Caerwys Town Hall () is a municipal building on South Street in

Caerwys Caerwys is a town and community in Flintshire, Wales. It is just under two miles from the A55 North Wales Expressway and one mile from the A541 Mold-Denbigh road. At the 2001 Census, the population of Caerwys community was 1,315, with a tota ...

Flintshire Flintshire () is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, the Dee Estuary to the north-east, the English county of Cheshire to the east, Wrexham County Borough to the south, and Denbighshire to the west. ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. The structure is currently used as a community events venue.

History

The first municipal building in the town was the old town hall which was a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

building on the south side of the High Street, behind Compton House. The building was the meeting place of the borough officials who had convened since the borough was created in 1290. It was in this building that the

eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, a ...

s, arranged by the Mostyn family, took place in 1523 and 1568. Also, the

Gwyneddigion Society The Gwyneddigion Society () was a London-based Welsh literary and cultural society. The original society was founded in 1770 and wound up in 1843. It was briefly revived in 1978. Its proceedings were conducted through the medium of Welsh. Histo ...

made an attempt to restore their annual literary congress there in 1798. However, by the mid-19th century the town hall had been demolished, borough officials were no longer appointed, and the borough was later abolished under the

Municipal Corporations Act 1883 A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...

. In 1874, civic leaders decided to commission a new town hall and to finance it by public subscription. Subscribers included the local member of parliament, Lord Richard Grosvenor. The site they selected was on the east side of South Street. The building was designed in the

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

, built in red brick and was completed in 1885. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of three bays facing onto South Street. The central bay contained an arched doorway with an

archivolt An archivolt (or voussure) is an ornamental Molding (decorative), moulding or band following the curve on the underside of an arch. It is composed of bands of ornamental mouldings (or other architectural elements) surrounding an arched opening, ...

; there were three small arched windows and a date stone in the gable above. The outer bays were fenestrated by two tall arched windows. Internally, the principal rooms were the main hall and the committee room on the first floor. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the building was used as a school for children evacuated from London and other cities. The building was refurbished with a grant from Delyn Borough Council between 1986 and 1987, enabling it to continue to be used as a community events venue with a programme of concerts, theatre performances, and film shows.

References

{{Government buildings in Wales Caerwys City and town halls in Wales Government buildings completed in 1885