The Glamorgan Building () is a former county hall located at King Edward VII Avenue in

Cathays Park Cathays Park () or Cardiff Civic Centre is a civic centre area in the Cardiff City Centre, city centre of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, consisting of a number of early 20th century buildings and a central park area, Alexandra Gardens. It ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

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 ...

. It was the headquarters of

Glamorgan County Council Glamorgan County Council was established in 1889 together with the administrative county of Glamorganshire under the Local Government Act 1888. The first elections to the council were held in January 1889. The council was abolished under the Loca ...

from 1912 to 1974 and then of Mid Glamorgan County Council from 1974 to 1996. The building, which was acquired by

Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

in 1997 and is now home to the university's School of Social Sciences and the School of Geography and Planning, is a Grade I

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

Design and construction

Following the implementation of the

Local Government Act 1888 The Local Government Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c. 41) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales. It came into effect ...

, which established county councils in every county, it became necessary to find a meeting place for

. Initially the county council used offices in Westgate Street and St Mary Street. After finding this arrangement inadequate, county leaders decided to procure a purpose-built facility: the site they selected at

was acquired from the

Marquess of Bute Marquess of the County of Bute, shortened in general usage to Marquess of Bute, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1796 for John Stuart, 4th Earl of Bute. Family history John Stuart was the member of a family that ...

in 1898. Construction of the new building started in 1909. It was designed by

Vincent Harris Emanuel Vincent Harris (26 June 1876 – 1 August 1971), often known as E. Vincent Harris, was an English architect who designed several important public buildings in traditional styles. Early life He was born in Devonport, Devon, Devon ...

and Thomas Anderson Moodie in the Beaux-Arts

classical style Classical architecture typically refers to architecture consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or more specifically, from ''De architectura'' (c. 10 AD) by the Roman architect Vitruvius. Va ...

following a design competition and was built by Turner & Sons of Cardiff at a cost of £67,724. It was officially opened by the Chairman of the County Council, J. Blandy Jenkins, as Glamorgan County Hall on 19 September 1912. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of seven bays facing King Edward VII Avenue; the central section of five bays featured a large portico with a deeply recessed entrance flanked by a series of pared

Corinthian order The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric or ...

columns. Internally, the principal room was the council chamber. Serving as reminders of Glamorgan's source of wealth, two groups of statues by Albert Hodge, one representing navigation and the other coal mining, were unveiled outside the building. With the

Local Government Act 1929 The Local Government Act 1929 ( 19 & 20 Geo. 5. c. 17) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made changes to the Poor Law and local government in England and Wales. The act abolished the system of poor law unions in England ...

, which transferred more powers to local authorities, a large extension was required. It was built to the south west of the main building to a design by Ivor Jones and Percy Thomas at a cost of £54,054 and opened on 22 September 1932.

Recent history

Following the implementation of the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, which broke up

and established Mid Glamorgan County Council, the new county council took over the building. On 1 April 1996, under the

Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 (c. 19) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which amended the Local Government Act 1972 to create the current local government structure in Wales of 22 unitary authority areas, referred to as ...

, Mid Glamorgan County Council was abolished and the building was acquired by

in 1997 and became home to the university's School of Social Sciences and the School of Geography and Planning. The Glamorgan Record Office, which had been based in the building since 1939, relocated to a purpose-built office in Leckwith next to the Cardiff City football stadium as Glamorgan Archives in 2009.

References

External links

*
The Glamorgan Building, School of Geography and Planning, Cardiff University
{{Government buildings in Wales Buildings by Vincent Harris Cardiff University Cathays Park County halls in Wales Grade I listed buildings in Cardiff Government buildings completed in 1912 1912 in Wales