WITHAM HALL STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE March 2010 …€¦ · The whole group of buildings (Witham Testimonial, linking corridor and Music Hall) sit within ... Thank you also to Martin

WITHAM HALL STATEMENT

OF SIGNIFICANCE

March 2010

Revised August 2011

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Summary

Statement of Significance

The Witham’s significance can be assessed under a number of different headings. These headings

are taken from English Heritage’s Conservation Principles (2008).

Historic Value - Associations

The Witham Testimonial is associated with the famous architects John and Benjamin Green who

designed a number of iconic and nationally important buildings. In addition, its association with Henry

Witham, a founder member of the Royal Geological Society adds to its significance. A blue plaque on

the front elevation outlined Witham’s role in the construction of the building and his name is

emblazoned below the pediment at roof height. These particular associations do not extend to the

Music Hall and Linking corridor which are later developments. The historic associations of the Witham

Testimonial are therefore EXCEPTIONAL, but only CONSIDERABLE for the Music Hall and Linking

Corridor.

Architectural and Aesthetic Value

The Witham Testimonial is little altered and therefore relatively intact. The embellishments reflect the

culture of improvement with busts associated with learning and Frosterley marble fireplaces to remind

users of Witham’s geological expertise. The partial survival of original shelf fittings in the library and

the 1920s dividing doors also add to the building’s significance, while the staircase and stair light

invite users in through an otherwise narrow and stark corridor. Its architectural value is therefore

EXCEPTIONAL.

The Music Hall is a good example of a multi-functional community space dating to a period where

such intact buildings are relatively rare today. While the exterior is relatively plain, the survival of the

decorated proscenium arch is particularly significant. Its architectural value is CONSIDERABLE.

The Linking Corridor is a poorer quality build and in itself not nationally important. However it does

have some value and interest in its use of scissor trusses and subtle stained glass clerestory, as well

as arched doorways reflecting the design of the Music Hall and the front of the Witham. It has SOME

architectural value.

The position of the original Witham building on the street front presents an authoritative façade

designed to impress with its classical design associated with ancient civilised societies. Its aesthetic

and architectural value in terms of its street front presence is EXCEPTIONAL along Horsemarket.

However the Music Hall is largely out of sight, being located within the burgage plots to the rear. Its

aesthetic value in terms of streetscape presence is SOME.

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The whole group of buildings (Witham Testimonial, linking corridor and Music Hall) sit within an

existing medieval street pattern which is intact immediately around the Witham, but has been

punctured nearby at the council car park and was increasingly developed from the 18th century

onwards. The construction of George Street in the 19th century was the first development to truncate

the existing burgage plots. The survival of the stables and coach house to the rear of the plot is now a

rarity in the town, but once a common sight along the back lane. Its historic value based on the street

plan and the survival of the stables is therefore CONSIDERABLE.

Evidential Value

The building and its plot also have SOME evidential value. The ground beneath the Music Hall may

still contain some archaeological information, but this will be considerably truncated by the works of

1860. The land beneath and on either side of the linking corridor has some evidential value relating to

the caretaker’s house, recovery room and possibly relating to a pre-Witham use of the burgage plots.

Evidential value relating to the caretaker’s house also exists in the Hall Street shops where the

original access to the yard was through a linking corridor leading from a door on Hall Street. Overall

however, previous archaeological evaluation has shown that survival of evidential data is not good in

this area.

Additional information may also be obtained from the buildings themselves. The Hall Street shops

appear to have been through a number of phases of rebuilding and may pre-date the Witham.

Information relating to their chronology and former uses may still be obtained from an analysis of their

fabric. Scarring on the boundary walls between the linking corridor and the Hall Street shops also

outlines where the caretakers cottage and recovery room were and a recording of this and of any

below ground deposits would provide a plan of these former buildings.

Information may also be obtained from the building in relation to the design of the dance floor in the

Music Hall, the function of the lighting, the green glass in the roof space and the design of the hall.

There is a wealth of historic documentary information relating to the acquisition of the land and its

management by the Mechanics Institute and Trustees. Much of this is with the present Trustees

solicitors and with the DRO and has recently been trawled by Roy Tranter one of the present Trustees

to support their registration of land and their claim to managing it. This adds personalities and names

to the history of the hall and provides information on the use of parts of the landholdings from 1845

onwards. This level of documentary evidence is CONSIDERABLE.

Communal Value

The buildings from the outset were designed for the community, built and paid for by the community

and then maintained and managed by the local community. The fact that it is still run by the

community is especially significant. The Witham has had a role to play not just in educating the

community, but caring for its health. It has supported the community through two world wars and has

adapted its ability to entertain through the addition of a music hall in 1860, a dance floor (the best

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sprung dance floor in Durham!) and the addition of a projection booth to show films. Two plaques

within the Library (Gallery) are memorials to former users, one dating to 1922 and the other to 1993.

Its Communal Value is therefore EXCEPTIONAL.

Acknowledgements

Archaeo-Environment are grateful to Neil Harrison the caretaker at the Witham, for taking time to

show us around and for opening locked doors and hidden places for further investigation. We are also

grateful to Annalisa Ward and Chris Best for organising access and to Mr. Roy Tranter for providing

considerable amounts of historic information including historic maps, an account of historic

documentation in the Trustees ownership and recent photographs of the attic space. Some of this

information had been collated by other Trustees such as Pam Grunwell whose research has proved

especially helpful and is used throughout this report. Gratitude is also extended to Rosie Cross for

information on previous discussions with English Heritage and for pointing out the ‘hand tap’ in the

dispensary.

In an attempt to place the Witham in a national context a number of organisations and individuals

have been particularly helpful. IHBC members Bev Bagnall, Stewart Ramsdale, Peter Graves and

Fiona Cullen have all helped to find examples of cultural and entertainment buildings in their areas.

The Victorian Society have also helped as has Elain Harwood of English Heritage who is the author of

EH’s selection criteria for such buildings. Thank you also to Martin Roberts and Myra Tolan Smith of

English Heritage for providing contact details.

Report author: Caroline Hardie, AE

Specialist advice on Music Halls and theatre: Penny Middleton, AE

Additional research: Sophie Laidler, AE and Pam Grunwell and Roy Tranter, Witham Trustees

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Building names

Each building has been referred to with different names over the years. Likewise rooms have

changed function and name. Below is a list of the terms used for each building or room. See Appendix

E for annotated plans.

Witham Testimonial This name is used throughout to refer to the original Witham Hall built in

1845-6

Music Hall This refers to the building to the rear of the Witham Testimonial built in

1860. It has also been known as the Central Music Hall.

Linking corridor This refers to the sloping corridor of brick and wood built to link the Music

Hall to the Witham Hall

The Library This refers to what is now the Gallery. It has also been a reading room

and a news room.

The Dispensary This refers to what is now the Snack Bar

The Kitchen This was originally used by the Dispensary Society.

The Ante-Room This is the small room to the east of the Library which is also sometimes

called the Mercury Room. It may have been a news room.

The Witham Room The large upstairs meeting room, originally for public lectures and

meetings or for a news or reading room. The County Court may have

been held here.

The Conservative offices Small first floor office on the south east side, sometimes referred to as the

old office

Board Room Small first floor office on the north east side

Hall Street shops This includes the Booking Office, the Fitzhugh library, the TCR rooms and

the Thrift Shop. They incorporate what was a smithy, a police station, a

corridor leading to the caretaker’s cottage and a tea warehouse

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Contents

Summary 2

Acknowledgements 4

Building Names 5

Introduction 9

Policy Background 9

Historic Background 10

The Witham Testimonial in Context 19

The Music Hall in Context 21

The Value of the Music Hall 23

The Street Pattern 27

Historical Associations:

The Architects 30

Henry Witham 31

Arthur Henderson 32

Evidential Value:

Documentary Sources 35

Archaeological Potential 35

The Buildings - The Witham Testimonial 37

Front elevation 37

Rear elevation 38

Hall Street elevation 39

George Street elevation 39

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Star Yard and car park elevation 41

Witham Hall Interiors:

The Library 43

The Dispensary 45

The Ante Room 48

The Ante Room corridor 48

Witham entrance corridor 49

Entrance porch interior 51

Kitchen and heating chamber 53

Box office (store) 54

The Staircase 54

The Witham Room 56

The Conservative Office 59

The Board Room 60

The Attic 62

The Later Buildings 62

Music Hall exterior 63

Music Hall interiors 63

The Attic 66

The Linking Corridor 67

Caretaker's Cottage and Recovery Room 70

Hall Street Shops 71

The Booking Office 72

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TCR and Fitzhugh Library 73

The Thrift Shop 77

TCR Room 79

Conclusion 81

Appendix A Listing description for the Witham Hall

Appendix B Table of listed buildings in England designed by Greens the Architects

Appendix C Listed Mechanics' Institutes and Music Halls in England

Appendix D Unlisted comparators

Appendix E Annotated plans of the Witham as existing

Appendix F Statement of Significance - our approach

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Introduction

Archaeo-Environment was commissioned to carry out a Statement of Significance for the Witham Hall

in February 2010. The Trustees of the Witham were considering proposals to demolish the Music Hall

and linking corridor to the rear of the Witham in order to construct a building which better represented

the needs of the community. In partnership with Barnard Castle Vision and Durham County Council,

the Trustees commissioned Fielden Clegg Bradley Studio architects to devise a design for this new

build. In order to assist with the identification of what was significant about the Witham and therefore

sensitive to change and conversely what was less significant and could be altered or demolished, this

Statement of Significance was produced. The timetable was relatively short when the Statement was

commissioned and architect’s plans had already been devised. However these plans had not

progressed so far that they could not be altered in the light of new evidence being presented.

The report does not constitute a full Conservation Management Plan, nor has any detailed building

recording been carried out. However it does include background research and has attempted to put

the buildings into a wider context. The level of recording which has been carried out to inform this

Statement of Significance broadly correlates with Level 2 recording as defined by English Heritage

(2006,14). If a full Conservation Management Plan is required, the missing elements are ISSUES,

CONSERVATION POLICIES and if required, a 10 year MANAGEMENT PLAN.

Policy background

Proposals to carry out alterations to the building are relatively minor and already have their

permissions and consents. This Statement of Significance is designed to assist with future

management decisions. However, should additional consents be required this report is designed to

meet the requirements outlined in PPS5 2010 (Para HE 6.1) which states that:

HE6.1 Local planning authorities should require an applicant to provide a description of the

significance of the heritage assets affected and the contribution of their setting to that significance.

The level of detail should be proportionate to the importance of the heritage asset and no more than is

sufficient to understand the potential impact of the proposal on the significance of the heritage asset.

Plate 1. An Elijah Yeoman photograph of Horsemarket with the Witham on the left c.1900

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Historic Background1

The Witham Testimonial was built in 1845-6. It was named after Henry T M Witham esq., a local

philanthropist who lived at Lartington Hall. Witham was ‘distinguished for his kind and generous spirit

and his active benevolence.’ He was renowned for his concern for the Victorian working-classes of

Barnard Castle. He keenly supported a Dispensary Society, founded in 1835, which gave medical

assistance to people who were too poor to afford doctors’ bills, and in 1832 he and the Society

founded the Mechanics Institute; the objects of the Institute were:

‘to give the labouring people of the town and neighbourhood an opportunity to improve themselves

and to pursue knowledge for their own pleasure.’

The Institute was a charitable institution providing educational facilities so that workers could better

their prospects in the employment market. The facilities included a library and access to lectures,

meetings and educational outings. The Mechanics’ Institute was originally housed in rented

accommodation. It had no premises of its own, but lecturers, meetings and a supply of books were

organised. Henry Witham expressed a wish that suitable premises should be built to house its

activities and those of the Dispensary for the Relief of the Sick Poor.

Henry Witham died in 1844. The local community decided that a building should be erected in his

memory to provide premises both for Barnard Castle Mechanics’ Institute and the Dispensary. The

funds for the building were raised by public subscription. It is said that when the sum total of the

donations was found to be rather insufficient for the grandiose plans for the building, John Bowes,

(wealthy local landowner, illegitimate son of the Earl of Strathmore and latterly founder of The Bowes

Museum), made a significant personal contribution that enabled the project to go ahead.

The land that was bought for the new building already had a building on it which was presumably

demolished. In addition the Hall Street buildings were already there as were the stables which still

exist to the rear of the plot today. While it might be expected that Hall Street acquired its name after

the Witham Hall was built, it did in fact have that name by 1839 when the tithe map was produced

suggesting that its origins lie with the chapel hall on the corner of Hall Street and Queen Street which

had already been constructed (figure 1).

The purchase of the land for the Witham Hall is recorded in an indenture 15 May 1845 between Henry

and Ann Peverell, William Peverell and John and Mary Peverell with John Headlam (since deceased),

Joshua Monkhouse and George Brown. It was bought from a public subscription which raised

~£1,160 (including £250 from the Dispensary Society) and on which the memorial building to Henry

Witham was built comprising “.. seven rooms (that is to say) Two front rooms on the Ground floor with

two small rooms behind the same and one larger front room on the upper floor and two small rooms

1 Much of this historic background information is derived from Pam Grunwell 2006

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behind the same with a messuage containing two rooms in the yard of the said premises a small

Garden and suitable outhouses...”

