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Heritage Lottery Fund History

1922: A New ‘Public Hall’ for a Changing Truro

1922: A New ‘Public Hall’ for a Changing Truro

Written by James Westfield, University of Exeter

After a great fire gutted most of the central section of City Hall (or Market Place as it was then called), much of the interior was rebuilt and the market hall recreated with a cinema. By the early 1920s, however, industry in Truro had declined and it no longer needed such a large market area.

The first mention officially of the need for a new ‘Public Hall’ for the city was in a council meeting on 12thJuly 1922, where it was announced (in the minutes of the council meeting) ‘the Public Works Committee have prepared a plan of alterations to the Market House, making a hall, which, with a gallery, would provide seating accommodation for about 1,250 persons.’

By the meeting of 11th October 1922, the city surveyor had created a scheme for 700 seats at an estimated cost of no more than £5,000. Despite this though, by the time Truro City Council came to approve the scheme on 9th May 1923, costs had already risen to an estimate of £6,000. Nevertheless, it passed with fifteen votes to seven.

By this time, it was widely reported in the papers that there were £6,000 proposals for Market House, along with images of the plans for a 982-seat scheme, so how many seats there would actually be was seemingly unknown! There was, though, much support for the scheme from the public, as was reported by the West Briton, who felt Truro was much in need of a new ‘Public Hall’.

With the invitation for designs being sent out by June 1923 and a competition for this set up by Sir Brumwell Thomas in London, on behalf of the Royal Institute of British Architects, as well as a fall-back prize of 100 guineas for the winner if the winning scheme was abandoned, the plans for a new ‘Public Hall’ had truly begun!

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Architecture City Hall Heritage Lottery Fund Heritage Stories Historic Building History Town Hall Truro

1926: Spiralling Costs and a Controversial Reopening

1926: Spiralling Costs and a Controversial Reopening

Written by James Westfield, University of Exeter
Work on the remodelling of the Hall commenced in June 1925 after the tender was given to ‘Messrs. Colenso, Ltd., of Cambourne, of £8,737’, considerably above the £5,000 initially estimated in 1922. Subsequent to this, Truro City Council applied for a loan of an additional £4,000, thus allowing £10,000 for the project overall. The City Hall (as it was then renamed to) reopened with a ball in October 1926, although it was widely criticised at the time for ending at midnight, as the council would not permit longer opening hours for the new Hall.
The actual end cost announced to the council meeting on 14th April 1926 was £12,000, which caused an outcry from the public (represented in this poem from the West Briton newspaper in May 1923 just from the initial costing of £5,000 for the hall, let alone the £12,000 final cost!) and there were also complaints that renting costs for the hall were too high at £33 10s per week and also that no arrangements had yet been made for films or performances. Eventually, in June 1926, the council agreed to temporarily let the hall for use as a cinema in order to pay back ‘at least the interest’ on the loan, only to then cancel these plans in August 1926 as the councillors couldn’t come to an agreement over the letting costs!
 
The first ball, to celebrate the reopening of City Hall was held in October 1926, although not without controversy. The Police Super-Intendent Osbourne called it ‘an absolute disgrace’ that it ended at midnight and that the council would not extend the licence of the Hall until 2 am. There were also complaints in early 1927 that it seemed impossible to book the hall, although the council down-played this by announcing that the Woman’s Institute had successfully booked it and that they did not understand what the public were complaining about.
 
And so, the City Hall and it’s first theatre were created, and this paved the way for the modern theatre we know today as the Hall for Cornwall. It also helped Truro enter a new, post-industrial era and prepared it for the societal changes that would occur in the latter-half of the twentieth-century. Furthermore, it cemented the Hall’s place as a significant monument for the Truronian population, that would lead to them campaigning to save it from destructions in the 1990s.
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Creative Heritage Heritage Lottery Fund History

Hall For Cornwall redevelopment boosted by £2.5m National Lottery grant

Hall For Cornwall redevelopment boosted by £2.5m National Lottery grant

We are thrilled to announce that we have today heard that we have been successful with being awarded our full Heritage Lottery grant for our ‘Revealing City Hall’ project. Since investing initial development funds last year, the Heritage Lottery Fund team have been really impressed by the local support from the Cornish community that has gone into creating the foundations for the full project. Some of you will have been involved with our memory and stories collecting and pop-up performances.

