Summary
Guildhall, originally consisting of a market hall, town-hall chamber and council chamber, built between 1814 and 1816, design by the architect John Nash, clock tower built between 1887 and 1888.
Reasons for Designation
The Guildhall, High Street, Newport, Isle of Wight is listed at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* it has a strong neoclassical design which utilises well contrasting coursed stucco and Bath-stone ashlar dressing;
* the late-C19 clock tower successfully draws on the original design and has well-carved detailing;
* the form of the building continues to express its original multiple municipal roles, including the evidence of the ground-floor double arcading denoting its market hall origins, the public balcony, and the two double-height, first-floor principal chambers.
Historic interest:
* it was designed by John Nash, one of the pre-eminent architects of the late-C18 and early-C19 who had strong links with the Isle of Wight, and is a rare example of his civic work on the List.
Group value:
* occupying a prominent position on the Newport High Street, it has good group value with the surrounding listed buildings on High Street and Quay Street, as well as with other significant buildings including the nearby Church of St Thomas (Grade I).
History
The Guildhall (also referred to before C20 as the Townhall) was built on the site of an earlier free-standing mid-C17 Portland-stone building known as the Audit House, which itself was a replacement for an earlier medieval building. The water supply to the C17 building was discovered below the ground floor of the current Guildhall during works in the 1960s. The C17 building plot was enlarged with the purchase of adjoining land, including a public house (the Crown and Sceptre). The new building was designed to include a ground-floor market hall, and first floor town hall and council chambers. The architect John Nash was commissioned to produce the design.
The renowned architect John Nash (1752-1835) had long associations with the Isle of Wight. In 1791 he purchased an estate in East Cowes and remodelled the existing house to create a larger cottage-orné villa called East Cowes Castle (later demolished); he was living there at the time of this death in 1835. Nash was responsible for the design of other buildings (some demolished or substantially rebuilt) on the island, including the late-C18 North Lodge to East Cowes Castle (Grade II).
Nash waived his fees for the Guildhall project, and later was elected a free burgess in recognition of his work. The building contractors were Messrs Tayler and Moorey and the work was supervised by local architect and builder William Mortimer. Construction began in March 1814 and was completed in March 1816, to a cost of over £10,000. A portrait of Sir Leonard Holmes, MP, for Newport (1812-1825) by William Owen RA (1769-1825), paid for by public subscription, was commissioned to commemorate the building’s completion; the artwork continues to hang in the building. Contemporary accounts of the building’s design were generally favourable. The ground floor contained a market hall which could accommodate vendors’ stalls; it had an open double arcade to the west and south; the ceiling was supported by twelve hollow cast-iron columns, and the floor was paved in Purbeck stone cut with drainage channels. On the north side were two enclosed stairs leading to the upper floors; the principal stair was near the middle of the north elevation, while the smaller stair to the north-west corner was reserved for the use of magistrates. There were two principal rooms on the first floor; the largest was to be used as the town-hall chamber and the smaller space to the west was the council chamber. The dividing wall incorporated a folding partition (later replaced by a permanent partition) located between two imitation-stone columns; this could be opened to form a single space. Paint analysis in 1996 provided evidence for the original colour scheme in the principal rooms, this included oak graining applied to the softwood doors as well as to the skirting and dado rail. The chambers also operated as court rooms, including for regular sessions of the borough court as well as other less frequent courts, all of which made use of movable court fittings. There was also a partial second floor served by the smaller staircase.
Gas lighting was introduced in 1821. In 1823 a plan was drawn for a proposed balcony-gallery within the town-hall chamber; it is unclear if this was undertaken, although a scar is visible on the north wall which appears to roughly correspond with its proposed location. In 1843 a bracketed clock was installed on the south-west corner of the building, and by 1864 a small cupola housing a bell had been added above.