Figure 1. The tithe map surveyed in 1839 showing the location of the Witham before it was built. Hall

Street already has its name and the buildings along Hall Street and the stables to the rear of the

Yorkshire Bank are already there.

The large-scale public health map of 1854 (figure 2) shows the buildings as originally constructed and

shows the Institute and the Dispensary either side of the main entrance. The rear yard where the

Music Hall was later to be built, contained a well and a pit and between was the caretaker’s cottage or

the ‘country patient’s room’. The yard appears to be laid out as the garden referred to in the indenture.

It was completed in April 1846 and the Witham Testimonial opened on Monday 27th April 1846. On

that day and the three following days there was ‘a very splendid bazaar and exhibition of paintings.’

The committee that organised the erection of the building had incurred a considerable debt. ‘A

number of ladies, in consequence, lent their efforts to liquidate the debt by a bazaar.’ The paintings

were lent for the occasion by the surrounding nobility and gentry and the bazaar raised £230 net.,

thus enabling the committee to liquidate all their liabilities except £50/£60.

By 1848 the Witham was described in Slater’s Directory and Topography (p178) as:

‘The institutions and charities [in Barnard Castle] comprise an ancient hospital for three aged widows,

a mechanics institution, in a flourishing state, with a news room; a savings bank, a dispensary, for the

indigent sick, and national and infants’ schools for children of the humbler class’.

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Figure 2. Public health map of 1854 showing the layout of the Dispensary and Library and the

caretaker’s cottage to the rear. The back yard where the Music Hall was to be built six years later

contains a well and a pit. The buildings along Hall Street include a Smithy and the site of the modern

library was then occupied by the police station complete with cells. Some of the narrow spaces are

yards with stopcocks and dust bins (left of smithy).

The running of the new building was the responsibility of trustees. In 1855 ownership and

management of the then existing buildings was put in the hands of 12 Trustees (generally referred to

as the Witham Hall Trustees), with 6 nominated by the Mechanics’ Institute and 6 by the Dispensary

Society. This arrangement continued until the Dispensary Society disbanded, when the Mechanics

Institute took all responsibility to nominate Trustees (Tranter 2010). The settlement listed the land

which belonged to the Trustees and the rooms within the Witham and how they were being used

(Tranter 2010, app1):

“...ALL that piece of Ground situate in the Horse Market or Market Place Barnard Castle aforesaid

containing by admeasurement from North to South on the West Boundary Line thereof thirty eight feet

two inches and on the East Boundary line Forty nine feet or thereabouts and from East to West at or

about the centre of the ground one hundred and two feet or thereabouts boundered by the said Street

called Horse Market towards the West by other part of the property conveyed to the said John

Headlam Joshua Monkhouse and George Brown as aforesaid towards the East by a House and other

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property of Martin Kirtley towards the North and by a House and other property of James Hutchinson

and John Tester or one of them towards the South ...” and to the Trustees tenants servants and

workmen of the Mechanics Institute and Dispensary Society the right of passage “...along the road

now made leading from Ware Street into the premises intended to be hereby assured TOGETHER

with the Building erected on the said piece of Ground TOGETHER ALSO with all outhouses vaults

cellars yards fences ways ...”. The southernmost front room [now the Snack Bar] on the ground floor

and the room behind it was to be used by the Dispensary Society. The other ground floor rooms were

for the Mechanics Institute for their Library Class Room and ‘other purposes’ and the large room on

the upper floor was for the Mechanics’ Institute to hold public lectures and meetings or for a news or

reading room. The two small rooms on the upper floor and the messuage with two small rooms and

the out offices were for the Mechanics’ Institute to rent or ‘otherwise to a Library Keeper allowing one

small room in the yard for a patient of the Dispensary upon whom a surgical operation may be

necessary’.

Figure 3. The Witham in 1852 from Garland’s Tour of Teesdale

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The Dispensary for the Relief of the Sick Poor

The Dispensary movement had its origins in London where in the second half of the 18 th century John

Coakley Lattsom, the champion of Jenner and vaccination inaugurated a system of dispensaries

whereby the poor could be treated as outpatients and even be attended to in their homes by high

ranking physicians (Hastings 1972, 1). Once they spread out of London the means by which they

were established and organised varied according to local requirements, but most were established by

subscribers or benefactors and tickets could be issued providing two months worth of appointments or

benefactors could recommend worthy causes. The Poor Rate was used to provide a service to the

paupers but from 1837 when the Poor Law was revised, the old and incurably sick could be sent to

the Union Surgeon. Traditionally the skills in the Dispensary were provided by physicians, surgeons,

apothecaries and housekeepers who could all donate time. The role of the apothecary transformed

from the tradesmen who prepared potions on behalf of a physician to the predecessor of the modern

day GP. Dispensaries could be located in almshouses or in rooms in larger buildings.

The Dispensary in the Witham was run by a charitable society which provided funds for the provision

of treatments, dispensed medicines and other medical supplies, such as bandages and blankets.

Medicine bottles were probably one of the most expensive items and in some areas, patients had to

provide their own bottles (Hastings 1972, 1). Behind the Dispensary, in the yard, was a recovery room

which could be used for any country patient for whom surgical treatment was necessary. Later a

caretaker’s cottage (now demolished) was built behind the dispensary (Witham Hall Past 1981).2 The

Dispensary came into its own during the cholera outbreak of 1849 and again during WW2 the

Dispensary administered food rationing (from which the Witham earned rental income) and the

provision of orange juice, cod liver oil etc for children. This charitable society was one of several that

were run by the wives of the professional classes and by women of independent means who had the

time and the moral motivation to devote to the less fortunate. The Dispensary functioned until the

creation of the NHS when its purpose was no longer required. However it remained in existence until

the 1990s. During its latter years it made charitable donations to local services such as the

Richardson Hospital and to individuals in need of support.

2 Taken from the Opening Ceremony Programme 1981 available from

http://www.communigate.co.uk/ne/withamhall/page1.phtml [accessed 28.2.10]

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Figure 4. 1st edition OS map dating to 1856. The Witham Testimonial is rather blurred but the

recovery room and/or the caretaker’s cottage to the rear is visible and the well and pit recorded on the

earlier Public Health map can still be seen.

The Music Hall and Linking Corridor

A Deed of Trust dated 30 October 1860 on the Mechanics Hall and Savings Bank listed the Trustees

who were to be responsible for the buildings under construction after a subscription:

[Land is situate behind the Witham Testimonial bounded by] “...property of the Trustees of the Witham

Testimonial towards the west by property of the Devisees of Robert Taylor deceased towards the east

by messuages belonging to Thomas Howson towards the south and by the garden of Francis

Winnpenny and an occupation road leading thereto and to the Witham Testimonial towards the north.

AND that messuage or tenement in Hall Street recently purchased of John Walton and bounded by

property of Thomas Richardson towards east by Hall Street towards south, by the land towards north

by property of Thomas Howson towards west...”

The deed required that one large ground floor room of the John Walton messuage adjoining Hall

Street be used by the Savings Bank; the Savings Bank did not last very long. (Tranter 2010, app 1).

The new Music Hall was inaugurated on Thursday 6th December 1860 and reported in the Darlington

and Stockton Times a week later.

“Thursday will require chronicling as a red-letter day in the annals of Barnardcastle [sic]. At noon, the

whole of the shops were closed, in honour of the day and its doings. The Witham Testimonial Room,

although very convenient in many respects, has been found considerably too small for lecture and

festival purposes; and thus arose the necessity of building the Mechanics’ New Hall.”

The Opening Event lasted the whole day, and it is variously reported that between 600 – 800 people

were present, all of whom were served with tea. In the evening a concert took place, but the

performances were marred by the crush of people and the consequent excessive heat. The solo

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violinist’s violin went flat; one of the women solo singers was only able to perform one of her two

allotted songs because she felt faint from the heat. The speeches overran and the audience became

restive. Nonetheless, the press of the day reported it to be a great success.

The hall was built up to the backs of properties in Hall Street to the south and took in a former smithy

there as a side entrance. A linking corridor was later constructed on the slope between the original

Witham Testimonial and the new Music Hall. On the north side of the linking corridor a flat roofed

toilet block was later erected and on the south side the caretaker’s cottage continued to exist until the

1960s. A timber cinema projection box accessed by a ladder was later constructed at the back of the

hall, over the end of the linking passage.

According to the financial statement published in the Darlington and Stockton Times, the building of

the New Hall cost £907.8s.0d with the Trust recording a deficiency of £302.0s.9d after the completion

of the building. The New Hall subsequently became known as The Music Hall and was the venue for

many social events in the town; including balls from the 1860s which lasted from 9 p.m. to 4-30 a.m,

concerts, professional and amateur theatre productions, operas and oratorios, magic lantern shows,

Chinese jugglers, free teas for poor widows and latterly film shows. In April 1885 the D’Oyly Carte

Opera Company visited Barnard Castle to perform two of Gilbert & Sullivan’s operas: Iolanthe and

Patience. The dressing rooms were located in the buildings along Hall Street. The Hall was also the

venue for public meetings including election meetings and other political debates. In July 1903 The

Witham was the venue for the announcement of the results of one of the most famous by-elections in

the early years of the twentieth century: the election of Arthur Henderson – the first Labour MP to be

elected to Parliament in a three-cornered contest. Henderson went on to be a key member of the first

Labour Government and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in the 1930s. Kelly’s Trade Directory

for Barnard Castle in 1902 (p31-2) described the Witham as follows:

‘…It comprises a public hall, called the “Central Music Hall” which is used for entertainments etc and

will seat 800 persons: there is also a library and rooms in which science and drawing classes are

conducted, and the County Court is also held here; a portion of the building is used as a dispensary.’

In 1913 the Teesdale Mercury reported ‘a lively little meeting’ under the auspices of the Labour Party

and the NUWSS to promote the advocacy of the enfranchisement of women. The resolution was lost,

perhaps all the more poignant because the women who were members of the local branch of the non-

militant Women’s Suffrage Society in Barnard Castle were, in large part, the same women who were

members of the Dispensary Committee based at the Witham.

During the First World War, men were billeted in The Witham. In the inter war years Teesdale Musical

Tournaments, one of many such events in centres of population in the North-East, were held in The

Witham, presumably the Music Hall. The Witham served as an election polling station and public

announcements of election results were made there. In the Second World War, as well as the

Dispensary’s involvement with food supplies, the Witham was used as a central point for other

matters to do with public safety, such as the issuing of gas masks. During this time and in the period

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of National Service after the war and until the early 1960s, there were many military camps around

Barnard Castle and The Music Hall was a very popular venue for dances. There were by now at least

two cinemas in the town.

Figure 5. The 2nd edition OS map dating to 1896 shows a number of significant developments at the

Witham. The sloping link corridor and Music Hall have been constructed, although the caretaker’s

cottage and recovery room remain. Another small building and the boiler room have been constructed

on the north side of the corridor. The stables can be seen to the rear of the plot behind the Yorkshire

Bank. Additional development along George Street has taken place and the police station has moved

to new premises on Queen Street. Land along Queen Street which had been agricultural has been

taken over by small scale industry.

A rapid appraisal of the caretaker’s day book in the 1920s (DRO Acc 3102(d), Box 18) and the

accounts dating to the 1932 to 1961 (DRO D/Bel Acc 3102(d) Box 15) show the sort of activities that

took place in all the Witham buildings including musical tournaments (1924), meetings of the Canine

Society, Boy Scouts, the Whit Monday dance, the town band rehearsals (all 1924), the Operatic

Society rehearsals (1950s) and meetings of the War Memorial Committee. With the advent of war, the

use of the Hall for ‘Food Control’, presumably rationing and the labour exchange brought some rental

income. The labour exchange appeared to take place in the dispensary and the food control in the

Witham Room. For a period of time part of the Wednesday market was held in the Witham during the

1930s selling butter, cheese, eggs and dairy produce, possibly in the Music Hall (DRO Acc 2268

UD/BC/201). A petition of a number of local traders objected to the move from the butter market to the

‘market hall’ in the Witham as they felt it would be too expensive and that they would lose trade. They

suggested as an alternative that they should meet in the old post office (now Connolly’s toy shop)

which was also located at The Bank end of town which they thought more appropriate. The objections

appear to have failed. Other indicators of the times can also be seen such as the spending of 4s and

26d on coronation decorations in 1938, costs for snow cutting in the terrible winter of 1947 and the

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installation of electric light into the labour exchange (dispensary) in 1948. The County Library paid

rent from 1952 and it was also at this time that the Young Conservatives took up residence. An

architect was paid a princely sum in 1958 but it is not clear what the money was for.

In the 1950s St Mary’s Parish Hall was built and this diverted a number of community activities from

The Witham, resulting in a long period of financial uncertainty. Use of the Music Hall fell away to such

an extent that in the mid 1970s the Trustees agreed to lease the hall to Rowell & Wright (a furniture

store on the site now occupied by Clinton Cards) as additional showroom space. This provided

income that the Trust needed to continue running the Mechanics’ Institute. When the lease to Rowell

& Wright expired in 1979, the Trustees agreed to the Music Hall, the former Dispensary and the first

floor rooms being leased to Barnard Castle Town Council. The Town Council secured the assistance

of a Community Task Force which provided the labour for the repair, renovation and redecoration of

the building. The Town Council paid for the cost of the materials; a total of £29,000. The Witham Hall

was established as a Communal Social and Sporting Centre for the town and its neighbourhood,

under the auspices of the YMCA with staff funded by Durham County Council Youth and Community

Service. The Opening Ceremony was on 1st May 1981.

