Lydney Town Hall
{{Short description|Municipal building in Lydney, Gloucestershire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name = Lydney Town Hall
| native_name =
| image = Lydney Town Hall (geograph 5131199).jpg
| caption = Lydney Town Hall
| locmapin =Gloucestershire
| map_caption =Shown in Gloucestershire
| coordinates ={{coord| 51.7231|N| 2.5380|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| location =High Street, Lydney
| area =
| built =1889
| architect = William Howard Seth-Smith
| architecture =Jacobethan style
| website=
}}
Lydney Town Hall is a municipal structure in the High Street, Lydney, Gloucestershire, England. The structure, which is used as an events venue, is listed by the local authority as a "building of local architectural or historical interest".{{cite web|url=https://www.fdean.gov.uk/media/wp2dc0wi/lydney-character-appraisal.pdf |title=Lydney Conservation Area Character Appraisal |page=10|publisher=Forest of Dean Council|access-date=15 November 2021}}
History
In the 1880s, following significant population growth associated with the town's role as a port for the shipment of coal and timber, a group of local businessmen decided to form a company to finance and to erect a town hall.{{cite web|url=http://lydneytownhall.org/about/ |title=About us|publisher=Lydney Town Hall Trust| access-date=15 November 2021}} The land selected for the new building, which was to the immediate south of the market cross, was donated by the lord of the manor, Charles Bathurst (1837–1907) of Lydney Park.
The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the benefactor's son, Charles Bathurst (1867–1958), on 15 December 1888. It was designed by William Howard Seth-Smith in the Jacobethan style, built in rubble masonry and was officially opened by the benefactor's daughter, Mary Bathhurst, in September 1889.{{cite web|url= https://www.visitdeanwye.co.uk/dbimgs/Lydney%20Town%20Heritage%20Walking%20Route%20PDF.pdf |title=Lydney Town Heritage Walk|publisher= Forest of Dean and Wye Valley Tourism| access-date=15 November 2021}} The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto the corner of the High Street and Church Road; the central section of three bays, which was gabled, featured a recessed doorway with an ogee-shaped stone surround flanked by two-light mullioned windows. On the first floor there were two five-light mullioned windows and on the second floor there was a single five-light mullioned window. The outer bays were fenestrated on the ground floor by three-light mullioned windows and the gable was surmounted by a finial. Internally, the principal room was a large assembly hall with a sprung dance floor.{{cite web|url= https://www.grcc.org.uk/village-hall-finder/village-hall/lydney-town-hall |title= Lydney Town Hall|publisher= Gloucestershire Rural Community Council|access-date=15 November 2021}}
After the area became a rural district in 1894,{{cite web|url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10153323 |title=Lydney RD|publisher=Vision of Britain| access-date=15 November 2021}} the new rural district council chose to make the town hall its main meeting place in 1898.{{cite web| first1=A. P.|last1= Baggs |first2= A. R. J. |last2=Jurica|title= 'Lydney', in A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 5, Bledisloe Hundred, St. Briavels Hundred, the Forest of Dean, ed. C R J Currie and N M Herbert |location=London|year=1996|pages= 46–84|publisher=British History Online |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol5/pp46-84 |access-date= 15 November 2021}} The building was used as a Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachment auxiliary hospital for wounded service personnel during the First World War{{cite web|url=https://vad.redcross.org.uk/en/~/media/BritishRedCross/Documents/Who%20we%20are/History%20and%20archives/List%20of%20auxiliary%20hospitals%20in%20the%20UK%20during%20the%20First%20World%20War.pdf |title=List of auxiliary hospitals in the UK during the First World War|publisher=British Red Cross|access-date=4 March 2022}} and it was used as an ARP control centre during the Second World War.
The town hall continued to serve as the local seat of government until the rural district council moved to purpose-built council offices in 1956:{{London Gazette|issue=40959|page=7346|date=28 December 1956}} ownership of the building was then transferred to a board of trustees in 1957. The assembly room continued to be used for public events and performers there included the rock band, The Beatles, who gave a concert in August 1962.{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=tofbDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT51 |title= A Beatles Miscellany: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Beatles but Were Afraid to Ask| first=John |last=Van der Kiste|publisher=Fonthill Media|year=2016|isbn= 978-1781555828}}{{cite web|url= https://www.beatlesbible.com/1962/08/31/live-town-hall-lydney/|title= Town Hall, Lydney|publisher=The Beatles Bible| access-date= 15 November 2021}}{{cite news|url= https://www.theforester.co.uk/article.cfm?id=108188&headline=Did%20you%20see%20The%20Beatles%20when%20they%20rocked%20Lydney%20back%20in%201962?§ionIs=news&searchyear=2018 |title= Did you see The Beatles when they rocked Lydney back in 1962?|date=10 May 2018|newspaper=The Forester| access-date= 15 November 2021}} In 1968, ownership of the building passed to the parish council which, following local government reorganisation in 1974, became known as Lydney Town Council.{{cite web|url=https://www.lydneytowncouncil.co.uk/?page_id=2015 |title=Former mayors|publisher=Lydney Town Council| access-date= 15 November 2021}}