The Harrogate Council Offices is a municipal building in Crescent Gardens in

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, England.

History

The council offices were commissioned to replace the old town hall in Swan Road which had been built in 1805. After finding that the old town hall was too cramped, civic leaders at

Harrogate Borough Council Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the district and county of North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination; its visitor attractions include its spa waters and RHS Harlow ...

decided to procure new council offices: the site they selected had been occupied by the old Victoria Baths which had been dismantled by the engineer,

Samson Fox Samson Fox, Justice of the peace, JP (11 July 1838 – 24 October 1903) was an English engineer, industrialist and philanthropist. He was elected Mayor of Harrogate in Yorkshire and the building of the Royal College of Music in London was funded ...

, and moved to his home, Grove House. The new building was designed by Leonard Clarke, built at a cost of £40,000 and opened by Philip Cunliffe-Lister MP, the

President of the Board of Trade The president of the Board of Trade is head of the Board of Trade. A committee of the His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, it was first established as a temporary committee of inquiry in the 17th centur ...

, on 31 October 1931. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with 28 bays facing onto the Crescent Gardens with the end bays slightly projected forwards; the central section of three bays, which also slightly projected forward, featured a doorway with a stone surround on the ground floor and the borough

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

above; there were three windows of the first floor flanked by

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 with an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

inscribed with the borough motto "" (English: "A citadel famous for its springs'") and a

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 ...

above. Internally, the principal rooms were the council chamber, the mayor's parlour and the committee rooms. Princess Elizabeth, accompanied by the

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the capital city of Scotland, Edinburgh, is a substantive title that has been created four times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not pr ...

, entered at the council offices and signed the visitor's book during a tour of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

in July 1949. In the 1980s a bunker was constructed under the building to protect civic leaders in the event of a

nuclear attack Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can prod ...

. After the council decided to procure a new civic centre in February 2015, a new building, which was designed by Farrell and Clark and built by Harry Fairclough (Construction) Limited at a cost of £11.5 million, was opened at Knapping Mount in November 2017. The council offices at Crescent Gardens were marketed by estate agents in January 2015, but discussions with the initial preferred bidder broke down after the bidder failed to submit a planning application on a timely basis. The building was then re-marketed and sold to another developer, Impala Estates, in January 2020. Impala Estates revealed proposals to convert the building into offices, together with a gym and a roof garden restaurant, in October 2020.

Notes

References

{{reflist City and town halls in North Yorkshire Government buildings completed in 1931 Buildings and structures in Harrogate