Newcastle Town Hall
{{Short description|Municipal building in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England}}
{{Distinguish|Newcastle City Hall}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name =Newcastle Town Hall
| native_name =
| image =Newcastle upon Tyne Town Hall.jpg
| caption =The Town Hall
| locmapin = Tyne and Wear
| map_caption =Shown in Tyne and Wear
| coordinates ={{coord|54.97052|N|1.61221|W|region:GB-BKM_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| location = Newcastle upon Tyne
| area =
| built =1863
| demolished=1973
| architect =John Johnstone
| architecture =Italian neoclassical style
| governing_body =
}}
The Town Hall was a local government building located in St Nicholas Square, Newcastle upon Tyne. It was the headquarters of Newcastle City Council until November 1968.
History
File:Newcastle St Nicholas and the Corn Exchange, 1854.jpg
In the 1830s, a group of local businessmen decided to form a company, to be known as the "Corn Market Company", to finance and commission a purpose-built corn exchange for the town. They site they selected was on the north side of St Nicholas Square (between the Bigg Market and the Cloth Market), where corn merchants had previously carried out their trade in the open air.{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=y_taAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA122 |title=A Hand-book to Newcastle-on-Tyne|volume=67|first= John Collingwood |last=Bruce|year=1863|page=122|publisher=Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green}}
The foundation stone for the corn exchange was laid by the mayor, Thomas Emerson Headlam, in 1837.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/b24863439/b24863439_djvu.txt|page=95|title=Local records; or, Historical register of remarkable events, which have {{as written||occ|ured [sic]}} in Northumberland & Durham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Berwick-upon-Tweed: with biographical notices of deceased persons of talent, influence, etc, in the district. 1832–1857|first=John|last=Sykes|publisher=The Chronicle Office|year=1857}} It was designed by John and Benjamin Green, built in ashlar stone and was officially opened on 16 November 1839. The corn exchange was {{convert|156|feet}} long, {{convert|45|feet}} wide at the north end and {{convert|82|feet}} wide at the south end.{{cite web|url=https://co-curate.ncl.ac.uk/resources/view/34935/|title=Newcastle St Nicholas and the Corn Exchange, 1854|publisher=Co-curate|access-date=2 August 2020}} However, by the early 1850s, the Corn Market Company was in financial difficulty, and the directors, who did not have adequate funds to maintain the building properly, agreed to hand over the site to Newcastle upon Tyne Corporation for development.
Meanwhile, civic leaders decided to use the site for a new town hall: until that time civic leaders had held their meetings in the Guildhall.{{cite web|url=https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/business/business-news/caf-newcastles-guildhall-could-horizon-10832797|title=Café at Newcastle's Guildhall could be on the horizon as leisure entrepreneur makes plans|first=Coreena |last=Ford|date=3 February 2016|publisher=The Chronicle|access-date=24 March 2018}} The foundation stone for the new town hall was laid by the mayor, Sir Isaac Lowthian Bell, in 1855.{{cite web|url=http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/2867/1/johnson.michael_phd.pdf|first=Michael Andrew|last=Johnson|title=Architectural Taste and Patronage in Newcastle upon Tyne 1870-1914|page=72|date=1 October 2008|publisher=University of Northumbria|access-date=2 August 2020}} The design, which was undertaken by John Johnstone in the Italian neoclassical style,{{cite web|url=https://victorianweb.org/art/architecture/johnstone/index.html|title=John Johnstone (1818-1884)|publisher=Victorian Web|access-date=30 August 2021}} involved incorporating the corn exchange into the central section of the building as an assembly hall capable of accommodating 3,000 people: a large concert organ was acquired at that time.{{cite web|url=https://forebears.io/england/northumberland/newcastle-upon-tyne|title=Newcastle upon Tyne|publisher=Kelly's Directory of Northumberland |year=1894|access-date=2 August 2020}} The design also involved a council chamber and municipal offices for Newcastle Town Council. The main frontage of the new building, facing the cathedral, had four Corinthian order columns on the ground floor and also on the first floor while the rear elevation, facing onto the Bigg Market, had a tower with a cupola. The works, which cost some £50,000, were completed in 1863.{{cite web|url=http://www.builderindex.org/?q=node/1629|title=Town Hall & Corn Market, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England|publisher=Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal|volume=21|date=1 October 1858|page=331|access-date=15 November 2020}}
The first organised dog show in the UK was held in the assembly hall in the building in 1859.{{cite web|url=https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/our-resources/about-the-kennel-club/history-of-the-kennel-club/|title=History of the Kennel Club|publisher=Kennel Club|access-date=2 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215075207/https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/our-resources/about-the-kennel-club/history-of-the-kennel-club/|archive-date=15 February 2016}} The town council, which became a city council in 1882,{{cite web|url=https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/history/recalling-fascinating-history-city-newcastle-14868748|title=Recalling the fascinating history of the city of Newcastle - from A to Z|date=6 July 2018|publisher=Chronicle Live|access-date=3 August 2020}} failed to maintain the building properly and the tower had to be demolished in the 1930s.{{cite web|url=https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/history/step-back-time-newcastles-bigg-12413920|title=Step back in time to Newcastle's Bigg Market and a 'lost' England of 1920|date=6 January 2017|publisher=Chronicle Live|access-date=2 August 2020}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kClO7NOfvsIC&pg=PA114|title=Northumberland|first1=Nikolaus|last1= Pevsner|first2=Ian Archibald |last2=Richmond|first3=John |last3=Grundy|first4=Peter |last4=Ryder|first5=Grace|last5= McCombie|first6=Humphrey|last6= Welfare|publisher=Yale University Press|year=1992|isbn=978-0300096385|page=114}}
By the middle of the 20th century, condition of the town hall had deteriorated to such an extent that the council was forced to relocate to modern facilities at Newcastle Civic Centre in Barras Bridge in November 1968.{{cite web|author=Keiran Southern |url=http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/newcastle-civic-centre-history-one-9659364 |title=Newcastle Civic Centre: A history of one of the city's most recognised buildings |publisher=Chronicle Live |date=2015-07-15 |access-date=30 October 2017}} A "winter zoo" involving lions, tigers, monkeys, exotic birds and snakes continued to be held in the building in the late 1960s{{cite news|last1=Morton|first1=David|title=The winter zoo which was housed in Newcastle's Bigg Market in the mid-1960s|url=http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/history/winter-zoo-housed-newcastles-bigg-8668515|access-date=19 November 2015|agency=Chronicle|publisher=Trinity Mirror North East|date=18 February 2015}}{{cite web|url=https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/history/gallery/pictures-newcastles-historic-bigg-market-8621503|title=In pictures: Newcastle's historic Bigg Market through the ages|date=11 February 2015|publisher=Chronicle Live|access-date=2 August 2020}} but, ultimately, the town hall had to be demolished in 1973.{{cite web|url=https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/lifestyle/nostalgia/remember-when-newcastles-bigg-market-7146125|title=Remember When: Newcastle's Bigg Market - then and now|publisher=The Chronicle|date=22 May 2014|access-date=15 November 2020}} The site was subsequently redeveloped to create a complex of modern office buildings known as No. 1 Cathedral Square (the southern section){{cite web|url=http://directory.chroniclelive.co.uk/company/504539463831552|title=Department for Work & Pensions|publisher=The Chronicle|date=24 March 2018|access-date=15 November 2020}} and Stanegate House (the northern section).{{cite web|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1994-06-01/debates/35042719-0da6-40d0-9fc8-1e7f0568fa62/IntegratedRegionalOffices|title=Integrated Regional Offices|date=1 June 1994|publisher=Hansard|access-date=2 August 2020}}