A condition survey of the Witham was carried out in 2007. This included all the buildings on the site

and concluded that the building was in reasonable condition, but with some areas requiring significant

rebuilding such as the roof above the front building (the Witham Testimonial) which appears to be

much repaired, but with failed trusses and load bearing in the wrong places (Reid Jones Partnership

2007, 5). Some long standing movement was also detected across the rear cross wall.

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The Witham Testimonial in Context.

The Victorian period was one of burgeoning civic buildings and the growing cultural aspirations of

townsfolk. This can still be seen in even the smallest villages today which usually contain at least one

building constructed for civic use in the Victorian period.

The founder of Mechanics’ Institutes was Dr. George Birbeck, a lecturer at Anderson’s University in

Glasgow. When finding that he lacked a piece of laboratory equipment he worked with local glass and

metal craftsmen to construct the apparatus. He realised that, apart from their mechanical skills, these

artisans had little exposure to education and so he began to hold evening lectures for them.

After a period of trial and error, the Glasgow Mechanics’ Institute was founded in 1823, followed by

the London (England) Mechanics’ Institute. They proved to be so popular that by 1853 there were

more than 700 such institutes with a membership of over 120,000.

Mechanics’ Institutes offered courses of instruction to workers in the scientific principles of their

trades, but quickly expanded into many other fields. In addition to lectures, the institutes sponsored

concerts and art shows and circulated a wide range of books. Culturally they are very important

because they led on to a number of initiatives including the University Extension Movement of 1876

and the Workers’ Educational Association of 1903. The Witham and the other Mechanics’ Institutes

are in effect forerunners of these other educational movements.

Historically, Mechanics' Institutes were educational establishments formed to provide adult education,

particularly in technical subjects, to working men. As such, they were often funded by local

industrialists on the grounds that they would ultimately benefit from having more knowledgeable and

skilled employees. Mechanics’ Institutes, in effect, were also the forerunners of present-day public

libraries. The relationship between libraries and institutes has therefore always been very close. This

is reflected in the Witham where the two functions have always been intertwined and even today the

public library is located adjacent to the Witham.

Libraries in their own right were very rare before the mid 19th century and those which did exist

adapted existing premises or shared with other functions. Bespoke examples, such as the Newcastle

Literary and Philosophical Society’s premises (by John Green, 1822-5) with its library and reading

rooms, are exceptional. It is no wonder therefore that the local community of Barnard Castle

commissioned the Greens to design their new building which was to include a library.

Many libraries date from the last years of the nineteenth century (e.g., the London Library of 1896-8

and the North of England Mining and Mechanical Engineers’ Institute of 1869-72). Institutes for

working men were focused on meeting halls, such as the Witham Room on the first floor, but

sometimes contained reading rooms and news rooms (where newspapers were available), also as at

the Witham. In some cases they were subsidised by retail space as was the Mechanics’ Institute,

Swindon (1853-5) with its integral shops and market. All such buildings combine architectural with

20

historic interest, especially where they demonstrate the growth of a town’s cultural aspirations

(English Heritage 2007, 3).

An 1850 Act permitted local authorities to build libraries but only 125 were erected nationally until

Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee of 1887 which stimulated a flood of libraries dedicated as permanent

memorials. A further Libraries Act in 1892 made it easier for urban authorities to raise funds, and

thenceforth libraries were built in unprecedented numbers. The Witham became the home to the local

authority library in the 1950s until a new building was constructed on Witham land next door.

In most early libraries the public did not have free access to the book stock but had to make their

choices from a catalogue. Emphasis was given to the reading room, and to newspaper rooms where

daily papers would be fixed on sloping benches, often requiring them to be read standing up. Large

lending libraries with open shelves supervised from an issue desk placed near the door began only in

the 1890s and if this was ever the case at the Witham it could only have been when the library moved

upstairs to the Witham Room where more space was available.

Putting the Witham Testimonial into a regional or national context is not particularly easy. A search of

listed buildings in England, produced 49 results for Mechanic’s Institutes (see appendix C). The

majority are listed grade II like the Witham, but there are two at grade I and nine at grade II*. This

suggests that listed mechanic’s institutes are relatively rare when compared to other recreation or

cultural buildings such as libraries (2732), theatres (348) or dispensaries (74). Like the Witham, a

number were also libraries, reading rooms or news rooms, but unlike the Witham, many have gone on

to find alternative uses. These uses range from those which are in keeping with the original spirit of

the Mechanics’ Institute as a community resource or with educational links (museum, art college,

village halls, post office, libraries and Town Halls). A number have become or were built to provide

shops providing another precedent for a food hall at the Witham (The Witham hosted the butter

market in the 1930s). Based on the listed building descriptions alone which are incomplete and out of

date, the current uses for Mechanics’ Institutes appears to be 11 which still function as Mechanics’

Institutes (based on LB description not stating any other use), 23 have found new community uses

such as Town Halls or theatres, 13 now have commercial uses (shops, offices, wine bars, houses)

and one is derelict.

Nine of the forty six are located in the north east region. The Yorkshire region appears to have the

highest numbers of listed mechanics’ institutes which is hardly surprising as they tend to be

associated with places of increasing industrialisation and population movement in the Victorian

period.

Out of the 49 listed mechanics’ institutes, only eight are earlier than the Witham. Of that eight, based

on the listing description which may be out of date, only one still functions as a mechanics’ institute

(Alnwick) and five are libraries, one is a theatre and the remaining two are a saleroom and a

restaurant.

21

None of these figures are particularly accurate because of the way the information is collated,

however they give us an indication of how many have been recognised as being architecturally or

historically important throughout England and we can see that listed mechanics’ institutes which still

function as such are relatively rare, while the Witham is earlier than most. It is also clear that many

have been through more alterations than the Witham, but this must remain uncertain as the listing

descriptions often only describe what can be seen from the street front. The Witham is a relatively

unaltered building which represents the growing trend for self improvement amongst the working

classes and the growth of civic architecture in Victorian times and its significance is therefore

EXCEPTIONAL.

The Music Hall in Context

The Music Hall, although built 16 years later than the front building, was an integral part of the Witham

Hall and therefore its association with workers’ education and mechanics’ institutes equally applies.

However for the purposes of this study, some consideration needs to be given to its significance in its

own right. Although referred to as a music hall, this space was designed to be multi-functional; its use

adapting to meet current fashions and public demands. Its large open space and proscenium arch

means that it is architecturally at least, in a similar tradition to the Music Hall which grew out of a

tradition of pubs offering entertainment from about the 1830s; gradually evolving into separate venues

from the 1850s providing variety entertainment with the audience seated at tables eating and drinking.

However its cultural tradition is from the growing trend of workers’ education and self improvement

and the growth of village halls and dance halls in the Victorian period. It is therefore to these two

strands of music hall and village hall that we might find parallels.

Music Hall traditions

The growth of the Halls was rapid and spread across Britain with the first great boom in the 1860s, the

same date that the Witham’ music hall was built. In the cities, many of these Music Halls went onto be

developed into variety theatres with professional actors; increasingly celebrated and increasingly

controlled by regulations. In 1912, music hall gained a level of respectability with the first Royal

Command Performance and their organisation and style gradually merged into that of theatres. The

peak of the Music Hall tradition was during the First World War, but during the Second World War

many halls in the cities, but especially in London, were badly damaged or destroyed. The cinema,

radio and greater accessibility of the gramophone offered alternatives and Big Bands offered dance

music rather than the variety acts of before. In Barnard Castle the Witham’s Music Hall reflected the

growing tastes for dance bands and the demand from military personnel stationed at Stainton Grove

for entertainment. The Witham moved with the times offering cinema, a place to hold the butter

market, a lecture theatre and the continuing theatrical events; its purpose always multi-functional from

the start and therefore less vulnerable to changing patterns of recreation than the more traditional

music halls in the cities. Television sounded the death knell of many of these forms of entertainment

22

and this combined with the building of another community building at St Mary’s Church, created a

drop in demand for the Witham’s Music Hall and the start of financial difficulties.

Many traditional music halls were architecturally pretentious and prominently sited in town centres,

but the Witham is far more restrained, perhaps reflecting its wider purpose associated with lectures,

exhibitions and recreation. Later nineteenth-century examples of music halls tend to be part of multi-

functional complexes (English Heritage 2007,5) and the Witham has more in common with this phase

of music hall tradition.

The term Music Hall can cover a number of different building types and it is not clear at what point the

Music Hall at the Witham became known as such. The opening event on 6th December 1860 referred

to it not as a Music Hall, but as the Mechanic’s New Hall, however it was soon popularly referred to as

the Music Hall and was called the Central Music Hall in Kelly’s Directory of 1902 (p31-2). This is

significant because it implies that it became a music hall by popular demand, not by intent. In terms of

layout, it does conform to many a Music Hall with a proscenium arch and a level floor for consuming

food and drink at tables while watching variety acts on stage. Indeed the opening event as described

in the Darlington and Stockton Times on the 15th December 1860 was very much in the Music Hall

tradition. The Witham example is simpler than many other examples which often evolved from inns

and acquired extras such as supper rooms for gentlemen. They usually had a tiered balcony

arrangement, but clearly Barnard Castle could not support such an exotic layout. As a music hall it

would be a particularly early and rare example, but as a mechanics’ institute hall, its early date and

intactness is also significant.

Dance Halls, Village Halls and Institutes tradition

The Witham always had several functions and its origins were perhaps more akin to the Dance Halls,

Village Halls and Institutes tradition. These tend to be modest buildings and therefore with more

affinity with the Witham and unlike the Witham’s Music Hall, are often disappointing internally.

Occasionally, however, these building types can be impressive as, for example, the Ritz in

Manchester (1927-28 by Cruickshank & Seaward) with its elaborate façade, large auditorium with

Tuscan columns supporting a balcony. Village halls and institutes acquired architectural pretension

when endowed by benefactors (such as Passmore Edwards in Cornwall or the Duke of Westminster

in Cheshire) or where they reflected confident working communities (e.g., the much later tradition of

miners’ halls in the north-east) or when they celebrated major events or anniversaries, such as

coronations (which often resulted in the addition of clock towers) (English Heritage 2007, 7). In the

case of the Witham, it was the combination of benefactor (John Bowes who helped with the original

funding of the Testimonial) and the confidence of the local community who helped produce an interior

that was a cut above the average village hall.

23

The Value of the Music Hall

True music halls from the mid 19th century are now very rare indeed and any remaining examples will

be protected. A search of national databases produces differing results. There are 31 Music Halls

listed nationally as buildings of architectural of historic importance (Listed Buildings Online accessed

26.2.10 and 23.3.10). The Witham does not appear on this list as the Music Hall is not referred to in

the listing text and so this also introduces another variable. The National Monuments Record has

evidence of 70 Music Halls, but this includes a number which have been demolished. Their

distribution appears to favour London, the larger cities and seaside resorts.

Regionally there are few examples surviving intact. The Witham example is the only one recorded in

County Durham on the Historic Environment Record. In Tyne and Wear there are more as one might

expect, ranging between 14 and 18 examples, but of these only two appear to be intact and another

survives only as a façade as part of the Eldon Square shopping centre.3 A number of others are

theatres rather than Music Halls. One of the destroyed examples was the first Music Hall constructed

in Gateshead in 1870 (HER 7872), the Alexandra Music Hall, again suggesting that Barnard Castle’s

Witham Music Hall is very early for such a small market town. There are no examples recorded in

Northumberland’s Historic Environment Record.

The Witham does not however appear to be a true music hall. It was not designed as such and it

lacks the balconies associated with many other purpose built music halls. However if the Music Hall at

the Witham is seen as part of the Dance Halls, Village Halls and Institutes tradition, then it has less

significance because of its date, although it is still relatively early when compared to other examples,

and it has a good level of intactness (not altered since it was built), plus the decorative elements

within and the survival of the proscenium arch all add to its significance. The association with this

category of architecture is most appealing because it accounts for the Witham’s architectural modesty

and its wider multi-purpose use. Indeed it is this multi-purpose use and adaptability which has allowed

it to survive intact for so long. A search of listed Mechanics’ Institutes which have a proscenium arch

resulted in only one site – that in Swindon, now derelict and recently upgraded from grade II to Grade

II*. The proscenium arch in the Swindon example is in fact a 1930s replacement and as such it is of

less significance than the Witham example. As a comparison there are 338 listed buildings in England

which contain proscenium arches. This is not a very large number either, but includes mainly theatres.

Multi purpose educational and entertainment buildings are diverse and it is it is often their interiors

that are the determining factors when considering them for designation, and any listing, especially at

high grades, will normally be based on the quality, rarity and/or good survival of the interior (English

Heritage 2007, 2). The Music Hall at the Witham is listed by default; it is attached to the Witham which

is listed, but the listing description makes no mention of it (listing description is appendix A). To be

considered nationally important in its own right the Music Hall needs to meet a number of criteria

3 Information available from Sitelines and Keys to the Past

24

(English Heritage 2007, 9) outlined below, but in summary it meets the criteria in terms of date,

survival of proscenium arch, sense of space, rarity when compared to other mechanic’s institutes or

entertainment and cultural buildings and intactness/ completeness of design. It does not meet the

criteria in terms of architectural quality of the exterior, street presence (not always a requirement in

any case), historic associations or famous firsts.

