Building record 130/7/1 - Brackley Town Hall

Built in 1705-6 by the Duke of Bridgewater and enlarged and restored in 1884.

{1} Built in 1705-6 by Scroop, Earl (afterwards 1st Duke) of Bridgewater, at cost of £2,000. 2-storeyed ashlar with rusticated quoins, coved cornice and stone slate hipped roof, in centre of which is a clock tower with an ogee-capped cupola surmounted by a weathercock of ornamental ironwork. The ground floor east and west sides have 5 semi-circular headed stone keystoned windows while in the 1st floor are 5 2-light mullioned and transomed wood windows in moulded stone frames. In the east and west roof pitches are 4 dormer windows and in north and south end of the roof is a dormer window with a broken pediment. Band at 1st floor. Wesley preached here, 1784. Interior: early C18 staircase.

{3} The town hall was erected by Scroop, Duke of Bridgewater in 1706, by 1849 the basement storey had been built up and was being used as a corn market. The hall was enlarged and restored in 1884. The building is extant today and is currently used as the town hall.
Most of the inns, many of the alehouses and also the most important private houses seem to have fronted onto the market place in the medieval and post medieval period. Although now largely devoid of buildings and enclosures, apart from the 18th century market hall, the medieval and post medieval market place contained various enclosures, shop rows and other buildings, the last of which were not cleared away until the mid 20th century.

{5} A large transverse beam, and a re-set joist in the mezzanine floor area were shown to be from the original build, the beam being from a tree felled in summer 1699, and the joist in spring 1703. Timbers from the length of the original four-bay roof area, including those supporting the clock tower, were from trees felled over a period from spring 1881 to late summer/autumn 1882, showing that the whole of this roof was rebuilt when the building itself was extended north by one bay in the 1880s.

{6} Archaeological observation undertaken during the restoration of the town hall. The 1883 flagged floor surface (inserted during wider modifications to the hall) was revealed beneath the modern concrete floor. Beneath the flagged floor lay a row of square limestone pier-bases- supports for the original open market-hall ceiling. In the north-east quadrant lay foundations of internal structures, probably inserted when the hall was still open-sided and subsequently demolished during the 1883 reordering. The structures were interpreted as a constable's room and two attendant cells. The constable's room appears to have had a fireplace. The interpretation is based on a plan of 1837 for these rooms, although the specified location and dimensions are different.

{9} Eleven undated photos, also eight photos dated January 1984.

{10} Wesley preached here, 1784.

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 1/33 (checked) (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), H17 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN45262.

<3> Ballinger J.; Foard G., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Brackley, (unchecked) (Digital archive). SNN100499.

<4> Northamptonshire Industrial Archaeology Group, 1996-2013, Northamptonshire Industrial Archaeology Group Newsletter, Issue 117 p.2 (unchecked) (Newsletter). SNN55360.

<5> Bridge, Dr M C and Miles, Dr D, 2016, The Tree-Ring Dating of the Roof and other Timbers at Brackley Town Hall, Brackley, Northamptonshire, 2016 (Report). SNN110708.

<6> Soden, I, 2017, Archaeological observation and recording at Brackley Town Hall, 2017 (Report). SNN111261.

<7> Various, Various, Photographs of buildings in Brackley (Photographs). SNN111262.

<8> Crank, N. (Editor), 2018, South Midlands Archaeology (48), p. 58 (Journal). SNN111393.

<9> Photographs of buildings in Brackley (Photographs). SNN112141.

<10> List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, DOE(HHR)Dist.of S.Northants Northants. June 1977 19 (Report). SNN112993.

Record last edited

Dec 21 2023 9:46AM