Neuadd Dwyfor
| Pwllheli Town Hall | |
|---|---|
| Native name Neuadd Dwyfor (Welsh) | |
 Pwllheli Town Hall | |
| Location | Penlan Street, Pwllheli |
| Coordinates | 52°53′21″N 4°25′02″W / 52.8892°N 4.4171°W |
| Built | 1902 |
| Architect | Arthur James Dickinson |
| Architectural style(s) | Baroque style |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
| Official name | Town Hall |
| Designated | 28 July 1989 |
| Reference no. | 4566 |
  Shown in Gwynedd | |
Pwllheli Town Hall (Welsh: Neuadd Dwyfor) is a municipal building in Penlan Street, Pwllheli, Gwynedd, Wales. The structure, which now operates as an arts centre, is a Grade II listed building.[1]
History
[edit]
The first municipal building in the town was the old town hall in the Market Square which was completed in 1731. It was rebuilt in around 1820 and augmented by a clock tower in the late 19th century.[2][3] The future Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, gave a speech to local farmers in this building in 1884.[4] However, by the turn of the century it was deemed too small and civic officials decided to commission a new structure on the north side of Penlan Street.[5][6]
The new building was designed by the borough surveyor, Arthur James Dickinson, in the Baroque style, built in terracotta Ruabon brick at a cost of £5,800 and was officially opened in May 1902.[1][5][7] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Penlan Street. The central bay featured a large round headed opening with a wrought iron grill in the tympanum flanked by pilasters supporting finials; there was an oriel window surmounted by volutes on the first floor and a tri-partite window on the second floor. The flanking bays were fenestrated by cross-windows on the ground and first floors and by bi-partite windows on the second floor. The outer bays featured round headed openings flanked by pilasters on the ground floor, tri-partite windows surmounted by ovolo mouldings on the first floor and bi-partite windows on the second floor. At roof level, there was a parapet, which was decorated by panels bearing carved cartouches, and, above the parapet, there was a wrought iron railing which was broken by a central pediment.[1] Internally, the principal room was the main auditorium, which featured a proscenium arch.[8]
The town hall served as events venue from an early stage offering theatre and concert performances and, from March 1911, showings of silent films.[9] Margaret Lloyd George, the wife of the future Prime Minister, spoke at a British Army recruiting event in the building in September 1914 at the start of the First World War and the mezzo-soprano opera singer, Leila Megàne, performed there in October 1919.[10]
The building continued to serve as the offices of the borough council for much of the 20th century,[11] but ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged Dwyfor District Council was formed in 1974.[12] After an extensive programme of refurbishment works had been completed, the building re-opened as Neuadd Dwyfor in 1995. A new public library area in the building was opened by the playwright, W. S. Jones, in 1996 and a further programme of refurbishment works costing £900,000 was completed in March 2022.[10][13][14]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Cadw. "Town Hall (4566)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ Cadw. "Old Town Hall (4562)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ "Old Town Hall, Pwllheli". History Points. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ Hattersley, Roy (2010). David Lloyd George The Great Outsider. Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-7481-1785-7.
- ^ a b "Neuadd Dwyfor, Pwllheli". History Points. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ Tenders. Vol. 79. The Building News and Engineering Journal. 28 September 1900.
Pwllheli – Town and Market Hall, Penlan Street, Town Council Evan R. Davies, Town Clerk, 6 Church Place, Pwllheli
- ^ Journal. Royal Society of Health. 1900. p. 533.
1900. July. Dickinson, Arthur James, Borough Engineer, Pwllheli, Sandilands, Pwllheli
- ^ "Neuadd Dwyfor". Theatres Trust. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ "Pwllheli arts centre celebrates centenary as a cinema". BBC. 22 November 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ a b "Iconic building had best views of Pwllheli". Cambrian News. 13 March 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ "No. 45077". The London Gazette. 10 April 1970. p. 4101.
- ^ Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c.70. The Stationery Office Ltd. 1997. ISBN 0-10-547072-4.
- ^ "Neuadd Dwyfor Arts Centre has £900,000 cash injection as it undergoes upgrade". North Wales Chronicle. 1 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ "Neuadd Dwyfor theatre and cinema in Pwllheli re-opening". The National. 10 March 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.