Historical Association.

Association with famous individuals, artists,

‘famous firsts’. It might embody social

phenomena such as mid 20th century dance

bands culture – in which case the building should

survive in a form that directly illustrates and

confirms the historical claim, and be very good

examples of the phenomenon.

No, the Witham Hall at the front is associated

with Henry Witham and with Greens the

architects, but the Music Hall to the rear has no

such associations. It’s architectural style

resembles the plain non conformist chapels of the

area and village halls such as Cotherstone and

so its architect may be found amongst those

practitioners.

The main criteria for such buildings will be

architectural quality, decoration, functional

planning, intactness and date. Music halls of the

mid nineteenth century are very rare and where

they survive they may comprise simple

rectangular rooms with narrow balconies on three

sides supported on cast-iron columns.

Significance will be added if they have quality

embellishments of foyers, boxes or acoustic

features.

The Witham’s Music Hall is intact having been

unaltered (apart from the addition of Gentlemen’s

toilets) since it was built. Its architectural quality is

not exceptional, but the interior decoration is of a

higher quality. It has no embellished foyer of the

standards required for listing, no boxes and

acoustic embellishments or an organ which might

raise its level of importance. In date it represents

an early example of the Music Hall tradition in a

provincial town and if considered only in the

Music Hall tradition, then it is a very rare mid 19th

century example (English Heritage 2007, 5).

However in overall style it does not quite meet

the building style of the Music Hall, lacking as it

does any balconies. Its architectural tradition is

associated more with parish halls and non

conformist chapels than music halls. Further the

original intent of the construction appears to have

been wider than a Music Hall with the press

reports of its opening referring to it meeting a

need for more space for lectures and festivals. In

that respect, in terms of function, it sits more

comfortably within the Dance Halls, Village Halls

and Institutes tradition.

25

Theatres. It is also worth considering what makes

a theatre nationally important so that those

elements can also be considered at the Witham.

Completeness of design enhances the case for

listing. The survival of the proscenium arch is

essential. They tend to have elaborate facades to

the street front, but can be plainer along the sides

and to the rear. Internally there should be a

sense of space. The more modest early theatres

of the 1860s to 70s have probably survived less

well than the more fruity interiors of 1890-1914

and plain working class flea-pits are now very

rare.

The Witham’s Music Hall does have

completeness of design.

The proscenium arch survives intact.

The external design is plain all round due to its

position off the street front.

Internally there is still a sense of space.

It fits within an era where survival is not

especially good and therefore has some rarity

value.

For all buildings in the culture and entertainment

sector significance is less easy to define because

they are a very diverse range of buildings. It is

therefore often the interiors which are the

determining factors.

The Witham interior overall is restrained with the

embellishments focused on the proscenium arch

and with two ceiling roses and plaster cornicing.

Small hooks around the walls at a similar height

suggest that decoration was provided by banners

and hangings which could be altered depending

on the function. The sprung dance floor is

renowned locally as being the best in Barnard

Castle and may replace an earlier sprung dance

floor which might still be in situ below the present

day floor.

This comparison of the Music Hall with other cultural and entertainment building types would suggest

that it is overall of CONSIDERABLE significance. This is based on the intactness of the proscenium

arch, the level of embellishments, its association with workers’ education and the early date of the

building in relation to other entertainment buildings such as Music Halls and Theatres. However it is

not exceptional because the design is relatively plain with the interest being concentrated in particular

areas of embellishment and it has nothing of exceptional significance externally, nor does it have any

significant streetscape presence, nor any significant historical associations.

Figure 6. Map of Mechanics’

Institutes in Yorkshire 1883 and

detail below

The Street Pattern.

The Witham Hall, like all other buildings on

Horsemarket and Market Street is set within narrow

medieval burgage plots and these are particularly

distinctive to the character of the Conservation Area

(Archaeo-Environment 2008, 22). These plots are found

in many 11-12th century towns, and in Barnard Castle,

the traditional Back Lane which created a pathway

along the rear of the medieval burgage plots and linked

the town with its agricultural hinterland, survives as

Birch Road (where it is a Back Lane to Newgate) and

Queen Street. The burgage plots extended from the rear of the street frontage properties to their Back

Lanes and were originally used for a variety of purposes including crop growing. The land was

ploughed by oxen and the plough team created a reverse – S shaped boundary to each plot. This can

still be seen in Waterloo Yard and Hall Street in the town, while other burgage plots also survive, but

without the curving boundary along most of Horse Market, Market Street and the Bank. However the

decline of these plots can be observed through historic mapping, particularly around Morrison’s and

the adjacent car park and Working Men’s’ Club (ibid) both adjacent to the proposal.

The land between Hall Street and Smithy’s (possibly named after two smithies which were located to

the rear in the late 19th century) is located on the curve of Horsemarket where it follows the perimeter

of the castle ditch. This means that the burgage plots fan out and are wider at this point and were

used as gardens and orchards in the early 19th century. These wider plots attracted alternative uses to

the area which has, over time, resulted in the alteration of the plot boundaries. The rear of the

Witham’s boundary under what is now a row of stone terraced houses on George Street was once a

guano warehouse. The land towards the north under what is now Morrison’s car park and the working

men’s club became the site of a foundry as did much of the land to the north of Queen Street from the

late 19th century. This was also the area where the backs of the burgage plots from Galgate met the

backs of the burgage plots from Horsemarket and so an inevitable rationalisation was going to take

place on this open area of land.

Plate 2. Star Yard

The Witham Testimonial Statement of Significance and Heritage Impact Assessment

Archaeo-Environment Ltd, March 2010 for Durham County Council

28

Figure 7. OS 2nd edition 1896

Further the burgage plot access routes to the rear of the Witham have been blocked by the

construction of George Street to the rear before the mid 19th century and the Witham Hall itself

blocked the access from one burgage plot to Horsemarket, suggesting that the significance of the

medieval plots as access routes was not considered important at that time. They were however still

put to productive use. The majority of the burgage plot to the rear of the Witham consisted of a well

and a pit before 1860 and was then developed for the Music Hall. However the plot to the rear of the

Yorkshire Bank was used as an orchard and the remaining trees are still productive today. The line of

this burgage plot survives as a boundary wall to the north of the Witham and to the rear (north) of

properties on Hall Street. That part which survives to the rear of the Witham will be destroyed by the

proposal.

The construction of George Street

c.1839 diverted access from the

burgage plot to Queen Street,

while the construction of the

Yorkshire Bank and the Witham

with no gap between cut off

access to Horsemarket



29

Distinctive character or feature Significance

Position within burgage plots

The Witham Hall was constructed within existing burgage plots, but the building of the later Music Hall to the rear filled the burgage plot completely with only a small slither of land down the side for access. The boundary of the burgage plot to the north was blocked by the construction of the Yorkshire Bank, now a betting shop and the Witham itself and subsequently went out of use

CONSIDERABLE

Street Pattern: Hall Street

Hall Street forms the southern boundary of the Witham and is gently curved to reflect the earlier use of the land as ploughed plots to the rear of medieval burgage plots. Access through a tunnel adds to local character and the mix of traditional window styles, doors and blocked openings add to a rich sense of historic character with a strong patina of age

EXCEPTIONAL

Street Pattern: Horsemarket

The construction of the Witham respected the earlier street pattern along Horsemarket, originally laid out along the lines of the castle ditch. It also conformed to existing building massing and scale and the use of stone. However the use of a pediment and parapet, plus the flagpole gave it additional street presence and just enough height to suggest superiority over adjacent buildings

EXCEPTIONAL



30

Street Pattern: Star Yard

Star Yard has exceptional historic character towards Horsemarket where access is through a tunnel – always an exciting way to explore the street pattern. The car park end however is marred by the vast open spaces of the car park and the ugly termination of views by the Working Men‟s Club. The present Witham is contained with a burgage plot two rows to the south of Star Yard; the intervening row being behind Coral, formerly the Yorkshire Bank.

SOME

Street Pattern: George Street

The burgage plot which the Witham sits in is terminated by George Street; an early east west development which cut across the burgage plot. This was extended in the late 19

th century over what was a guano shed.

SOME

Historical Associations

The Architects

The designers of the Witham Testimonial, John and Benjamin Green, were both important regional

architects responsible for a number of influential municipal buildings around the region. The father

and son team worked together in partnership extensively across the North East in the early to mid

19th century. John Green (1787–1852), the father, was born in Nafferton, Northumberland and after

several years working with his father, a carpenter and maker of agricultural implements, moved to

Newcastle in 1820 to set up his own business as an architect and engineer. He had two sons, John

(c.1807-68) and Benjamin (c.1811-58) who both became architects; the latter working in partnership

with his father on a number of major projects.4

Soon after setting up the company in 1820, John won a prestigious contract to design a new building

for the Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Society in 1822. However, he was principally an engineer

and designed a number of the region’s road and rail bridges, including two wrought iron bridges - one

across the Tyne at Scotswood (now destroyed) and the other (including a toll house) across the Tees

at Whorlton (1830). Green later submitted plans for the High Level Bridge but was rejected in favour

4 Citing online reference Oxford Dictionary of National Biography > http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/37482?docPos=2



31

of Robert Stephenson’s design. However, he continued to have success and was elected to the

Institution of Civil Engineers in 1841, particularly for his revolutionary design of laminated timber

arches. John Green already had a connection with the Witham family. In 1830-2 John Green had

been commissioned by the young Rev. Thomas Witham (later to inherit Lartington Hall) to build a

Catholic Church and presbytery at Stella near Blaydon (Milburn undated, 8)

His son, Benjamin, was a pupil of Augustus Charles Pugin, father of A.W.N. Pugin the influential

Gothic revival architect and theorist. However Benjamin, like his father, favoured classical forms of

architecture; although the two men varied considerably in the form this took. John was described as a

‘plain, practical, shrewd man of business’ who designs were ‘plain, severe and economical’ in style,

whereas his son was described as an ‘artistic, dashing sort of fellow’ with a tendency towards the

‘ornamental, florid and costly’. The classical style of the Witham could be a product of father or son

and both were still active in 1845 when construction started.

As a partnership, the two continued to work on contracts for the large Railway companies and were

involved with a number of main line stations between Newcastle and Berwick. They also worked on a

series of major churches including Earsdon and Cambo and on farmhouses especially for the Duke of

Northumberland. One of their most iconic buildings was the Penshaw Monument (1844). In 1836 the

firm became involved in Richard Grainger’s plans to radically re-develop Newcastle city centre; their

contribution to the neo-classical elegance of this venture was the Theatre Royal (1836-7) and Grey

Column (1837–8). Their work was not without controversy with some of their church alterations being

criticised for being ruthless and showing that they were no antiquarians (Dobson 2006, 146), for

example the destruction wrought on St Bartholomew’s at Whittingham, Northumberland.

John Green died in Newcastle on the 30th September 1852; his son just six years later in 1858 at the

age of 47. As a partnership they have left a legacy of at least 69 listed buildings nationally as well as

many unlisted buildings. (See appendix B for a table of other listed Green buildings in England)

Henry Witham

Henry Witham (1779–1844) was a founder of the Royal Geological Society and the first English

person to investigate the internal structure of fossil plants. Born Henry Thomas Silvertop, he married

Eliza Witham, heiress to the Witham Estate at Cliffe Hall, near Piercebridge and thus inherited the

Witham name and arms and took up residence at Lartington Hall in 1811. He was considered to be

the black sheep of the family, running up substantial debts through gambling, forcing his mother to

sell parts of their estates in order to pay his debts. However he was exceptionally popular with the

public. In 1826 he left Lartington and spent the next six years of his life in Edinburgh pursuing his

interests in fossils and geology. He was to author a number of works, ‘Observations on Fossil

Vegetables’ and a dissertation called ‘Cockfield Dyke’ (Rackham 1986, unpag). Despite having no

botanical training, he applied to plants James Nicol's method of examining rocks by slicing thin

sections of them and he was the first geologist to study fossils under the microscope. His findings



32

were published in his 1833 book The Internal Structure of Fossil Vegetables found in the

Carboniferous and Oolitic deposits of Great Britain, illustrated by William MacGillivray.5 His vast

collection is now housed with the Hancock Museum in Newcastle. This places in context the choice of

Frosterley or Egglestone Marble for the principal fireplaces at the Witham Testimonial where the

sections of fossils can clearly be seen. In 1832, Henry’s mother died and he inherited what was left of

her estates and so he returned to Lartington Hall as the new squire. His return was documented on

May 11th 1832 in the Durham Chronicle where 4,000 people gathered in Barnard Castle to welcome

him home:

‘On Saturday last, the family of Henry Witham, Esq., who had been for some years, absent from his

seat at Lartington, returned to their residence. This event had long been looked forward to with

anxiety by the inhabitants of the town of Barnard Castle and the neighbourhood, by whom the family

had been held in great esteem and regard. Their reception, their ‘Welcome Home’ on this occasion,

must have been highly gratifying to themselves.

