Pontypridd Market and Town Hall () is a historic building located on Market Street,

Pontypridd Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...

Rhondda Cynon Taf Rhondda Cynon Taf (; RCT; also spelt as Rhondda Cynon Taff) is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. It consists of five valleys: the Rhondda Fawr, Rhondda Fach, Cynon, Taff () and Ely valleys, ...

in Wales. The structure, which contains a large auditorium which is currently derelict, was built in two parts both of which are 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

In the 1877, a group of local businessmen decided to form a company, to be known as the "Pontypridd Market and Town Hall Company", to finance and commission an indoor market and town hall for Pontypridd. The authority to proceed with this endeavour was contained in an act of parliament, "The Pontypridd Markets, Fairs and Town Hall Act 1877". The initial building was a narrow structure designed in the

Mannerist style Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it. ...

, built in rock-faced stone by William Seaton of Pontypridd at a cost of £1,600 and was completed in 1885. In 1890, the complex was expanded by a new square-shaped building, to the immediate south of the original building, later known as "The Arcade". It was covered by a seven-bay roof. Inside, there was a new market hall on the ground floor and, above it, there was an auditorium which became known as "Pontypridd Town Hall". It provided seating for about 1,700 people. Speakers in the town hall included

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

, who visited Pontypridd in September 1905. Fixed stalls were installed in the market in the 1910s, then the ground floor of the new building became its central hall. It was subsequently surrounded by buildings on all sides and so invisible from outside; entrance was by iron bridges. Two further market halls were added after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and a salesroom was converted into a further hall in 1987, making it the largest indoor market in Wales. Meanwhile, Sir Harry Secombe and

Sir Geraint Evans Sir Geraint Llewellyn Evans CBE (16 February 1922 – 19 September 1992) was a Welsh bass-baritone noted for operatic roles including Figaro in ''Le nozze di Figaro'', Papageno in ''Die Zauberflöte'', and the title role in ''Wozzeck''. Evans wa ...

, supported by the

Côr Meibion Pontypridd Côr Meibion Pontypridd (; "Pontypridd Male Voice Choir", literally "Choir of the Sons of Pontypridd") is a male voice choir from the Pontypridd area of the Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It was formed in 1949 as a traditional Welsh singing choir and ...

, performed in the auditorium, by then known as the "Town Hall Theatre", in November 1959. The town hall theatre closed in 1982. In 2015, a group was formed with plans to restore and divide the theatre, to form two smaller theatres, a cinema, a cafe and a restaurant.

Architecture

The theatre has rendered walls and a slate roof, with a large flytower. The hall is flat and has a balcony and a raised

proscenium arch A proscenium (, ) is the virtual vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor itself, which serves as the frame ...

stage. The ceiling has deep coving and an

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

cornice.

References

{{reflist Pontypridd City and town halls in Wales Grade II listed buildings in Rhondda Cynon Taf Buildings and structures completed in 1885 Market halls Theatres in Wales