Darlington Town Hall is a municipal building in Feethams,

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

, England. It is the meeting place of

Darlington Borough Council The Borough of Darlington is a unitary authority area with borough status in County Durham, England. Since 1997 Darlington Borough Council has been a unitary authority; it is independent from Durham County Council. It is named after its largest ...

History

In the late 1960s proposals were developed by the

Shepherd Building Group Shepherd Building Group Ltd is a family owned business, based in York, that manufactures, leases and sells modular buildings in the UK and Europe. Its brands include Portakabin and Portaloo. The company was one of the largest privately owned Gen ...

to demolish the town's market hall and redevelop the area: these proposals were supported by the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

administration on the Borough Council. The borough architect, Eric Tornbohm, subsequently developed plans, which were supported by the successor Labour Party administration to create a series of "concrete and glass boxes" in the area. After

Alfred Waterhouse Alfred Waterhouse (19 July 1830 – 22 August 1905) was an English architect, particularly associated with Gothic Revival architecture, although he designed using other architectural styles as well. He is perhaps best known for his designs ...

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

became inadequate, civic leaders decided to construct the first of these "concrete and glass boxes": the site they selected in Feethams had been occupied by the Lead Yard Bus Station which itself had been built on the site of the old Darlington Union Workhouse. The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the

Minister of Housing and Local Government The Ministry of Housing and Local Government was a United Kingdom government department formed following the Second World War, covering the areas of housing and local government. It was formed, as the Ministry of Local Government and Planning, ...

, Anthony Greenwood, on 30 November 1967. It was designed by Williamson, Faulkner Brown and Partners and was opened by

Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950) is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of King ...

on 27 May 1970. The design involved a long concrete tower block facing onto Feethams with another block jutting out of the rear. Internally, the principal room was the council chamber which was decorated with vertical strips of elm wood. A

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

and

stainless steel Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...

structure, intended to depict the resurgence of the area, was designed by John Hoskin and erected outside the town hall. When Princess Anne was asked to unveil a small plaque linked to the structure,

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. He received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, BAFTA Fellowship in 2013 and was knig ...

records in his diaries that she turned to the journalist,

Kate Adie Kathryn Adie (born 19 September 1945) is an English journalist. She was Chief News Correspondent for BBC News between 1989 and 2003, during which time she reported from war zones around the world. She retired from the BBC in early 2003 and ...

, and exclaimed "F*** Me". The plaque referred to "The Spirit of New Darlington" but the structure subsequently became known as "Resurgence". The town hall initially served as the headquarters of Darlington County Borough Council and remained the local seat of government when the enlarged Darlington District Council was formed in 1974. It went on to become the headquarters of the new

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 ...

, in 1997. The council chamber subsequently became an approved venue for marriages and civil partnerships.

References

{{reflist Government buildings completed in 1970 City and town halls in County Durham Buildings and structures in Darlington