freedom of the City or "Freedom of the Company" in a Livery Company* Freeman * Freeman...
of the Borough of Northampton in 1989, marking her and her family's strong connections with the town and with Althorp where she is buried.
The plaque below the memorial reads: "The memorial above was unveiled by the 9th Earl Spencer
Earl Spencer
Earl Spencer is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain that was created on 1 November 1765, along with the title Viscount Althorp, of Althorp in the County of Northamptonshire, for John Spencer, 1st Viscount Spencer, a great-grandson of the 1st Duke of Marlborough...
in memory of his sister, 7 November 2002 in the presence of the Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Northampton, Michael Geoffrey Boss".