The Shirehall is a building on St Peter's Square,

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It has been designated by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

as 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 ( 55 Geo. 3. c. ix) allowed for ''"erecting a Shire Hall, Courts of Justice and other Buildings, for Public Purposes; and for providing suitable Accommodations for His Majesty's Justices of Assize, in and for the County of Hereford"''. The Shirehall, which was designed by Charles Heather under the instruction of

Sir Robert Smirke Sir Robert Smirke (1 October 1780 – 18 April 1867) was an English architect, one of the leaders of Greek Revival architecture, though he also used other architectural styles (such as Gothic and Tudor). As an attached (i.e. official) arch ...

in the

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 ...

, was completed in 1817. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage facing onto St Peter's Square; the central section featured a

hexastyle A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cultu ...

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

with

Doric order The Doric order is one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of t ...

columns supporting a

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

with

triglyph Triglyph is an architectural term for the vertically channeled tablets of the Doric frieze in classical architecture, so called because of the angular channels in them. The rectangular recessed spaces between the triglyphs on a Doric frieze are ...

s 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 ...

. The principal rooms included a Great Hall, a Grand Jury Room, a library and some courtrooms. A statue of the former

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...

, Sir George Cornewall Lewis, by

Carlo Marochetti Baron Pietro Carlo Giovanni Battista Marochetti (14 January 1805 – 29 December 1867) was an Italian-born French sculptor who worked in France, Italy and Britain. He completed many public sculptures, often in a neo-classical style, plus re ...

was unveiled outside the Shirehall in 1864. Although originally used as a facility for dispensing justice, 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 also became the meeting place of

Herefordshire County Council Herefordshire County Council was the county council of Herefordshire from 1 April 1889 to 31 March 1974. It was based at the Shirehall in Hereford. It was created under the Local Government Act 1888 and took over many of the powers that had pre ...

. The county council met at the Shirehall, but also acquired nearby properties to serve as its offices, notably including a former children's home at 39 Bath Street which was bought by the council and converted into offices in 1936. In a celebrated case at the time, a solicitor, Herbert Armstrong, was tried at the Shirehall and convicted in April 1922 of murdering his wife, Katharine. After the Herefordshire County Council was abolished in 1974, the new authority,

Hereford and Worcester County Council Hereford and Worcester County Council was the county council of the non-metropolitan county of Hereford and Worcester in west England. It came into its powers on 1 April 1974 and was abolished on 31 March 1998. The county council was based at Co ...

was initially based at the Shire Hall in Worcester but moved its base to County Hall in Worcester in 1978. However with the creation of the

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 ...

known as

Herefordshire Council Herefordshire Council is the local authority for the county of Herefordshire in England. It is a unitary authority, combining the powers of a district and county council. History Herefordshire was one of the historic counties of England. Elec ...

in 1998, meetings of the new body with county-wide responsibilities were once again being held at the Shirehall in Hereford. Some council staff relocated from the council's former base at Brockington to the Shirehall in August 2014, so allowing the Shirehall to form part of the "civic hub", along with Hereford Town Hall. A plaque was unveiled by the

Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

Susan Bligh, Countess of Darnley Susan Elaine Bligh, Countess of Darnley, , is the former Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire, having been appointed to the position on 24 October 2008. Along with her husband Lord Darnley, Lady Darnley has been a farmer and landowner in Herefordshir ...

, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Shirehall, in October 2017. The building, which continued to host

Crown Court The Crown Court is the criminal trial court, court of first instance in England and Wales responsible for hearing all indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals of the decisions of magistrates' courts. It is ...

hearings, suffered a ceiling collapse in one of the courtrooms in June 2020; the incident happened on a Sunday when the building was unoccupied and so no staff or members of the public were injured.

References

{{Reflist Grade II* listed buildings in Herefordshire Buildings and structures in Herefordshire 1817 establishments in England H Government buildings completed in 1817

History

See also

References