In 1887 a clock tower was added to the south-west corner to mark Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee; construction was completed in 1888. There was some concern at the time that the tower would have a negative impact on the symmetry of the original design; however, it was argued that there was precedent in ancient Greek architecture for asymmetrical designs. The tower was designed by local architect Robert Braxton Perres; the builder was Thomas Jenkins. The south-west corner of the building was refaced in Bath stone as part of the tower’s construction. The clock mechanism was adapted from an 1843 clock by Messers Moore and Sons, with new dials.
By the late C19 the ground-floor market hall area had begun to be re-purposed and subdivided, including the insertion of a fire station into the west end. The inner arcade was gradually infilled with windows and doors. In the early C20 public lavatories were installed along the south side. In the 1930s the fire station was moved to the north-east corner and an ambulance station was installed in its place. Other internal changes included modifications to the arrangement of some of the smaller rooms on the upper levels. Repairs to windows and the clock face were carried out following blast damage caused during the bombing of Newport town centre on 7 April 1943. In 1957 permission was granted for alterations to the ground floor, with designs by Marshall Sisson; this included the creation of a full-width entrance hall to the west, with fibrous plaster columns set around four of the original cast-iron columns, and the movement of partitions in the eastern end to provide office rooms, rooms for court related activities and facilities. The arrangement of doors and windows in the ground-floor’s former inner arcade were also modified.
Between 1967 and 1968 the building was converted for use as the Isle of Wight crown, magistrates’ and county courts. The external stonework was repaired. The interior was remodelled to accommodate three court rooms, as well as the insertion of a row of ground-floor detention cells and a spiral staircase. A steel frame was inserted into part of the ground floor to support the upper levels, allowing for many of the original columns to be removed; four cast-iron columns were recorded as being left in situ. The two first-floor chambers were also converted for use as courts, including the replacement of the central partition with a new sound-proof partition. A new corridor was created on the first floor. At around this time that the main roof slates were replaced with asbestos cement tiles. The chimneystacks and existing ridge vents were removed and additional dormer vents installed. A three-storey L-shaped extension was added to the east, on the site of earlier buildings which had been cleared following bomb damage and acquired by Newport Council in the early 1960s.
The courts moved to a new location in 1994. Permission was granted to convert the Guildhall for use as a museum; the Museum of Island History was opened in August 1996. Court room fittings and partitions were removed and replaced. On the ground floor an exhibition space was created to the east and an entrance hall with visitors’ toilets to the west. The 1960s spiral staircase was removed on the north side of the building; however, the detention cells were retained. The upper levels continued in use as offices and storage. The side doors between the former council chamber and town-hall chamber were blocked and a new central door created.
Details
Guildhall, originally consisting of a market hall, town-hall chamber and council chamber, built between 1814 and 1816, to the designs of the architect John Nash, clock tower built between 1887 and 1888.
MATERIALS: a brick building with coursed stucco and Bath-stone ashlar dressings. The principal pitched roof is covered with asbestos-cement tile and the smaller hipped roof in slate; there are also flat roofs in lead and roofing felt.
PLAN: the building has a wedge-shaped plan, located between the High Street and Quay Street. The former ground-floor market hall, originally with an open arcade to the west and south, has been enclosed and internally subdivided. The first floor consists of the two double-height principal chambers bounded to the north and east by rooms on the first and second floors.
EXTERIOR: the building is two storeys to the west and south, and three storeys to the north and east. It has been built in a Neoclassical style and topped by hipped, gable and flat roofs. Three original lead hoppers of an oblong, moulded design survive.
The west elevation is fronted by a tetrastyle portico. On the ground floor is an arcade with three round arches topped by keystones; there are smaller arches within the portico returns. Beyond the arcade are three corresponding recessed masonry arches which contain a double-leaf entrance door topped by a fan light and flanked by round-arch sash windows. At first-floor level are four Greek Ionic columns supporting a stepped entablature and a pediment with a dentilled cornice and attached flagpole. Within the portico there are three full-length six-over-six sash windows, with glazing bars and rendered lintels; between the columns are sets of cast-iron railings.
