Taunton Shire Hall

{{short description|County building in Taunton, Somerset, England}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Use British English|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox historic site

| name =Taunton Shire Hall

| native_name =

| image =County Hall, Taunton (geograph 4248868).jpg

| caption =Taunton Shire Hall

| locmapin =Somerset

| map_caption =

| coordinates ={{coord|51.0128|-3.1077|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}

| location =Taunton, Somerset

| area =

| built =1858

| architect =William Bonython Moffatt

| architecture =Gothic style

| governing_body =

| designation1 =Grade II Listed Building

| designation1_offname =

| designation1_date =4 July 1975

| designation1_number =1059958

}}

Taunton Shire Hall is a municipal building on Shuttern in Taunton, Somerset. The Shire Hall, which serves as a Crown Court, is a Grade II listed building.{{National Heritage List for England|num=1059958 |desc=Shire Hall, Taunton|accessdate=13 August 2019}}

History

Since the English Civil War, when the castle was repaired, the county assizes had been held in Taunton Castle.{{cite web|url=https://www-somersetlive-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/shire-hall-taunton-fascinating-history-1443289.amp?amp_js_v=a2&_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQA#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.somersetlive.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fsomerset-news%2Fshire-hall-taunton-fascinating-history-1443289|title=Shire Hall in Taunton: The fascinating history of this 162-year-old building that needs urgent repairs|date=11 April 2018|publisher=Somerset Live|accessdate=15 August 2019}} Indeed, it was at Taunton Castle that, in the aftermath of the Monmouth Rebellion, Judge Jeffreys held the Bloody Assizes from 17 September 1685 to 19 September 1685.{{cite web |url=http://www.everythingexmoor.org.uk/_T/Taunton_Castle.php |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080505033305/http://www.everythingexmoor.org.uk/_T/Taunton_Castle.php |archivedate=5 May 2008 |title=Taunton Castle |accessdate=21 November 2007 |work=Everything Exmoor }}{{cite web|url=http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/ASH/Bloodyassize.htm|title=The Bloody Assize|publisher=Somerset County Council|accessdate=21 October 2012|archive-date=7 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807090558/http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/ASH/Bloodyassize.htm|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://libguides.law.uga.edu/c.php?g=177206&p=1164802|title=Donald E. Wilkes, Jr. Collection: The Bloody Assizes|publisher=University of Georgia|accessdate=6 December 2020|archive-date=22 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422170304/https://libguides.law.uga.edu/c.php?g=177206&p=1164802|url-status=dead}} After the justices decided, in the mid-19th century, that the facilities the castle were no longer adequate, they chose to procure a new purpose-built building on a site to the south-west of the castle.

The foundation stone for the building was laid by the Lord Lieutenant of Somerset, Viscount Portman, on 14 August 1855. It was designed by William Bonython Moffatt in the Gothic style, built by a local contractor, George Pollard, and completed in 1858. The design, which was crenellated, involved an asymmetrical main frontage with eleven bays facing onto Shuttern; the central section, which slightly projected forward, featured a large porch on the ground floor with a balcony and an oriel window on the first floor and an oculus in the gable; there were turrets at roof level. Internally, the principal rooms were the courtrooms and the Grand Jury Room which was behind the oriel window.

Shortly after the building opened, a bust of the locally-born naval commander, Admiral Robert Blake, by Edgar Papworth was installed in the reception area.{{cite web|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/item/AA017412|title=Interior Ground Floor Waiting And Reception Area Detail Of Bust To Robert Blake|publisher=Historic England|accessdate=26 October 2020}}{{cite DNB|first=Wyatt|last=Papworth|authorlink=Wyatt Papworth|wstitle=Papworth, Edgar George|volume=43|pages=194–195}} A bust of the locally-born novelist and dramatist, Henry Fielding, was unveiled by the American Romantic poet, James Russell Lowell, on 8 September 1883{{cite web|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/162027553/16504320|title=Fielding|publisher=The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser|date=27 October 1883 |page=774|accessdate=26 October 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.lookandlearn.com/history-images/U204612/Unveiling-the-Bust-of-Fielding-at-the-Shire-Hall-Taunton|title=Unveiling the Bust of Fielding at the Shire Hall, Taunton|publisher=Look and Learn|accessdate=26 October 2020}} and a bust of the locally-born soldier, Colonel John Chard VC, was unveiled by the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, Field Marshal Viscount Wolseley, on 2 November 1898{{cite DNB|wstitle=Chard, John Rouse Merriott|first=Robert Hamilton|last=Vetch|authorlink=Robert Hamilton Vetch|volume=1|supplement=1}}

The Shire Hall continued to be used as a facility for dispensing justice but, following the implementation of the Local Government Act 1888, which established county councils in every county, it also became the meeting place of Somerset County Council.{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/51-52/41/enacted|title=Local Government Act 1888|publisher=Legislation.gov.uk|accessdate=17 August 2019}} Following the First World War, a plaque was unveiled which commemorated county council employees who had died in the war.{{cite web|url=https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/community/5398|title=Somerset County Council|publisher=Imperial war Museum|accessdate=26 October 2020}}

After the County Council moved to County Hall in 1935, the former Shire Hall continued to be used as a Crown Court. A programme of refurbishment works were completed in 2018 following the discovery of structural issues with the building.{{cite web|url=https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/builders-called-urgent-repairs-needed-1435998|title=Builders called in as urgent repairs needed at Taunton Crown Court|date=9 April 2018|publisher=Somerset Live|accessdate=14 November 2020}}

References