Early in the morning the bells rung a merry peal and banners with inscriptions testifying the general

attachment to the family, were exhibited from the windows of almost every house in the town of

Barnard Castle. About two o’clock, a large concourse of persons from the neighbouring districts…with

a band of music and banners entered the town and after giving three hearty cheers before the house

of Mr Wheldon6, where the Witham family were staying, waited to join the procession.’

His speech from outside Lartington Hall outlined his thoughts on the reciprocity which ought to exist

between different classes of society and his commitment to reform, all indicators of his philanthropy to

come. Within a year, Witham commissioned Ignatius Bonomi, to build a museum to house his

geological specimens and what is now known as the Ballroom in Lartington Hall was completed in

1836 (ibid). He founded the Barnard Castle Mechanics’ Institute in 1832 with its aims to improve the

welfare and education of the community. In later years, he expressed the wish that the Institute

should have a permanent home and in November 1844 when he died, it was decided that a building

would be a fitting memorial to him. The result, the Witham Hall, stands today, his name emblazoned

above the building and a blue plaque on the front façade outlines his contribution to the town, the

geological world and the local community.

Arthur Henderson

Arthur Henderson was born in Glasgow on 13th September, 1863. His father, suffered long periods of

unemployment, and so Arthur was forced to leave school at nine years old to find work as an errand

boy in a photographer’s shop. After his father died, his mother remarried and the family moved to

5 Available from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Witham". [Accessed 22.2.10]

6 Who lived in Galgate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Witham



33

Newcastle-upon-Tyne. At the age of twelve Arthur found work at the Robert Stephenson locomotive

works. Despite a ten hour day, Arthur attended evening classes in an effort to improve his education.

Henderson had been brought up as a staunch Congregationalist, but in 1879 he was converted by the

preacher, Rodney Smith, to Methodism. He became a lay preacher and an active member of the

Temperance Society. After finishing his apprenticeship at seventeen, Arthur Henderson moved to

Southampton for a year and then returned to work as a iron moulder in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He

became an active trade unionist and formed a reading and debating society at the Stephenson

locomotive works. In 1884 Henderson lost his job and was out of work for fourteen months.

Henderson used this time to continue his education and to work as a lay preacher. In 1892

Henderson was elected as a paid organiser of the Iron Founders Union. Henderson was one of the

worker representatives on the North East Conciliation Board. A strong believer in arbitration and

industrial co-operation, He opposed the formation of the General Federation of Trade Unions as he

believed it would increase the frequency of industrial disputes.

In 1900, Arthur Henderson was one of the 129 delegates representing socialist groups in Britain who

decided to pass Hardie’s motion to establish “a distinct Labour group in Parliament, who shall have

their own whips, and agree upon their policy, which must embrace a readiness to cooperate with any

party which for the time being may be engaged in promoting legislation in the direct interests of

labour.” In 1903 Henderson was elected treasurer of the Labour Representation Committee and as

MP for Barnard Castle, the count being announced at the Witham Hall. Three years later Henderson

chaired the conference at which the LRC was transformed into the Labour Party. The party’s first

Chairman was James Keir Hardie, but in 1908 he was replaced by Henderson. Ramsay MacDonald

became leader of the Labour Party in 1911. However, he resigned the post in 1914 because of his

opposition to the First World War. Henderson now became the new leader and in May 1915, became

the first member of the Labour Party to hold a Cabinet post when Herbert Asquith invited him to join

his coalition government. Henderson was President of the Board of Education (May, 1915 – October,

1916) and Paymaster General (October, 1916 – August, 1917). He resigned as a result of David

Lloyd-George, and the war Cabinet voting against his proposal for an International Conference on the

war in Stockholm. Arthur Henderson disagreed with those politicians who believed Germany should

be harshly treated after the First World War, and as a result of the nationalist fervour of the 1918

General Election, he lost his seat. He returned to the House of Commons the following year as MP for

Widnes, losing his seat in 1922.

Elected for East Newcastle at a by-election at two months later, he was defeated once again in the

1923 General Election. He returned at a by-election at Burnley in February 1924 and joined the

government headed by Ramsay MacDonald as Home Secretary. Following Labour’s defeat in the

1924 General Election, Philip Snowden and other leading figures in the movement tried to persuade

Henderson to stand against MacDonald as leader of the party. Henderson refused and once again

became chief whip of the party where he tried to unite the party behind MacDonald’s leadership.



34

Henderson was also the main person responsible for Labour and the Nation, a pamphlet that

attempted to clarify the political aims of the Labour Party.

After the 1929 General Election victory, Ramsay MacDonald appointed Henderson as his Foreign

Secretary. In this post Henderson attempted to reduce political tensions in Europe. Diplomatic

relations were re-established with the Soviet Union and Henderson gave his full support to the

League of Nations by arguing for international arbitration, de-militarization and collective security.

Over the next few years Henderson worked tirelessly for world peace. Between 1932 and 1935 he

chaired the Geneva Disarmament Conference and in 1934 his work was recognised when he was

awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Arthur Henderson died in London on 20th October, 1935


Association with a significant architect.

John or Benjamin Green designed the original part of Witham Hall and were also responsible for a number of iconic buildings in the NE including Penshaw Monument, The Theatre Royal in Newcastle and Grey‟s Monument in Newcastle. This association does not extend to the linking corridor or the Music Hall which were built later.

EXCEPTIONAL

Association with Henry Witham. Witham was a renowned geologist of national importance and a locally influential philanthropist whose name is an integral part of the buildings and is highlighted above the entrance and on a blue plaque on the front elevation. This association does not extend to the linking corridor or the Music Hall which were built later.

EXCEPTIONAL



35

Arthur Henderson, – the first Labour MP to be elected to Parliament in a three-cornered contest is also associated with the Witham, having been elected there in 1903. Henderson went on to be a key member of the first Labour Government and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in the 1930s.

SOME

Evidential Value

Documentary sources

There are a number of historic documents and archives relating to the land ownership and

management of the Barnard Castle Mechanics’ Institute, the Witham Hall Trustees and the

Dispensary Society from about 1845 to 1996. These are held by the Durham Records Office, the

Yorkshire Bank and the Trustees and can throw much light on the acquisition of the land, the names

and personalities of the Trustees. Given the long history of local community use it is surprising that

there are not more historic photographs of the Witham exteriors or interiors. The Hall does feature in

some street views, but being positioned half way along the street front where it curves it tends to

occupy the periphery of photos. Despite being used for celebrations and gathering, no historic

photographs have been found of any such event taking place.

Associations with historic documentary evidence (evidential value)

CONSIDERABLE

Archaeological Potential

A number of evaluations in the wider area and to the rear of the Yorkshire Bank (Brigantia

Archaeological Practice 2002, (no pagination)) have suggested that early deposits do not survive well



36

in this part of Barnard Castle. Evaluation trenches on the site of the Morrison’s car park suggested

that the 19th century destroyed any earlier evidence, while mapping dating to the 19th century

suggests that the rear of the Yorkshire Bank was largely used as garden and orchard and is unlikely

to contain any structural remains from the post medieval period. A stable and coach house survive to

the rear of the plot (east). Overall the EVIDENTIAL SIGNIFICANCE of the below ground remains is

SOME.


Archaeological potential (evidential value)

Historic mapping suggests that the site of the Witham Hall is over an earlier property and the Music Hall is over a former well and a pit which may be of some interest with the potential for deposits relating to the former use of the burgage plot.

Evidence relating to the former caretaker‟s cottage also exists in the boundary wall elevations and possibly below ground, but this will date to no earlier than the mid 19

th

century and may not add significant detail to the documentary evidence.

Evaluation work on land adjacent to the Witham and behind the Yorkshire Bank suggests that survival of deposits is generally poor

SOME

Plate 3. An Elijah Yeoman photograph of Horsemarket looking towards Galgate with the Witham Hall

on the right c.1900. Taken before the Yorkshire Bank was re-fronted.

The Buildings - The Witham Testimonial

Front elevation

The front elevation was inspired by the classical

world which reflected the Victorian ideal of civilisation

and learning. The elevation forms a focal point where

the Horsemarket meets Market Place on a gentle

curve, and the central pediment draws the eye to it.

This central position in the town and the design of

the first floor room with large windows overlooking

Horsemarket made it ideal for use on civic occasions

such as victory parades through the town. In many

important ways the building has played a central role

in the social and cultural life of the town.

The hall is two storeys high and 3 bays wide. The ground level was constructed of channelled

rusticated ashlar while the top storeys were of simple ashlar. Status was displayed in the pedimented

doorway on Ionic columns set within a larger central pediment and Ionic columns with a tripartite

window in the centre. Pilasters at first floor level added to the general grandeur of the building. Typical

of earlier classical styles, the roof was made invisible behind a parapet running along the top,

decorated with a frieze displaying Witham’s name in large bold letters. The two ground floor Italianate

arched windows were particularly fashionable after they were used in Victoria and Albert’s county

retreat at Osbourne House between 1845-51. The use of this design at almost the same time would

be remarkable, but perhaps not entirely unexpected

given that the architects were active in a wide

geographical area. However the drawing of the

Witham dating to 1852 (see fig 3), shows the front

ground floor windows with an extra glazing bar down

the centre and this would suggest (if the drawing is

accurate) that these are not the original windows.

Tall chimneys on adjacent buildings add to historic

character of the street front. The pedimented door

Plate 5. The Witham street elevation in the 1970s-80s

before the dispensary window was altered. The sign

on the bottom sash of the library (left, ground floor)

may be the window now in storage in the ante room

Plate 4. The Witham Hall in 2010



38

case is showing some minor signs of stone delaminating and stone cracking. There is also a crack to

the lintel above the north window at first floor level (Reid Jones partnership 2007, 3). Major cracks in

beams and trusses of the front building roof were repaired with supporting steelwork in 1992.

Additional woodwork was added to close joints, repair rot and support beams and renew parapet

guttering. In 2009, a new disabled access ramp and steps were built on to the Horsemarket frontage,

a lead substitute flashing and sheeting were put on the portico roof to stop water ingress, the portico

lamp was refurbished and brought back to working condition, minor repairs to the stonework of the

ground-floor pillars were carried out and new ventilation grilles to the under floor spaces of the ground

floor rooms were installed.

Rear Elevation

The rear elevation of the original Witham building is no longer visible to the general public and is

obscured by the later linking corridor and its outbuildings. It is built of dressed stone with arched

windows to the ground floor on the north side and stairway and rectangular windows to the first floor

offices and the current kitchen at ground floor. This elevation was modified in 1860 in order to

accommodate the new music hall and in the process the arched stair light was partially blocked in an

unsympathetic manner. It has also been altered with the demolition of the recovery room and the

caretaker’s cottage. Cast iron rainwater goods appear to have been fitted to this elevation. The

significance of this elevation is in terms of window openings and how they are perceived from the

interior, rather than for views of this elevation from the exterior and is therefore considered to be of

SOME significance. The views of the rear elevation of the Music Hall from George Street are

considered below.


Views of the hall from Horsemarket. This is the principal elevation of the hall. The scale, massing and materials of the hall were designed to fit in with the other street fronted properties, while displaying the Victorian ideals of classical learning and civilisation.

EXCEPTIONAL



39

Hall Street Elevation

This consists of a jumble of shop fronts forming a narrow corridor through to George Street. Although

no part of the ‘Green’ designed building is visible here, it does contribute towards the overall historic

character of the plot and the wider streetscape, as identified in the Conservation Area Appraisal

(Archaeo-Environment 2008, 8). These building plots were already laid out by 1839 and at least

partially occupied by buildings or gardens. Hall Street was repaved in 1983 as part of enhancing the

town’s historic character.


Views from Hall Street. The elevation facing Hall Street consists of a number of former houses, now small shops and a side door into the Witham, tightly crammed in and forming a dark stone built corridor, already in place by 1839, but on the line of a medieval boundary possibly dating from as early as the 12

th

century. There is no part of the „Green‟ designed hall visible from here and only a small part of the roof of the Music Hall.

CONSIDERABLE

George Street Elevation

George Street is dominated by the modern library while the remaining architecture consists of 19th

century stone terraces. The views of the Witham are restricted to a barely noticeable gap behind the

library, next to the near ruinous stables and coach house, once a common sight at the end of burgage

plots in the 18th century. From here it is the gable end of the Music Hall which can be seen which is

pebble dashed and devoid of any architectural features. The side elevation (north) of the Music Hall

can be discerned from some angles. Here it is possible to see the arched windows, cast iron

rainwater goods and wall ties of the hall. It is also possible to see the rear of the Yorkshire Bank with

its plainer version of the arched windows which present to Horsemarket.



40


Views from George Street. There are only partial views from George Street down the side of the modern library where the Music Room arched windows can be seen and the remains of the old coach house and stables.

SOME

Ornate wrought iron gates to George Street entrance

Pretty wrought iron gates form the entrance to the burgage plot within which the Music Hall sits.

