County Hall, Kingston upon Thames: Difference between revisions
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|county=Surrey | |county=Surrey | ||
|town=Kingston upon Thames | |town=Kingston upon Thames | ||
|picture=Surrey County Hall | |picture=Surrey County Hall.jpg | ||
|picture caption= Surrey County Hall Clock Tower | |picture caption=Surrey County Hall Clock Tower | ||
|os grid ref=TQ18026868 | |os grid ref=TQ18026868 | ||
|latitude=51.4049 | |latitude=51.4049 | ||
Revision as of 18:57, 16 May 2021
| County Hall | |
|
Surrey | |
|---|---|
 Surrey County Hall Clock Tower | |
| Type: | county hall |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ18026868 |
| Location: | 51°24’18"N, 0°18’17"W |
| Town: | Kingston upon Thames |
| History | |
| Built 1891-1893 | |
| By: | Charles Henry Howell |
| county hall | |
| Information | |
| Owned by: | Surrey CC |
County Hall is a grand, prominent municipal building on Penrhyn Road in Kingston upon Thames in Surrey. Built to serve as the headquarters for the council named after the county, it continues to fulfil that role, albeit that Kingston is outside the council's own jurisdiction.
The building opened 13 November 1893, and replaced a previous shire hall at the location of today's Inner London Sessions House in Newington in the north-eastern corner of the county.
County Hall is a landmark in Kingston and contains a clock tower entrance, sculptures, plaques of Surrey MPs and Lord Sheriffs, and the council chamber. The street on which it stands, Penrhyn Road, is named in honour of the first chairman of the county council.
History
Surrey had been administered from Newington since the 1790s, and the county council was initially based in the sessions house there. In 1889 the old county magistracies were swept away and new councils erected to continue their administrative work, which new system excluded Newington from the new council's remit, and so as early as 1890 the new Surrey County Council was looking for a new home, considering six towns: Epsom, Guildford, Kingston, Redhill, Surbiton and Wimbledon.[1] A decision to build the new County Hall at Kingston was made in 1891, and with a swiftness latterly unknown to municipal authorities the building opened in 1893.[2]
The county hall in Kingston was designed by Charles Henry Howell, County Surveyor and partner in Howell and Brooks. It was built by the firm Higgs and Hill.[2] It was built between 1891 and 1893. It was opened on 13 November 1893, with bands entertaining invited guests. The building was extended in 1930 (opened by the Duke of Gloucester) and again in 1938, the Ashcombe Block, creating a quadrangle behind the entrance. The Ashcombe block was destroyed by a flying bomb in July 1944, and rebuilt in 1953. The building was further extended in 1963 and 1982, completing a second quadrangle.
In July 2003 it was decided[3] to move county government to a new building in Woking and Kingston University planned to acquire County Hall. However, the project was scrapped[4] in January 2006.
Film location
Film and television productions that have made use of County Hall for location filming have included:[5]
Films
- Vera Drake (2004)
- 102 Dalmatians (2000)
- Keeping Mum (2005)
Television
- The Wrong Mans
- Midsomer Murders
- Silk
- Call the Midwife
- The Bill
- Ashes to Ashes
- Jonathan Creek
- Criminal Justice
- Top Boy
- Downton Abbey
- Silent Witness
- Saxondale
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about County Hall, Kingston upon Thames) |
References
- ↑ The Times, March 27, 1890
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 David Robinson, History of County Hall, Surrey County Council
- ↑ |date=2007-09-27 Relocation of Surrey County Hall Moves Closer
- ↑ Surrey County Council – County Hall
- ↑ "Kingston film and TV locations". http://www.kingstononline.co.uk/kingston-tv-film-location/. Retrieved 14 January 2018.