Shire Hall, Llangefni
Shire Hall, Llangefni (the five gabled bays on the left formed the original structure)
LocationGlanhwfa Road, Llangefni
Coordinates53°15′15″N 4°18′41″W / 53.2543°N 4.3113°W / 53.2543; -4.3113
Built1899
ArchitectLloyd Williams
Architectural style(s)Jacobethan style
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameShire Hall
Designated16 June 1989
Reference no.5752
Shire Hall, Llangefni is located in Anglesey
Shire Hall, Llangefni
Shown in Anglesey

The Shire Hall is a municipal structure in Glanhwfa Road, Llangefni, Anglesey, Wales. The building, which served as the headquarters of Anglesey County Council, is a Grade II listed building.[1]

History

Following the implementation of the Local Government Act 1888, which established county councils in every county, it became necessary to find a meeting place for Anglesey County Council.[2] Meetings of the county council were initially held in the county courthouse, a single-storey neoclassical style building on the west side of Glanhwfa Road dating back to the 1860s.[3] After finding this arrangement inadequate, the county leaders decided to procure a purpose-built shire hall: the site they selected was open land on the opposite side of Glanhwfa Road.[4][5]

The new building was designed by Lloyd Williams of Denbigh in the Jacobethan style, built by O. M. Roberts & Sons of Porthmadog in rubble masonry at a cost of £4,453 and was completed in 1899.[1] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five gabled bays facing onto the Glanhwfa Road with the end bays slightly projected forward; the central bay, which also slightly projected forward, featured a round headed doorway with a fanlight flanked by pilasters supporting a segmental moulded surround with a keystone; there was a Venetian window on the first floor and the gable above contained a roundel with the county coat of arms.[1] The recessed bays, on either side of the centre bay, contained sash windows on the ground floor and narrow round headed windows on the first floor.[1] The outer bays were fenestrated by three sash windows on the ground floor and Venetian style sash windows on the first floor.[1] Internally, the principal room was the council chamber.[6]

The building was extended to the south by a link passage and two extra bays to a design by the county architect, Joseph Owen, in 1912.[1] The shire hall continued to serve as the headquarters of Anglesey County Council until local government reorganisation in 1974 when the shire hall was re-designated the "Borough Council Offices" and became the headquarters of the new Ynys Mon Borough Council.[7][8] At county level Anglesey was incorporated into Gwynedd in 1974 and the county council headquarters moved to Caernarfon.[9] Brand new council offices were built at Llangefni in the 1990s for the new unitary authority, Isle of Anglesey County Council, formed in 1996.[9] However, the shire hall continued to serve as the local registry office as well as the meeting place of Llangefni Town Council.[10]

Isle of Anglesey County Council marketed the shire hall for sale in June 2018.[11] The registry office moved to the Anglesey Business Centre in September 2019,[12] and a developer, Chief Properties, acquired the property later that year.[13] A fire, very likely started deliberately, started in the building in December 2023.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Cadw. "Shire Hall (5752)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Local Government Act 1888". Legislation.co.uk. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  3. ^ "Anglesey County Council". The North Wales Express. 19 July 1889. hdl:10107/3563349. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  4. ^ "Ordnance Survey Map". 1889. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  5. ^ Cadw. "County Court (5753)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Town Mayor 2018". Llangefni Town Council. 16 May 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  7. ^ "No. 48503". The London Gazette. 23 January 1981. p. 1089.
  8. ^ "Isle of Anglesey Borough Council". Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  9. ^ a b Jones, Geraint; Rowlinson, Gwenllian Jones (2015). "Llangefni". Anglesey Towns & Villages (Internet ed.). Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1445651538. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  10. ^ "Council Meeting" (PDF). Llangefni Town Council. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  11. ^ "Anglesey Council's former headquarters put up for sale". North Wales Chronicle. 6 June 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  12. ^ "Llangefni Register Office to move near abattoir". BBC. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  13. ^ "Anglesey's Shire Hall could be transformed into pod hotel and business centre". North Wales Live. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  14. ^ "Llangefni fire ravages ex-Anglesey council headquarters". BBC News. 18 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
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