CONSIDERABLE

Views from the burgage plot to the rear of the Yorkshire Bank

This view is not publicly accessible as it is from private land, however it is the only view of any Music Hall elevation in its entirety

SOME

Coach house and stables/coachman’s cottage

These ruinous buildings are all that remain of a once common building type found at the back lane end of many burgage plots. In the late 18

th and early 19

th centuries

such structures were often demolished and the sites used for housing along what became Victoria Road, Birch Road and Queen Street. There are few of these left in Barnard Castle with one remaining example on Galgate, one on Birch Road, but now divorced from its original property and a few along the Bank, some

CONSIDERABLE



41

converted into holiday accommodation. This particular example may use watershut masonry at least on the lean-to, a vernacular method of pointing normally 19

th century in date. There is some

documentary evidence to enhance our understanding of these stables. They appear on the tithe map which was surveyed in 1839 and therefore pre-date the Witham Hall. In a conveyancing deed dating to 13 February 1893 some stable buildings in George Street are conveyed to Richardson, Nixon, Mitchell, Monkhouse, Walker, Barker, Bainbridge, Martin, Watson “in fee simple absolutely” subject to pedestrian and vehicular right of way in favour of adjoining owner. There was a cash consideration. Refers to “... stable and [illegible] with road leading thereto situate on the west side of George Street..boundered by the said street and other property... towards the east by a garden and stable...toward the west by property belonging to...towards the north and by property belonging to.. and the purchasers...to the south.”

Star Yard and car park elevation

Views of the Witham from Star Yard are currently not possible and the approach from Horsemarket is

dominated by the Working Men’s club which terminates views from the yard for walkers heading east.

This view is singularly unattractive and lacks any historic character and has been identified as such in

the Conservation Area Appraisal (AE 2008, 103).


Views from the Council car park (Morrison’s). Views from here are not attractive, dominated as they are by the Working Mens‟ Club, cars, unsympathetic street lighting and shopping trolleys. However there is a view into which the promise of more interesting things emerges. This currently consists of a jumble of roof lines, the arched windows of the Music Hall and a 19

th century orchard.

SOME



42

Views from Star Yard. The access into Star Yard from Horsemarket is through a narrow close with a jumble of rear extensions and squint windows which exude historic character, marred by the recent construction of an unsightly extractor flue on the back of the bakery. The close widens out and the grey open spaces devoid of character with views terminated by the most unattractive building in Barnard Castle dominate the approach into the car park.

MARGINAL



43

Witham Hall Interiors

Overall the interiors of the original Witham Testimonial combine Victorian

ostentation (ceiling roses, ornate staircase, plate glass windows to the

front) with symbols of learning (statues, library fittings) and reminders of the

particular expertise of its namesake Henry Witham (Frosterley Marble

fireplaces to the principal rooms). There have been some losses; the library

fittings have been partially removed as have some of the doors. Some of

the modern fittings are not particularly in keeping with the original design

such as poor light fittings, the subdivision of rooms and the modern kitchen

facilities which all detract from significance, but are reversible. The partial

blocking of the stair light is particularly poor as is the altering of the window

in the Dispensary (Snack Bar). A lack of maintenance has resulted in

crumbling plasterwork placing much that is special about the Witham at

risk. The collective significance of Green’s Witham Testimonial interiors is EXCEPTIONAL, but at risk

of becoming devalued through ill informed or under resourced maintenance.

The Library (now the Gallery).

By 1869, the Library had a collection of 2,000 books and a reference

section. It also had subscriptions to national and local newspapers and

periodicals. The present Teesdale Mercury archive is all that survives of

this collection and is now located in the Ante Room. In 1948, the

Mechanics’ Institute became Barnard Castle’s first public lending library,

staffed on a part-time basis by Durham County Library Service and by

volunteers from the Institute. By 1954, the Institute had made the first floor

room available to the Durham County Library Service to develop a full-time

lending library provision for the town. Many townspeople remember this as

the town’s first real library. The present County Council library is actually

on part of the original Witham site.

The Library Room has a number of traditional features, although not all are original. Of most interest

internally is the sliding partition wall and door, made in 1922 to the memory of Mr John Appleby, a

former member of the Mechanics Institution, according to the plaque on the door. This is set within an

ornate arch with plaster detailing and floral stops which appear to be original. An overhead light is set

within the arch consisting of four by four pane windows, but with only partial panes exposed where the

arch curves. The doors consist of three half glazed doors on hinges and levers allowing them to be

condensed or opened as required. The bottom half of the doors is two panelled while the top half

Plate 6. Floral stop on

archway over the

library partition doors

Plate 7. The Library



44

consists of four panes of glass. Presumably these doors replaced an earlier arrangement or it is

possible that the archway was left open.

The windows are mid 19th century sashes with chains intact, but the use of large panes of plate glass

in each sash rather than small multiple panes suggests that these windows would have been

considered very advanced in Barnard Castle at a time when many windows were still being made out

of small multiple panes. The Italianate style was remarkably early for a provincial town like Barnard

Castle, only being popularised at that time by Victoria and Albert, but even Osborne House which

popularised these arched windows, had multi pane sashes below the arches.

The other original features in the Library are the ceiling roses and two sets of library fittings along the

north wall. There are two ceiling roses in a relatively simple style of concentric circles, marred only by

the later insertion of a piece of wood to support modern light fittings.

The library shelves have been removed in both sets along the north wall. However the lower level two

cupboards remain intact on the fittings nearest the window.


Window. The arched windows facing Horsemarket give the Witham its distinctive character and create rooms with plenty of sunlight suitable for a library. Historic photographs and drawings would suggest that the original windows were also in plate glass, albeit with a central glazing bar to reduce the size of the plate, a considerable expense at that time in Barnard Castle and reflecting the very new fashions being set by Victoria and Albert in Osborne House in the same year. Part of an original sash window has survived and is in storage in the Ante-Room. It is slightly narrower then the windows in the gallery so may be from another room.

EXCEPTIONAL

Partition doors and arched doorway. The arched doorway with ornate plaster work terminating in floral stops appears to be original and would have divided the main room from what is now the ante-room. The sliding partition doors were added in the 1920s and retain a plaque to the memory of Mr Appleby a former Institute Member. The original doors, if there were any, were probably double doors.

EXCEPTIONAL



45

Ceiling roses (2). The two ceiling roses are part of the original build. The ceiling roses in the Library, Dispensary, entrance porch and hallway are all the same simple design, just a variation in size depending on the size of the room. They may have been bought „off the shelf‟ rather being part of Green‟s design. Such ceiling roses were usually fitted above central chandeliers and gas lights.

CONSIDERABLE

Library cupboards and shelf space. These may be original, but part of only one set remain along the north wall at its west end. The shelves have been removed, but the cupboards remain. The other set on the same wall, but on its east end, have been removed entirely so that only the recess remains. The central panel between the two sets of fittings may have had a fireplace but this has been removed.

CONSIDERABLE

The Dispensary, (now the Snack Bar)

The replacement windows have sought to square off the

glazing so that the arch is no longer functional and

presents a rectangular face to the interior. The main

feature of interest is the fireplace. The use of Frosterley

or Egglestone marble was probably deliberately chosen

to represent Witham’s interest in geology. The quarries

at Egglestone were only 1.5km from Barnard Castle, but

ceased production by 1823 (Blacker and Mitchell 1999,

120). This suggests that the marble may have been

obtained from the Frosterley quarries which tends to be

darker grey when polished than Egglestone marble with more scattered and broken crinoid columnals

(ibid). The marble surround also has a plain tile insert and the hearth has been blocked and the

fender removed.

There is one ceiling rose in the centre of the roof with the same simple concentric circle pattern found

in the Library. The plaster coving is in poor condition. The snack bar is of no interest and detracts

from the original proportions of the room. The door into the entrance hall appears to be of plywood

and is not a good fit. It is of no interest and is a modern replacement of a four panelled door. There is

Plate 8. The Dispensary



46

a dip in the suspended floor in the vicinity of the window possibly caused by some deterioration in

floor joists (Reid Jones Partnership 2007, 3).


Window. The arched window presents a distinctive face to the street front, marred by the partial blocking of the arch to create a rectangular window. This has resulted in a much darker room, further darkened by curtains.

EXCEPTIONAL

Fireplace of Frosterley, or possibly Egglestone marble. Although marble was a popular material for fireplaces in mid Victorian times, it is likely that this relatively local marble which has clear displays of fossils, was chosen to reflect Henry Witham‟s geological expertise.

EXCEPTIONAL

Ceiling rose. The ceiling rose is part of the original build. The ceiling roses in the Library, Dispensary, entrance porch and hallway are all the same simple design, just a variation in size depending on the size of the room. They may have been bought „off the shelf‟ rather being part of Green‟s design. Such ceiling roses were usually fitted above central chandeliers and gas lights. A request to introduce electric lighting in 1933 was turned down (Tranter 2010, app 1), so the gas light was still in use at that time. Some electric lighting was introduced in 1947 in one of the Hall Street properties.

CONSIDERABLE

Plaster coving or cornicing and skirting is a standard finish to Victorian rooms creating definition to the space and covering joints. This coving is more restrained than many Victorian examples which could spread quite far on to the ceiling. This coving was probably bought „off the shelf‟ rather than being especially designed for the Witham on site. This coving is in poor condition requiring conservation.

CONSIDERABLE



47

Door. The door between the Dispensary and the hall is a modern poor quality replacement which detracts from the original design.

MARGINAL

Air vent tap. An unusual feature, designed in the shape of a hand, but now over painted with loss of detail

CONSIDERABLE



48

The Ante-Room (The Mercury Room)

The Ante-Room was originally separated from the Library by the archway and from 1922 by a sliding

partition doorway which is still in use. However another modern partition wall has also been installed

to create a narrow corridor between the Library and the Ante-Room. The Ante-Room is currently

being used as storage. It is of little architectural merit except for its fine Victorian arched 6 pane

window and the room should be restored to its original proportions by removing the corridor.


Window – arched to retain the style of the front windows, but not in plate glass, but the cheaper and more readily available small panes of glass. An original feature which should be retained.

EXCEPTIONAL

Ex-situ library window in storage reading:

SUBSCRIPTION

LIBRARY-READING

ROOM

EXCEPTIONAL

Possible remains of library fittings, white painted framework hidden behind modern materials, possibly a library fitting, but now largely removed

SOME

Ante Room Corridor

The ante room corridor is of modern construction and does not represent the more elegant

proportions of the original layout. It is therefore of no interest and ideally should be removed leaving



49

only the Library separated from the ante room by the sliding partition doors and archway. However

the four panelled door leading into the entrance corridor is traditional Victorian style door and must

have been removed from elsewhere in the Witham (the Dispensary possibly?). There is also another

Victorian four panelled door against the north wall of the corridor which appears to be in use as a

notice board.


Four panelled door (2). These four panelled doors were widely used in domestic and civic architecture in Victorian times, both internally and externally. They are an integral part of the original design and should be retained as the main door style throughout the original build. Internal doors were probably originally in a dark wood effect. Where the door has more ornate mouldings on one side, that side should face the better room while plainer mouldings face utility areas.

SOME

Dividing wall with the Library. This is a modern insertion which detracts from the original proportions as devised by the architect. It should be removed.

MARGINAL

Witham Entrance Corridor

The entrance corridor consists of a narrow room with curved walls

towards the staircase, possibly designed to open out the space at the

foot of the stairs in an otherwise narrow dark corridor. Such narrow

corridors with arched ends are typical of Victorian styles in domestic

architecture and were usually placed in such a position to help support

the dividing wall on the floor above. The approach would be further

darkened by wainscoting or panelling on the lower section of wall,

painted or varnished in dark colours, however if these existed at the

Witham they have long since been removed. There may have also

been a dado rail, above which the walls would be in dark strong

colours creating warmth upon entry. The floor covering has also been

replaced. Originally it probably had tiles forming geometric patterns. Its main architectural features

Plate 9. The entrance hall

from the front door



50

today are the plaster coving to the ceiling with two mini ceiling roses to match those in the Dispensary

and Library, but on a much smaller scale. High skirting board frames the corridor and draws the eye

towards the arch at the staircase end of the corridor. This lightens the effect of an otherwise stark

approach and reflects the use of arches throughout the original Witham building and the Music Hall to

the rear. The staircase beyond this archway invites the visitor in and offers a promise of light and

space beyond the confines of the entrance corridor, marred now by the badly blocked stair light. Dry

rot in the floor of the corridor was repaired in 1991. The corridor twin leaf solid fire doors were

replaced with a single leaf glazed door in 1991 with overhead light. The use of a four panelled door

with glazing has reflected the original four panelled doors of the Witham and allows additional light

into the corridor.


Ceiling roses (2). The ceiling roses are part of the original build. The ceiling roses in the Library, Dispensary, entrance porch and hallway are all the same simple design, just a variation in size depending on the size of the room. They may have been bought „off the shelf‟ rather being part of Green‟s design.

SOME

Archway at corridor end. A typical design feature of the Victorian period, also designed to support the dividing wall above. In this instance it also reflects the use of arches throughout the Witham and the chamfered edges allow more light from the stair light to enter the hallway. It also allows better movement of users at a busy point in the centre of the building.

SOME



51

Skirting board is a common Victorian finishing which protects plasterwork edges, covers up joints and also draws the eye forward to the entrance door of stairwell in this case. It may not necessarily have featured in Green‟s design, but would have been added by the builders as a matter of course.

SOME

Entrance Porch (interior)

Solid twin wooden doors form the outer entrance to the porch, with two glazed panels forming an

overhead light. A single simple ceiling rose to match existing and coving survive as original features.