The grant will ensure the conservation and reinvigoration of Christopher Eales’ 1846 Grade II building’s Boscawen Street and Lemon Quay public spaces that currently envelop our auditorium. Alongside this, ‘Revealing City Hall’ will unveil the 350-year history of the City Hall site and bring it to life creatively for all.  A really exciting project that will enable the local community and visitors to discover the evolving heritage of City Hall and its very unique story.

Commenting on the award, Julien Boast, Director of Hall For Cornwall said: “It’s always a thrill and relief to know that everybody’s hard work here has been fully recognized. We’re delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund has given us this support and after all the research and preparations so energetically undertaken, we are now eager to unleash our building’s cultural and heritage potential and give expression to this enormous confidence in us”.

Over the years, Truro City Hall has been many things to many people. Courts of Justice, skating rink, food market, rifle range, jail, theatre and seat of political power. It has survived fire and more than one economic downturn; provided a platform for civic unrest and played host to award-winning shows. The HLF-funded project will enable people to discover the evolving heritage of City Hall and its place in an emerging city, through a ‘voice-scape’ of people past and present and a host of other creative innovations that will tell its very unique story.

Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive of the Heritage Lottery Fund, said: “Thanks to National Lottery players, Hall For Cornwall’s rich 350-year history will be revealed in an enhanced public building. We are particularly excited about the number of people, young and old, who will be involved in the building’s future through education and training programmes, volunteering opportunities and activities connected to their local heritage”.

We’ll certainly be keeping people updated of news and becoming involved over the coming months.

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Heritage Lottery Fund History

When is a city hall, a city hall?

When is a city hall, a city hall?

Truro City Hall has seen all sort of stories in it’s long lifetime…

The building houses Hall For Cornwall (Cornwall’s largest theatre), 2 cafes, a restaurant, Truro Tourist Information office, rooms for hire, and regular flea markets in the grand foyer. In it’s past it’s also been a cinema, skating rink and a rifle range! And that’s just the social stuff. The Boscawen Street side of the building is also an important home to Truro City Council, the Mayors parlour, and Cornwall’s Coroners Court.

A theatre and a court in the same building may seem a bit strange, but the building has always had many uses and different things happening in the spaces. When our building opened in 1847 it included a large market, courtrooms and council rooms, a police station and cells, and even a space for the town’s fire engine! This trend for multiple uses can be traced back to two earlier buildings. You can still see an original motto-stone from Truro’s earlier market, under the Boscawen arches.

TRURO, ENGLAND – JUNE 01 2022: Launch of the Geography App featuring composer Graham Fitkin and Producer Michael White at the Hall for Cornwall, photographed for the HfC by Hugh Hastings

Jenkin Daniels Mayor

Who seeks to find eternal treasure

must use no guile in weight or measure

1615

It was common to house all of a town’s civic needs in one place. Somewhere to buy and trade essentials such as food and livestock, a place where justice, law and governance happened, and spaces for learning, debating, meeting and gathering.

All of these uses were essential to the marketplace. Weights and measures were very important – if you bought food you wanted to know you were getting the weight that you paid for. With the police station and court in the same building, you could be assured someone was checking things were fair and taking action when they discovered cheating.

West Briton newspaper article, Friday 2 JUNE 1854

‘SHORT WEIGHTS AND MEASURES – Many complaints having been made by inhabitants of Truro against butchers and others in the market, for using short weights and measures, the magistrates, on Saturday last, sent the Inspector round the market and the result was that G. PEARCE and T. WHETTER, two butchers, were summoned, Pearce’s beam having been found an ounce and a half out of balance, and Whetter’s an ounce and a quarter. They both pleaded guilty of the charge, and were fined 1s. and expenses, the magistrates expressing their determination to inflict the full penalty if the offence were repeated. Six other summonses have been issued against butchers and potatoe sellers for using short measures. It is hope that this will have the effect of repressing these practices.’

Photo Courtesy of Jocye Rowe.