The Rolls Hall,

Whitecross Street Whitecross Street is a short street in London Borough of Islington, Islington, in Inner London. It features an eponymous street market and a large housing estate. Since 2010, there has been an annual Whitecross Street Party one weekend in the ...

Monmouth Monmouth ( or ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated on where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8 ...

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

is a Victorian hall, now

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

, donated to the town in celebration of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

Golden Jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali language, ...

by John Rolls, the future Lord Llangattock. It is a

Grade II 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 ...

listed building as of 8 October 2005, and is one of 24 buildings on the

Monmouth Heritage Trail The Monmouth Heritage Trail is a walking route which connects various sights in the town of Monmouth, Wales. History In 2009 Monmouth Civic Society identified 24 historic and interesting buildings in the town, and organised the production and fix ...

.Monmouth Civic Society, ''Monmouth Heritage Blue Plaque Trail'', n.d., p.14

History

The hall was constructed in 1887-8 by F. A. Powell in a Jacobean style, at a cost of £8,000.Keith Kissack, ''Monmouth and its Buildings'', Logaston Press, 2003, , p.64 The materials are

Old Red Sandstone Old Red Sandstone, abbreviated ORS, is an assemblage of rocks in the North Atlantic region largely of Devonian age. It extends in the east across Great Britain, Ireland and Norway, and in the west along the eastern seaboard of North America. It ...

and

Forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

.John Newman, ''The Buildings of Wales: Gwent/Monmouthshire'', Penguin Books, 2000, , p.408 The Rolls family of The Hendre were substantial Monmouthshire landowners and benefactors to the town, and attended the building's opening on 24 May 1888. The building was designed by F.A.Powell who was the eldest son of the Mayor of Monmouth, Mr Champney Powell. The hall was given to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee in 1888. A new organ was installed in 1889 which had novel additions to its design by William Sweetland, and the following year several paintings were installed. In September 1890, a successful Fine Art and Industrial Exhibition was held in the building; the catalogue can be seen in the Monmouth Museum. Between 1897 and 1903, the Hall was used for a number of plays staged by the actor, director and impresario

Ben Greet Sir Philip Barling Greet (24 September 1857 – 17 May 1936), known professionally as Ben Greet, was a British William Shakespeare, Shakespearean actor, director, impresario and actor-manager. Early life The younger son of Captain William Gre ...

In 1963 the organ was inspected by an organ tuner who declared it to be useless. Water had affected the sounding boards and the instrument was falling to pieces. This was reported in the local paper but the organ remained in place for at least three years when the hall was used as a

dance hall Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for Dance, dancing, but usually refers to a specific type of twentieth-century venue, with dance clubs (nightclubs) becoming more popular towards the end of the century. The palais de danse was a term ap ...

, and later as a

night club A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

. In 1992, the building became used for the town's public library, which had previously been located at the Shire Hall. The Library was refurbished in 2010 with a £210,000 grant from the Museums Archives and Libraries: Wales, which matched funding from the

County Council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

. The library still honours its original benefactors as large full length portraits of

John Rolls, 1st Baron Llangattock John Allan Rolls, 1st Baron Llangattock, (19 February 1837 – 24 September 1912) was a British landowner, Conservative Party politician, socialite, local benefactor and agriculturalist. He lived at The Hendre, a Victorian country house ...

, his wife Lady Llangattock and his son

John Rolls, 2nd Baron Llangattock John Maclean Rolls, 2nd Baron Llangattock (25 April 1870 – 31 October 1916) was a British barrister and army Major. Biography Rolls was son of John Rolls, 1st Baron Llangattock, and his wife Georgiana Marcia Maclean. He was born in London, b ...

are the main decoration on one wall. However the floor mosaic, that showed the Rolls and Monmouth symbols linked together, is now exhibited on another wall. In 2012 the library installed QRpedia codes to each bookcase as their part of the " MonmouthpediA" project which provides visitors with information about all aspects of the town.Wikipedia project to cover life in Monmouth
BBC News, 30 December 2011 The staff also installed these codes in dozens of books that linked to the book's author.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rolls Hall, Monmouth History of Monmouthshire Buildings and structures in Monmouth, Wales Grade II listed buildings in Monmouthshire Tourist attractions in Monmouthshire Organisations using QRpedia Buildings and structures completed in 1888