The shade of green for the front door is a little bright for Victorian tastes and ideally should be darker.


Ceiling rose and plaster coving (as for the entrance hall)

SOME

Entrance Door and overhead light. This may be an original entrance door with the rectangular overhead light allowing light into the corridor however it is not quite central to the opening, suggesting that it might be a replacement. It is however in a traditional Victorian design and should be retained.

EXCEPTIONAL



52

Air vent leading into the dispensary. SOME

Internal doors with overhead light. The door is a recent replacement but not without Victorian style. The use of half glazing was popular in the later 19

th century and the presence of an internal porch

door a sensible way of retaining heat and preventing dirt entering from the street. The overhead lights appear to be original.

SOME

Lamp. Presumably an original gas lamp having been updated for electricity.

EXCEPTIONAL



53

Kitchen and Heating Chamber

The kitchen units are largely a modern day insertion and of no

architectural merit. However they are delicately positioned over the stone

steps which lead to a lower level. This was where the heating chamber

was located. The laying out of a pipe has blocked access to the original

pantry consisting of a four panelled door with ventilation piercings. The

interior was not inspected. The four by four pane sash window, complete

with original catch looks out to where the recovery room once stood and

to where the one roomed caretaker’s house stood until the 1960s. It has

external bars. The door into the corridor is a four panelled Victorian door

with a modern letter box inserted, covered on the kitchen side by a piece of plywood.


Heating chamber (not accessed) SOME

Sash window. The use of a multi pane sash instead of a matching arched window as was used in the ante-room, also at ground floor level and also facing the back yard is interesting. It implies that this window was less important than the arched one. There may be several reasons for this – the use of the room as a recovery room did not require expensive windows, it is an early replacement window for a doorway, it lacked status because it looked out into the caretaker‟s yard.

CONSIDERABLE



54

Pantry Cupboard (not accessed) SOME

Box Office (store)

This is a box office with hatch facing the entrance hall. It does not appear to be an original feature, but

may be part of the Music Hall development when tickets would be purchased for dancing and

entertainment. It is now used as storage. It is of no particular architectural interest.


Box office, a small cupboard with a wooden hatch for serving customers.

MARGINAL

The Staircase

The staircase is of stone, with an iron balustrade, the hand rail of polished

wood with twisted newel post. The ironwork balustrade is decorated with

tulips and foliage. It is one of the most decorated features in the Witham

and takes a central position within the design, drawing people into the

building. The stair light window is an arch, but badly blocked in modern

times at the base. The blocking should be removed. The plasterwork to the

ceiling is with coving and the most ornate ceiling rose in the building, but is Plate 10. The staircase



55

in poor condition and requires repair.


Stair light window, originally extended to its full length and a common sight along the backs of properties.

CONSIDERABLE

Open well staircase, stone treads with an ornate iron balustrade with a floral pattern and twisted wooden newel post with flat topped finial (rather crudely attached to the bottom step with a metal bracket) and polished wood hand rail in a different wood.

EXCEPTIONAL

Ceiling rose and coving. This is a more ornate ceiling rose than those used in the Library or Dispensary and may have been made on site for the Witham, rather than the more simple off the peg varieties found elsewhere. Its position above the stairwell ensures that money was spent on the ceiling rose which most users would see.

EXCEPTIONAL



56

Cupboard-under-the-stairs. This is used for storage and consists of a ledged and braced door and is of no particular architectural significance.

MARGINAL

The Witham Room

Upstairs the large room – the Witham Room – was used for

meetings and lectures, as well as a reading room and news

room. It may also have been the location of the county court

when it met here and was also the public library for a while.

It is a large ostentatious room designed to impress with

niches for statues reinforcing the message of respect and

education. There are two plaster busts, at least one may be

of Witham himself, but there seems little recollection

amongst present day users of who each of the two busts

represents. The large windows stretching across the façade contribute much towards the external

elevation, but also ensure that the room was filled with natural light. The modern choice of lighting

detracts from the proportions of the room and from the plasterwork on the ceiling. The present ceiling

rose has been simplified by removing the central decorations and at least two other smaller ceiling

roses or vents may have existed on either side, but have since been removed, leaving only a circular

scar. The ceiling has many cracks and is undulating in both directions and there is evidence of water

ingress in certain areas. There is a vertical crack on the left hand (east) wall towards the front

elevation, but no apparent signs of recent movement. There is a further vertical crack to the rear

section of the left hand (east) wall (Reid Jones Partnership 2007, 3).The first floor front windows were

renewed and repaired in 2000. The replacement centre windows are side hung casements but were

presumably originally sashes. However the rollers at the top appear to be original and therefore the

replacement appears to have been partial. The two side sets of windows are still sashes complete

with roller at the top to aid pulling down the top sash.

The fireplace is made of Frosterley (or Egglestone marble), again, reflecting the geological expertise

of Henry Witham, although it is not in such good condition as the fireplace in the dispensary. A

matching fireplace once existed on the opposite (east) wall, but is now missing with rather crude

Plate 11. The Witham Room facing

north



57

replacement skirting board slotted into place. Heating was introduced into the Witham in 1937

(Tranter 2010, app 1) and the radiators presumably date to this time. The entrance porch is a later

addition, presumably designed to make late comers less disruptive and is of no particular interest.

Likewise the storage area/changing room with sink in the NE corner is also a later addition and of no

particular interest. The Witham Room was converted into a games room in 1980 (smooth sheet floor

surrounded by carpet was laid) for billiards and other activities. Most of Games Room activities were

moved to Hall Street (including billiard table) in 1989. It is not known whether the original flooring

(presumably polished floor boards or parquet?) survives below the modern sheeting which should be

removed.


Fireplace of Frosterley, or possibly Egglestone marble. Although marble was a popular material for fireplaces in mid Victorian times, it is likely that this relatively local marble which has clear displays of fossils, was chosen to reflect Henry Witham‟s geological expertise. The fireplace itself was presumably of cast iron as the caretaker ordered black lead every month.

EXCEPTIONAL

Statue niches designed to display statues which reinforced the message of self improvement through learning. It is not clear what statues were placed here.

EXCEPTIONAL

Three sets of large windows along the wall facing Horsemarket are important to the external appearance but also allow large amounts of natural light. Some replacement appears to have been carried out in the central window, but fixtures are mostly still intact.

EXCEPTIONAL



58

Ceiling rose and coving. The ceiling rose is large, but it is not highly decorated as one might expect for the principal meeting room. There is some scarring within the ceiling rose and in two other places where lesser ceiling roses might be expected suggesting that they have been removed or covered over. The remaining rose should be left, but without evidence of its original appearance there is no particular need to restore it. The modern lighting should replaced with more sympathetic lighting that reflects the Victorian style.

CONSIDERABLE

Busts were an important part of any library or other institution associated with learning, however these plaster busts are not mentioned in any minutes until 1952 when they were moved into this room. This suggests that it was not their original location. The balding gentleman may be Henry Witham.

EXCEPTIONAL

Entrance porch. This is a later addition as can be seen by the crude joint work inside the porch. Its removal (along with the changing room) would restore the Witham room to its original proportions.

MARGINAL



59

Radiators. These radiators are in a traditional style, but clearly additions to the room, probably 1937 based on documentary evidence (Tranter 2010, app 1). Their position under the windows and in front of the fireplace detracts from these features and so if a form of heating can be found which no longer required the radiators that would enhance the appearance of the room.

MARGINAL

Changing Room. This is a later addition - its removal (along with the entrance porch) would restore the Witham room to its original proportions.

MARGINAL

Skirting board is a common Victorian finishing which protects plasterwork edges and covers up joints. It may not necessarily have featured in Green‟s design, but would have been added by the builders as a matter of course.

SOME

The two small first floor rooms were for the use of the Librarian. It is believed that they were once

used by the Librarian as living accommodation:

The Conservative Offices

This small office has a 16 pane sash window typical of the area pre 1860 which overlooks the rear

yard. Interestingly the windows to the rear of the hall are in this common style, while those to the front

were of considerably more valuable materials consisting of plate glass, a relative rarity in Barnard

Castle at this time. The room also has a small blocked fireplace constructed of machine cut stone but

blocked so that no tiles can be identified. Access into the room is via a typically Victorian four panelled

door with an unfortunate modern letter box.



60


16 pane sash window in reasonable condition with sash lock intact, but lifters missing. Overlooks the rear yard and so a less important window in design terms than those to the front.

CONSIDERABLE

Four panel door. These four panelled doors were widely used in domestic and civic architecture in Victorian times, both internally and externally. They are an integral part of the original design and should be retained as the main door style throughout the original build. Internal doors were probably originally in a dark wood effect. Where the door has more ornate mouldings on one side, that side should face the better room while plainer mouldings face utility areas.

CONSIDERABLE

Blocked fireplace of machine cut stone surround. No other details visible.

CONSIDERABLE

The Board Room

This small office has a 16 pane sash window to match that in the Conservative Office. The sash lock

remains but the lifters have been lost. Access into the room is via a typical Victorian four panelled

door. On the wall near the door is a small flat cupboard; a Victorian means of hiding service cables.

Another four panelled door fronts a cupboard with original shelf fittings. The room also has a small

blocked fireplace constructed of machine cut stone but blocked so that no tiles can be identified.

Access into the attic over the stair and offices is from here with a further ladder access over the

Witham Room.



61


16 pane sash window in reasonable condition with sash lock intact, but lifters missing. Overlooks the rear yard and so a less important window in design terms than those to the front.

CONSIDERABLE

Four panel door. These four panelled doors were widely used in domestic and civic architecture in Victorian times, both internally and externally. They are an integral part of the original design and should be retained as the main door style throughout the original build. Internal doors were probably originally in a dark wood effect. Where the door has more ornate mouldings on one side, that side should face the better room while plainer mouldings face utility areas.

CONSIDERABLE

Blocked fireplace of machine cut stone, no other features visible.

CONSIDERABLE

Cupboard with typical four panelled door, presumably an original feature.

SOME



62

Services cupboard – a common way to hide service pipes in late 19

th century buildings.

SOME

Attic

The attic appears to have considerable additions, repairs and replacements. New purlins have been

added alongside the originals. The trusses have been repaired but are in poor condition (Reid Jones

Partnership 2007, 3). The bottom boom of the central truss has failed and a new steel channel section

inserted. Further timber work has failed and been strengthened with steel. Timber packers have been

added to sagging areas of roof to help support it and to take the load off the trusses and on to the

walls (ibid). The underside of the slates is packed with modern materials. The roof appears to have

some structural problems and will probably require significant repair and possibly redesign (ibid). A

large steel drainage pipe runs through the attic space running from the gulley behind the parapet at

the front of the building to the rear of the building. Access to the parapet and the flagpole is through a

modern velux window in the roof overlooking Horsemarket.7 The significance of the attic is SOME,

based on its poor condition and evidence of repair work.

The Later Buildings

The Linking Corridor and Music Hall represent later (but not much later) additions to the Witham

Testimonial. The original construction had been associated with learning and the provision of services

to the poor, but the later construction of the Music Hall may have intended to support these

objectives, but it quickly became associated with entertainment; a slight shift away (some might say

down) from the original objectives associated with self improvement as a means of pleasure. The new

build did not reflect the ostentatious design of the original externally, nor did it seek to capture the love

of learning in the embellishments. Instead a more vernacular, simple style was adopted for the

exteriors, while the interior design was classical and restrained, not at all like later Victorian theatrical

styles. The interior is particularly significant for its intactness and surviving proscenium arch. The

exterior design was similar to many agricultural and village hall buildings which might be found in the

wider dale, such as Cotherstone village hall built as a Temperance Hall in 1883, but now much

altered. The use of arched windows along the north elevation of the Music Hall reflected the use of

7 Information from Roy Tranter



63

arches in the main building. This theme was also picked up in the later Yorkshire Bank (now Coral)

next door which displayed large arched windows to Horsemarket and plainer versions to the rear. This

later build has no associations with Green’s the architects, both of whom were dead by 1860.

However the designer of this building has not been identified. Nor does it have any particular

streetscape presence as it is hidden from view apart from glimpses from George Street and

Morrison’s car park. Its significance lies in its association with the original Witham Testimonial, its

interior design and its use of arches to reflect the existing build. It is also part of a wider tradition

associated with the growing popularity of worker’s education, village halls and music halls.

The Music Hall Exteriors

Externally, the hall is built of random stone with dressed

arched window openings and buttresses between them

all on the north side. The west gable was rendered in

the 1960s after the buildings attached to it were removed

and there are now cracks visible in the rendering. It has

been furnished with cast iron rainwater goods and tie

rods connect the wall tops and mid-point of the roof

structure. Most of the original fabric and architectural

detail survives today, however a door leading from the

NE corner has been blocked and can still be seen on the

outside corner nearest George Street. Similarly there is a

blocked window on stage right facing into the narrow

remnants of the burgage plot to the north. The north side walls have three round-headed windows

which can be seen in part from the nearby car park and in their entirety from the burgage plot to the

rear of the Yorkshire Bank (pictured). The Music Hall’s sturdy stone built construction was not

designed to be seen in any important views in the town. Indeed the entire south side of the Music Hall

was hidden behind the shops along Hall Street. The overall significance of the Music Hall exterior is

SOME.

