Durham Town Hall is a municipal building in the Market Place, Durham, England. It 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

The current complex replaced an earlier timber guildhall on the site which was built in 1356 and replaced by a stone structure commissioned by Bishop

Cuthbert Tunstall Cuthbert Tunstall (otherwise spelt Tunstal or Tonstall; 1474 – 18 November 1559) was an England, English humanist, bishop, diplomat, administrator and royal adviser. He served as Bishop of Durham during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI of ...

in 1535. The earliest part of the current facility is the guildhall which was commissioned by Bishop

John Cosin John Cosin (30 November 1594 – 15 January 1672) was an English bishop. Life He was born at Norwich, and was educated at Norwich School and at Caius College, Cambridge, where he was scholar and afterwards fellow. On taking orders he was appo ...

and dates back to 1665. The town hall was extended in 1752, when George Bowes, the mayor, commissioned extensive alterations to the mayor's parlor. The facade of the town hall was completely refaced in 1754. John Fenwick, a leading

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

, spoke at an emancipation meeting held in the hall in 1826. The complex was extended to the west, i.e. the rear of the guildhall, to create a town hall, which was designed by Philip Charles Hardwick in the

Perpendicular style Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-ce ...

, in 1851. The Great Hall inside the complex is long, is richly panelled and has a

hammerbeam roof A hammerbeam roof is a decorative, open timber roof truss typical of English Gothic architecture and has been called "the most spectacular endeavour of the English Medieval carpenter". They are traditionally timber framed, using short beams proj ...

which is high. The walls of the Great Hall are lined with wooden plaques commemorating some of freemen of the City of Durham including the footballer Sir Bobby Robson, the writer

Bill Bryson William McGuire Bryson ( ; born 8 December 1951) is an American-British journalist and author. Bryson has written a number of nonfiction books on topics including travel, the English language, and science. Born in the United States, he has be ...

and the cleric Archbishop

Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop ...

. The complex also includes the council chamber which was the meeting place of the municipal borough of

Durham and Framwelgate Durham and Framwelgate was a municipal borough with the status of city in County Durham, England. The corporation of the ancient borough of Durham and Framwelgate was reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. The borough was abolished ...

until 1974 and then of Durham District until it was dissolved in 2009; it remains the meeting place of the mayor and aldermen of Durham, who are now appointed by

charter trustees In England and Wales, charter trustees are set up to maintain the continuity of a town charter or city charter after a district with the status of a borough or city has been abolished, until such time as a civil parish council or in larger settle ...

. The adjoining indoor markets, which were built around and underneath the town hall complex, opened on 18 December 1852. Further alterations were made in 2008 including a new public entrance, disabled access and fire protection throughout the complex installed at a cost of £0.8 million. The facility, which was opened to public viewing in November 2018, includes a case displaying some of the belongings of Józef Boruwłaski, a

court dwarf Several dwarfism, dwarfs over the course of history were employed as court dwarfs. They were History of slavery, owned and traded amongst Courtier, people of the court, and delivered as gifts to fellow kings and queens. Visual effect Court dwarfs ...

known as "the Little Count" who wrote the "Memoirs of Count Boruwlask", an autobiography of his life. It also contains the original city charter, the city's civic sword and the pikes of the mayor's personal bodyguard. The scabbard of the civic sword is described as being "of purple velvet, the colour of the old

palatine A palatine or palatinus (Latin; : ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman Empire, Roman times.

of Durham".

History

References

Further reading