To the right of the portico is the 1880s clock tower, clad in Bath stone, with quoins and a rusticated ground-floor arcade. Below the clock faces there are corbelled stone plaques with carved lettering reading ‘VICTORIA’ and recessed panels with the Jubilee date, 1887, depicted in Roman numerals. The clock faces are flanked by clasped Iconic pilasters. Above are pediments and a cupola with small Ionic columns. The building's arcading continues along the south side of the building; the arches on the corners are smaller than the rest. Beyond the arcading are more recessed arches with sash windows. On the first floor there are further Ionic columns with intervening railings, and behind, in the south elevation, is a row of sash windows, as well as oculi in the returns. Above the columns is a stepped entablature and dentilled cornice. To the east is the south elevation of the 1960s three-storey extension, set back from the main elevation; it has round-arch ground-floor sash windows, and flat-arch sash windows to the floors above (six-over-six to the first, and three-over-six to the second).
To the left of the portico is a skewed corner bay with a pair of arches that lead to two doors, one of which provides access to the smaller of the two original staircases. Above, on the north return, is a first-floor oculus and a second-floor sash window. The northern elevation continues along Quay Street. The ground-floor of the original five-window range consists of a row of recessed arches. At the centre is a double-leaf door topped by a fan light and with a timber surround which provides access to the main staircase; it is flanked by a pair of round-arched sash windows to the left and a sash and oculus to the right. Above is a row of first-floor six-over-six sashes and second-floor three-over-six sashes. Further east is the north elevation of the 1960s five-window range with windows in matching styles and a central recessed door. The dentil course and first-floor banding continue along this northern elevation.
INTERIOR: the former market hall on the ground floor is understood to retain four of the original cast-iron columns, encased in later square pillars within the entrance hall. Many of the partitions within this area and the exhibition space are mid-C20 or later, as are the fibrous plaster columns. To the north are various rooms, including the mid-C20 detention cells. There are also the two original staircases with curtail steps, oak handrails and plain iron balusters. The larger central staircase rises from the ground floor, where the floor level has been raised, to the first floor. The stone floor and treads of the smaller north-west stair remains visible; the stair rises to the second floor.
On the first floor are the two principal rooms, the town-hall chamber to the east and smaller council chamber to the west. These rooms retain the original full-height window shutters, and coved ceilings with plasterwork modillion cornice and guilloche band. The rooms have skirting and dado rails which may be original. There are also the remains of later phases of refurbishment including the circular grills from which the chandeliers hang that most likely date to the 1880s ventilation system, and late-C19 Anaglypta or Lincrusta wallpaper on the ceiling of the town-hall chamber. The original chimney pieces were removed in the 1960s. Against the east side of the partition between the two rooms are the original scagliola Corinthian columns, restored in the 1960s; the central part of the partition wall, with a linking door, was replaced in the latter half of the C20, and the original side doors have been infilled. Sections of floorboards in both rooms have also been replaced. There is a scar along the north wall of the town-hall chamber which may have been the location of the early-C19 gallery; a recessed alcove in the second-floor room behind this wall may have been the location of an off-centre access door. Within the council chamber, the paintings on the walls include the portrait of Sir Leonard Holmes, MP. The 1887 bell tower is accessed internally via a door in the council chamber. The tower has a timber staircase with several stages which leads up to the original bell and clock mechanism. The rooms to the north of the chambers have lost their original chimney pieces, and some have been reduced in size to create a corridor. Many of the doors and door frames have been replaced, some replicating earlier styles; at least one original door and surround survives on the second-floor bathroom in the north-west corner. It has not been possible to access the roof voids; it is unclear to what extent the original roof timbers survive.
There are further rooms and a staircase in the 1960's extension, with rooms arranged around a central void and doors which link through to the original range; the interior of this 1960's extension is of lesser interest.
