Wisbech Town Hall is a historic building on North Brink,

Wisbech Wisbech ( ) is a market town, inland port and civil parish in the Fenland District, Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bordering Norfolk and ...

Isle of Ely The Isle of Ely () is a historic region around the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely in Cambridgeshire, England. Between 1889 and 1965, it formed an Administrative counties of England, administrative county. Etymology Its name has been said to ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

, England. The building incorporates the offices, council chamber and mayor's parlour of

Wisbech Town Council Wisbech Town Council is a Parish councils in England, parish council covering the town of Wisbech in England. It is the successor to the Wisbech Municipal Borough. The Council is based at Wisbech Town Hall, 1 North Brink, Wisbech where its com ...

, and is 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 first town hall in Wisbech was a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

building in Hill Street which dated from the 14th century. It was used as a guildhall and also as the local school from early days; following the

English Reformation The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...

, the school was renamed

Wisbech Grammar School Wisbech Grammar School is an 11–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, Church of England, Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Day school, day and boarding school in Wisbech, Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. Founded by the Gui ...

and re-established there in 1549. The current building in North Brink was commissioned as an Exchange Hall: it was designed by

Joseph Medworth Joseph Medworth a son of Simon Medworth (1723-1761), a ropemaker, and Anna Lampson (b. 1725) was born in Wisbech in 1752. He was apprenticed as a brick-layer and moved to London. He returned as a successful developer and bought Thirloe's mansion ...

in the

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

, built in

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 ...

stone and completed in 1811. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto the North Brink; the central section of three bays, which slightly projected forward, was arcaded on the ground floor. The first floor featured

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass. History ...

s which were flanked by

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric) ...

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s supporting 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 ...

with a carving of

cross keys Cross Keys or Crosskeys may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Crosskeys, Wales ** Crosskeys railway station ** Crosskeys College, a campus of Coleg Gwent * The Cross Keys (disambiguation), several pubs in the United Kingdom * Cross Keys Inn, a ...

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

in the tympanum. The ground floor was originally used as a

corn exchange A corn exchange is a building where merchants trade grains. The word "corn" in British English denotes all cereal grains, such as wheat and barley; in the United States these buildings were called grain exchanges. Such trade was common in towns ...

and the first floor operated as gentlemen's club. There were three cellars under the building and a lean-to building at the north end. The arcading was considered no longer necessary within two decades and was infilled in 1831. The then Princess Victoria, accompanied by her mother, the

Duchess of Kent Duchess of Kent is the principal Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Kent. There have been four titles referring to Kent since the 18th century. The current duchess is Katharine, Duchess of Kent ...

, visited the town and stopped on the riverside before crossing the old Wisbech Bridge to receive a copy of William Watson's ''historical account of the ancient town and port of Wisbech'' from the bailiff, Henry Leach, on 22 September 1835. Following the incorporation of the town as a

municipal borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

at the end of 1835, the building became the local town hall in 1836, and a council chamber was established on the first floor of the building. Magistrates' court hearings, which had been held in a first floor room in the Butter Market, were moved to more substantial facilities in the town hall in 1854. The building was extended to the rear to a design by

Bellamy and Hardy Bellamy and Hardy was an architectural practice in Lincoln, England, that specialised particularly in the design of public buildings and non-conformist chapels. Pearson Bellamy had established his own architectural practice by 1845 and he ent ...

to accommodate the extra space required by the justices in 1857. A new bridge across the

River Nene The River Nene ( or ) flows through the counties of Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, and Norfolk in Eastern England from its sources in Arbury Hill in Northamptonshire. Flowing Northeast through East England to its mouth at Lutt ...

was constructed in front of the town hall and was opened by the mayor, Thomas Steed Watson, on 9 November 1857. By 1909 the building was advertised as a skating rink. The building also served as a

drill hall A drill hall is a place such as a building or a hangar where soldiers practise and perform military drills. Description In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, the term was used for the whole headquarters building of a military reserve unit, ...

