Welshpool Town Hall
Welshpool Town Hall
A civic building has stood here for many centuries. The current town hall was built in the 1870s. There was a Guildhall here in the 1620s and possibly earlier. It was home to several markets from the mid-18th century.
In 1795 work began on a town hall which accommodated the markets and included a courtroom for the Assizes (equivalent to today’s Crown Courts). In July 1839 the Assizes here sentenced 30 men and three women to jail or transportation to Australia for taking part in a five-day Chartist riot in Llanidloes. You can read more about the Chartists on our page about the fatal protest in Newport later in 1839.
The Victorian town hall replicated the earlier facilities on a larger scale. It probably included parts of its predecessor. Many original features survive, including the dock in the former courtroom and the Minton tiles in the entrance hall. The building dominates the 1947 aerial photo, shown here courtesy of the Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Wales. It is from the Aerofilms Collection of the National Monuments Record of Wales.
Two silver Roman coins were found when a sewer for the town hall was installed in 1911.
Events here in the First World War included an auction in 1916 which raised £92 for the Red Cross. Items donated included poultry, honey, wheat, oats, fruit, three piglets in a hamper and a donkey named Love!
In March 1918 a meeting was held here to encourage local women to increase food production. Agricultural organiser Mary Silyn Roberts explained that gardens and farms must replace the volumes of food which were previously imported, and said running a “preserving station” in summer would prevent wastage of surplus fruit and vegetables. After the war she was a leading peace campaigner, as you can read on our page about her home near Blaenau Ffestiniog.
On one of the town hall’s external walls is a memorial to William Waring, who died in 1918 and was awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallantry.
The hall, owned by Welshpool Town Council, now hosts meetings, community events and weddings.
Postcode: SY21 7JQ View Location Map
Website of Welshpool Town Council
Copies of the old photo and other images are available from the RCAHMW. Contact: nmr.wales@rcahmw.gov.uk
| To continue the Welshpool (Powys) in WW1 tour, turn right into Broad Street. Continue along High Street. The next location is the timber-framed building on the right by the bus stop |
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