Shire Hall, Cambridge
Shire Hall
Shire Hall is located in Cambridgeshire
Shire Hall
Shire Hall
Location within Cambridgeshire
General information
Architectural styleNeo-Georgian style
AddressCastle Hill, Cambridge
CountryUnited Kingdom
Coordinates52°12′47″N 0°06′51″E / 52.2130°N 0.1141°E / 52.2130; 0.1141
Completed1932
Design and construction
Architect(s)Herbert Henry Dunn

Shire Hall is a former municipal building in Castle Hill in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. It was the headquarters of Cambridgeshire County Council from 1932 until 2021, when the council moved to New Shire Hall at Alconbury Weald, some 23 miles from Cambridge.

History

The former police station

In the early 20th century, County Hall in Hobson Street served as the local facility for dispensing justice and as the meeting place of Cambridgeshire County Council.[1] After deciding that the Hobson Street building was too small, county leaders chose to procure a new building; the site they selected had previously been occupied by an early 19th-century prison on the site of Cambridge Castle and was adjacent to an old police station at Castle Hill.[1] The bricks from the old prison were recycled for construction of the new shire hall but the police station was retained and converted for additional office use.[2]

The new building, which was designed by Herbert Henry Dunn in the Neo-Georgian style,[3] was completed in 1932, with the council's first meeting in the building being held on 23 July 1932.[4] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with fifteen bays facing Castle Hill; the central bay featured a doorway flanked with pilasters on the ground floor; there was a stone balcony and a window with a fanlight on the first floor.[5] Internally, the principal room was the council chamber in the centre of the building on the first floor.[5] An office building known as "The Octagon", because of its shape, was added to the north of the main building in the 1960s[6] and a bunker for use as an emergency planning centre in the event of a nuclear attack was completed in 1989.[7]

In December 2017, as part of a cost-saving scheme, the county council announced plans to move to a smaller purpose-built facility at Alconbury Weald;[8] the proposal was approved by the full county council in May 2018.[9] In May 2019 the county council announced that it would give the developer, Brookgate, a lease of up to 40 years to develop the site for hotel and office accommodation: the terms of the lease would require the developer to provide continued public access to the Castle Mound.[10][11] The costs of moving the data centre were subsequently estimated at nearly £7 million.[12]

Construction work on the New Shire Hall at Alconbury Weald started in December 2019.[13][14] The final committee meeting to be held at Shire Hall was on 12 March 2020.[15] Meetings were then held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic for the rest of 2020 and first part of 2021, during which time the council vacated Shire Hall and moved to New Shire Hall, with the first committee meeting at New Shire Hall being held in September 2021.[16]

References

  1. 1 2 Roach, J P C (1959). "'The city of Cambridge: Public buildings', in A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 3, the City and University of Cambridge". London: British History Online. pp. 116–122. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  2. ↑ Historic England. "Social Services Department (1336970)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  3. ↑ Pevsner, Nikolaus (1970). The Buildings of England: Cambridgeshire. London: Penguin. p. 232. ISBN 978-0300205961.
  4. ↑ "Cambs County Council: First meeting at new hall". Saffron Walden Weekly News. 22 July 1932. p. 11. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  5. 1 2 "Video tour of Shire Hall as Cambridgeshire County Council home goes on the market". Cambridge Independent. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  6. ↑ "Shire Hall, Cambridge" (PDF). Cambridgeshire County Council. 12 February 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  7. ↑ "Nuclear bunker". Heritage Gateway. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  8. ↑ "Historic Shire Hall in Cambridge looks set to close and become a tourist attraction as part of county council plans to save £45 million". Cambs Times. 7 February 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  9. ↑ "Cambridgeshire County Council backs HQ move to Alconbury site". BBC. 15 May 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  10. ↑ "Council announces future of Shire Hall - and promises access to Castle Mound". Cambridge Independent. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  11. ↑ "Cambridge Castle Mound: Campaigners' new bid to 'ensure public access'". BBC. 25 May 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  12. ↑ "It's expected to cost £6.8m to move Cambridgeshire's data centre out of Shire Hall". Cambridgeshire Live. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  13. ↑ "Building work starts on new Cambridgeshire County Council HQ". Fenland Citizen. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  14. ↑ "Cambridgeshire County Council begins work on £18.3m 'civic hub' at Alconbury Weald for up to 600 staff". Ely Standard. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  15. ↑ "Adults Committee, 12 March 2020". Cambridgeshire County Council. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  16. ↑ "Children and Young People Committee, 14 September 2021". Cambridgeshire County Council. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
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