County Hall, Carmarthen

Link to Welsh translationCounty Hall, Carmarthen

This imposing building replaced much of the jail which occupied the ruins of Carmarthen Castle from the 18th century. It is the headquarters of Carmarthenshire County Council.

The original county council was based in Llandovery from 1889 to 1907, when it moved to Bank House in Spilman Street. In the 1920s, plans were drawn up to convert the old jail into council offices but ditched in favour of a new building. Architect Percy Thomas (1883-1969) designed the building in 1935, the year he became the first Welsh president of the Royal Institute of British Architects. His practice was the biggest in Wales and he was knighted in 1946.

With the old jail was demolished, construction of County Hall began in 1939 but was put on hold during the Second World War. The building was completed in 1955, 20 years after the design was produced.

County Hall is listed Grade II as one of Wales’ most notable public buildings of the period and for its unusual “Chateau-style” design, which may have been Percy Thomas’ nod towards the heritage of the castle site.

Carmarthenshire County Council was replaced by the much larger Dyfed County Council in 1974 but was resurrected, as a unitary authority, in 1996.

Postcode: SA31 1JP    View Location Map