Cleethorpes Town Hall is a municipal structure in Knoll Street,

Cleethorpes Cleethorpes () is a seaside town on the estuary of the Humber in North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England with a population of 29,678 in 2021. It has been permanently occupied since the 6th century, with fishing as its original industry ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, England. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Cleethorpes Borough Council, is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

After significant population growth, mainly associated with the seaside tourism industry, Cleethorpes became an

urban district An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...

in 1894. In this context civic leaders decided to procure a council house: the site selected was open land owned by Councillor Henry Kelly. The new building was designed by

Herbert Scaping Herbert C. Scaping (1866–1934) was an architect who worked in Grimsby, Lincolnshire in the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau styles. He was born in Rathfarnham, co Dublin before his family moved to Hull, his only known family are his two daught ...

in the

Baroque style The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (i ...

, built in red brick with stone dressings by Henry Marrows and was opened in 1905. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Knoll Street; the middle bay featured a porch with a rusticated stone surround supporting a

balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

; on the first floor there was a

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass. History ...

which was flanked by two pairs of

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric) ...

columns which supported a

modillion A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a Cornice (architecture), cornice which helps to support them. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally transl ...

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

with a

cartouche upalt=A stone face carved with coloured hieroglyphics. Two cartouches - ovoid shapes with hieroglyphics inside - are visible at the bottom., Birth and throne cartouches of Pharaoh KV17.html" ;"title="Seti I, from KV17">Seti I, from KV17 at the ...

in the centre of the tympanum. Internally, the principal room was the council chamber. The area was advanced to the status of

municipal borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

with the council house as its headquarters in 1936. The council house continued to serve as the headquarters of Cleethorpes Borough Council for much of the 20th century and continued to be the local seat of government after Cleethorpes District Council was formed in 1974.

Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (born Lady Alice Christabel Montagu Douglas Scott; 25 December 1901 – 29 October 2004) was a member of the British royal family. She was the wife of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, the third son of King ...

visited the building, as part of the celebrations to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the founding of the

Royal Lincolnshire Regiment The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was a Line infantry, line infantry regiment of the British Army raised on 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath. In 1751, it was numbered like most oth ...

, on 8 September 1985. In order to accommodate the increasing accommodation requirements of council officers and their departments, new civic offices, designed by William Saunders & Partners in the postmodern style were built to the northeast of the council house and opened in 1987. During the 1980s the building became known as the "Cleethorpes Town Hall": however, it ceased to be the local seat of government when

North East Lincolnshire Council North East Lincolnshire Council is the local authority of North East Lincolnshire, a local government district in the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire, England. The council is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs th ...

became the

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

, with its offices in

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town in Lincolnshire, England with a population of 86,138 (as of 2021). It is located near the mouth on the south bank of the Humber that flows to the North Sea. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes dir ...

, in 1996. The

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

, accompanied by the

Duke of Kent Duke of Kent is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of Great Britain and the United Kingdom, most recently as a royal dukedom for the fourth son of King George V. Since 1942, the title has been held by Prince Edwa ...

, visited the town hall on armed forces day in June 2016. In the town hall there is an iconic statue entitled ''

The Boy with the Leaking Boot ''The Boy with the Leaking Boot'' is a statue showing a young boy, with a bare right foot, holding up his right boot and looking at it. The statue is about tall, and in many cases forms a fountain, with water emerging from the toe of the boot ...

'', which had been given to the town by the Swedish vice-consul, John Carlbom, and installed in Kingsway Gardens, in 1918. After the statue was repeatedly vandalised, it was relocated to the landing half way up the staircase in the town hall and, instead, a replica was installed in Kingsway Gardens.

References

{{reflist Government buildings completed in 1904 City and town halls in Lincolnshire Cleethorpes Grade II listed buildings in Lincolnshire