for a number of

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

units. In 1862 it was the venue for a parade by the Second Cambridgeshire (Wisbech) Rifle Volunteers, renamed E Company (Wisbech) 1st Rifle Volunteers in 1880. In 1889, it was the venue for the annual inspection of the unit, which was now renamed E Company (Wisbech Detachment) of the 3rd Cambridgeshire Volunteer Battalion,

Suffolk Regiment The Suffolk Regiment was an infantry regiment Line infantry, of the line in the British Army with a history dating back to 1685. It saw service for three centuries, participating in many wars and conflicts, including the World War I, First and ...

. During

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 ...

the building was a headquarters for the 2nd Battalion of the

Cambridgeshire Regiment The Cambridgeshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army, and was part of the Territorial Army. Originating in units of rifle volunteers formed in 1860, the regiment served in the Second Anglo-Boer War and the First and Seco ...

. It also served as a

British Restaurant British Restaurants were communal kitchens created in 1940 during the Second World War to help people who had been bombed out of their homes, had run out of ration coupons or otherwise needed help. In 1943, 2,160 British Restaurants served 600,0 ...

during the Second World War. On 17 February 1946 a "Cambridgeshire Regiment Weekend" was held, to which everyone who had served in either battalion during the war was invited. On the Saturday, a separate reunion took place for each battalion, the 1st Battalion in Cambridge Drill Hall and the 2nd Battalion in the Wisbech Corn Exchange. On the following day, the two battalions were brought by special trains to Ely and marched up to the Cathedral for a Service of Thanksgiving and Remembrance. In the 1960s the town hall became a popular concert venue and performers included the

rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

, in July 1963. The proprietor Norman Jacobs MBE also set up skating rinks, would run Saturday night dances and helped to bring some of the other biggest names in show business to the Corn Exchange among those were

Ken Dodd Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd (8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) was an English stand-up comedy, comedian, actor and singer. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer" and was primarily known for his live stand-up comedy, stand-up pe ...

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer *Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...

Frankie Vaughan Frankie Vaughan (born Frank Fruim Abelson; 3 February 1928 – 17 September 1999) was an English singer and actor who recorded more than 80 easy listening and traditional pop singles in his lifetime. He was known as "Mr. Moonlight" after his ...

and

the Hollies The Hollies are an English rock and pop band formed in Manchester in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Singer Allan Clarke and ...

, although he turned down

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

because they were too expensive at the time. It remained the headquarters of Wisbech Borough Council for much of the 20th century, but ceased to be their local seat of government when

Fenland District Council Fenland may mean: * Fenland, or the Fens, an area of low-lying land in eastern England ** Fenland District, a local authority district in Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England, forming part of the Fens ** Fenland Airfield, an airfield near Spalding, ...

was formed on 1 April 1974 when the local councils were merged. It subsequently became the meeting place of

. In 2017 the Wisbech Corn Exchange Conservation Trust was established with the objective of preserving the building: some open days were held allowing limited access to parts of the building which had been closed for years. Works of art in the town hall include a portrait of the

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

Thomas Clarkson Thomas Clarkson (28 March 1760 – 26 September 1846) was an English abolitionist, and a leading campaigner against the slave trade in the British Empire. He helped found the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade (also known ...

, by Samuel Lane, a portrait of the former local member of parliament, Alderman Richard Young, by

Hugh Ford Crighton Hugh Ford Crighton (1824–1886) was a successful Scottish portrait artist in the 19th century. Largely known for commissioned portraits, the works (which frequently appear at auction) are largely now "anonymous" in their subject matter as the sit ...

of Sheffield and a portrait of the former

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

Viscount Hampden Viscount Hampden is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of Great Britain and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation came in the Peerage of Great Britain when the diplomat and politician Robert Hampden, ...

, by an unknown artist.

History

References

Further reading