The Music Hall Interior

The decoration is classical, with pilasters and

cornices. There is a raised stage at the east end

with a semi-circular proscenium arch springing

from the cornice level. Above the pilasters on

stage right is the word ‘ERECTED’ and on stage

left ‘A.D.1860’. Above this rises a barrel-vaulted

timber ceiling. Entrance into the Hall is via a

Plate 12. The Music Hall’s north facing

elevation; the only one to be visible and

only visible from private land



64

large arched doorway with double doors leading from the linking corridor through the west wall. The

ceiling is decorated with two large ornate ceiling roses and cornices extend around the walls from

which the arched roof springs. The walls have small hooks just below cornice height from which

banner or other forms of decoration can be hung. Some dampness is evident on the ceiling above the

stage (Reid Jones Partnership 2007, 4). Refurbishment and redecoration of all of the buildings but

particularly of the Main Hall took place in 1980. The roof tiles of the Hall were replaced and the

sprung floor installed. (The sprung floor has some considerable local reputation as being the best

sprung floor in Durham.) This was probably when the sound absorbing baffles at the rear of the Hall

were installed. The sprung floor is of suspended timber supported on stone dwarf walls. Some

dampness may be affecting the joists supporting the floor as they sit directly on to the stone dwarf

walls without any damp protection (ibid). Significant amounts of plaster on the lower 1/3rd of the Main

Hall walls was replaced (original had largely fallen off) c.1996. Rotten purlin ends suggest some

dampness at roof level (Reid Jones Partnership 2007, 4) and if the building is to be retained they will

need to be replaced.


Ceiling roses (2). These are particularly ornate ceiling roses compared to those in the Witham Testimonial. It was possible to buy ceiling roses off the peg at this time, but it is not clear if these examples originated as such or were made on site. Chandeliers would have hung from the ceiling roses lit by gas (the gas pipe with ventilation flue is still in situ in the attic space above the eastern ceiling rose, but that above the western ceiling rose has been removed

8); the present lighting is not

sympathetic to the Victorian design. A request to introduce electric lighting in 1933 was turned down (Tranter 2010,app 1), so the gas light was still in use at that time.

CONSIDERABLE

Cornices

These cornices are more ornate and extend further across the ceiling than the examples in the Witham Testimonial. Small hooks below them are for hangings or banner to adorn otherwise plain walls.

CONSIDERABLE

8 Information from Roy Tranter



65

Arched windows (3) and door (1)

The main design theme to the Music Hall is in its arched openings which are also reflected in the linking corridor. The three arched windows on the north wall face out on to a burgage plot. There are few external views of them (except from the nearby car park) therefore their significance is derived from their appreciation from the interiors rather than from the exterior. The arched doorway into the hall picks up this theme again with double doors.

CONSIDERABLE

Blocked door in NE corner (exterior shown, but also visible if less easily seen in interior). Its significance is derived from its evidential value (indicator of earlier use) and aesthetics representing the patina of age – however both blockings (see below) are largely invisible and inaccessible to the general public.

SOME

Blocked window on north wall at stage right. Its significance is derived from its evidential value (indicator of earlier use) and aesthetics representing the patina of age – however both blockings (see above) are largely invisible and inaccessible to the general public.

SOME

Proscenium arch with decorative mouldings. An intact proscenium arch from the mid to late 19

th century appears to be relatively rare

whether it is in a theatre or a music hall and there is only one listed mechanics‟ institute with a proscenium arch in addition to this one; it therefore has considerable rarity value. This arch carries the date of erection and is made of cornices and pilasters with mouldings. Some mouldings are picked out in gold paint, it is not clear if this was originally the popular Victorian gold gilding.

EXCEPTIONAL



66

Sprung floor. The present sprung floor was only installed in 1980, but it is not clear if it replaced an earlier one. A new dance floor may have been laid in 1947 as an item in the Mechanics Institute minutes (17 December 1946) suggested that: If Messrs Thorton and Close acquired a lease on Witham Hall for 5 years they would lay a new dance floor. The present floor has some communal value in its alleged status as the best sprung floor in county Durham.

SOME

Four panelled door to Hall Street offices. These four panelled doors were widely used in domestic and civic architecture in Victorian times, both internally and externally. Internal doors were probably originally in a dark wood effect.

SOME

Attic Level

The roof is slate covered and supported on timber purlins spanning

between timber trusses. Access to the roof void is via a ladder from stage

left which leads to a platform from which is another timber ladder attached

to the timbers forming the ceiling support to the stage. The ceiling is

curved and from the top of the ladder access is via climbing the ceiling

joists. At the crown a further 1m climb accesses the main roof void. There

is a timber walkway between each truss from one end of the hall to the

other. Steel tie rods extend across the hall at both the upper rafter position

and also the lower position to prevent the spread of the walls. One of the

gas pipes over the eastern ceiling rose is still in situ in the roof space (pictured), but the pipe over the

western rose has been removed. The timbers throughout the roof space are covered in graffiti from

years of maintenance and building; the dates seen on photographs include 1866, 1871, 1910 and

1916. Green glass panels ran the length of both sides of the ceiling over the timberwork and they are

still in situ, however it has not been possible to establish what function they had.

Generally the timbers appear to be in good condition, but some purlin ends have rotted at the east

end gable wall (Reid Jones Partnership 2007, 4). The attic appears to be of one build with minor

changes and is generally in good condition. However its value lies not in the contribution that it makes



67

towards the hall visually, but in the evidential value that it might have in relation to understanding the

original building techniques and how the music hall operated. There is also a significant amount of

debris on the attic floors which may be of interest and the ladders appear to be original 19th century

fixings. Its significance is therefore SOME.

The Linking Corridor

This sloping passage was built to connect the original front building to

the Music Hall, but the date of its construction is not clear. The passage

to the hall is constructed of brick, with a slate roof. The internal walls

are decorated with pilasters and have round-headed doors leading to

the Music Hall, the yards and a storage room, which pick up the arched

theme from the original build and the windows along the north elevation

of the Music Hall. The door into the Witham Testimonial is rectangular

however. There is a continuous coloured glazed clerestory. The

exposed roof structure is an interesting arrangement of chamfered

scissor trusses complicated by the general slope of the corridor which

reflects an arts and crafts style. On the outside, the linking corridor was

fitted with cast iron rainwater goods. A condition survey in 2007 noted

that the condition of the linking corridor was good (Reid Jones

Partnership 2007, 5).

On the roof next to the Music Hall’s west wall is a little wooden shed where the projector equipment

was located.

The Boiler House is accessed from the corridor. This is seen on the 2nd edition OS map suggesting

that it was part of the original design of the Music Hall. It is stone built with a slate roof and is a lean-to

construction against the Music Hall’s west wall. It has a wooden batten door and a four pane window

inserted into a newer part of the building constructed in brick. The gable end facing north has the

original batten door with stone lintel.

In addition to the Gent’s toilets and the Boiler House, there is also a small storage room, once divided

into two. This is accessed by another round headed arched doorway and contains a small opening

into the corridor. Its original function is uncertain. The small opening may have been a box office

hatch or a cloakroom hatch, although there are no coat hooks visible inside. The structure is built of

brick and of no particular interest.

Plate 13. The Linking

Corridor facing the Music

Hall from the Witham



68

The Gents toilet block on the north side of the corridor is the only addition to The Witham buildings

since their original construction dates. These were built in the north yard in brick with a flat felted roof

and numerous brick patchings. They are of no significance.

Overall the linking corridor is of SOME significance because of its interesting quirky design, the

scissor trusses and the use of archways to reflect the design of the Music Hall and the Witham which

it joins.


Clerestory in pastel coloured glass providing light into the linking corridor.

SOME

Arched doors and pilasters reflecting the archways and pilasters in the Music Hall and to a lesser extent the Italianate ground floor windows of the Witham.

SOME

Roof structure in a quirky scissor truss style which adds local character.

CONSIDERABLE



69

Rainwater goods in cast iron, some with decorative elements.

SOME

Projector shed. This „jerry built‟ little structure perched on the end of the linking corridor reflects an attempt to adapt to changing demands from the local community with regards to entertainment.

SOME

Storage room, function unknown, no internal features but once was two rooms The hatch in the wall may have been for selling tickets or collecting coats, although it is a little small for the latter.

MARGINAL

Boiler House, with one blocked original door and a later door inserted into more modern brickwork. (Interior not seen). Cast iron rainwater goods and a chamfered edge to the corner on the burgage plot.

SOME



70

Gent‟s toilets – a more recent addition of no interest

MARGINAL

Caretaker’s Cottage and Recovery Room (evidence of)

In the south yard, there was a one-storey, one roomed caretaker’s cottage, which was in use until the

late 1960s. There was also a recovery room for ‘country’ patients requiring a little time to recover

after minor surgery or treatment. This cottage and recovery room were built as part of the original

construction of the Witham and pre-dates the Music Hall. A building is shown on the 1854 Public

Health Plan and on the 1st edition OS map dating to 1856. The buildings have since been demolished

but evidence for them survives in the form of blocked windows in the boundary wall and the roof line

scar, also on the boundary wall. The same wall displays different periods of construction relating to

the properties next door on Hall Street. The outside toilet survives (this may not be original), but is in

poor condition with its door hanging off. It is built of brick with a stone slate roof and has cast iron

rainwater goods. There is considerable correspondence in the Durham Records Office from the

caretaker Mrs Brownless relating to her daily work in which a gap in her day book can be seen where

she goes on maternity leave in 1929, a later letter dating to 20th November 1939 showing that the

caretaker was due to cease her duties and as from that date would have to pay 3 shillings a week rent

to the Council in order to continue living there.9 Earlier that year in May her salary had been reduced

to 5 shillings a week which may explain her desire to cease working there (Tranter 2010, app 1). Her

rent was later reduced at her request because ‘times were bad’.10 Finally in the accounts a note of the

purchase of a wreath for Mrs Brownless in 1949 brings that chapter to a close.

9 DRO UD/BC/201

10 DRO UD/BC/201



71


Evidence of the caretaker‟s cottage and supporting documentary evidence. The boundary wall which forms the back wall of the Hall Street properties has a number of scars and blocked windows and doors creating vertical archaeology. One window is at first floor height suggesting that it belonged to the Hall Street shops, not the caretaker‟s cottage which was only one storey high.

SOME

Hall Street Shops

The Hall Street properties consist of:

1. the Witham’s box office next to the County library.

2. The former house, now used by Teesdale Community Resources and the Fitzhugh Library

3. The Thrift shop (with TCR use above)

The two-storey buildings in Hall Street are stone-built with stone slab or slate roofs. They display a

variety of window types ranging from Yorkshire sliding sashes, multi pane sashes and modern styles.

The doors are predominantly traditional; that of the TCR

building being a Victorian four panelled door with a pretty letter

box, while the thrift shop is a wide half glazed door. The

building interiors have been the subject of modernisation works

resulting in altered layouts, new access points and partition

walling, although a number of historic features do survive. The

whole complex is of some interest and would merit additional

recording during or before and further works.

The shop in Hall Street was opened in 1980 as a YMCA

Charity Shop (it became the Thrift Shop in 1990 when the YMCA left). In 1989, the Hall Street

Plate 14. The Box Office and TCR building



72

buildings were refurbished and remodelled. The staircase to the first floor from the SE corner of the

Main Hall were removed and replaced by the current staircase from Hall Street between the Thrift

Shop and the Ladies toilets. The hidden gutter between the Hall and the Hall Street properties was

re-laid to modern standards of lead work in 1994. The 1st floor rooms in Hall Street reverted to being

meeting rooms and offices for let after a major fall in youth activities by 1997. In 2001 the 1st floor Hall

Street room labelled Disco Room in a 1994 plan became the Fitzhugh Library. In 2007 the 1st floor

meeting room in Hall Street (labelled Snooker Room in the 1994 plan) became a music studio for

Teesdale Community Resources. The room to the SE corner of the Music Hall was completely

refurbished to become the main office for the organisation. The floor was replaced (dry rot and wood

worm in original), walls dry-lined, the unused door to the corridor removed and replaced with a box-

office window, the metal framed windows to Hall Street replaced with wooden sash windows

consistent with a traditional late 19th century style, stairs giving access to the stage were removed to

create a storage space, and a new hanging sign in Hall Street was displayed outside the box office. A

condition survey carried out in 2007 pronounced the buildings to be in generally good condition (Reid

Jones Partnership 2007, 6)

The Booking Office

The Booking Office is where a smithy once

stood. It now has a tripartite modern (2007) sash

window facing Hall Street. Double doors with a

three paned overlight provide access into the

Witham which is signed by a modern, but

traditional hanging shop sign. A small square

window has been inserted and provided with

tooled and margined lintel and sill. The Booking

Office was modernised in 2007 and the only

feature of interest visible is the four panelled

door providing access into the stage area of the Music Hall.


Modern tripartite sash window – designed to reflect the late Victorian window type most prevalent in the area post 1860.

SOME

Double doors with three pane overhead light. Possibly an original feature from 1860

CONSIDERABLE

Modern hanging street sign, designed to add character to the narrow lane and draw in visitors

SOME



73

Small square window, an odd little window which adds to the variety of window types in the lane.

SOME

TCR and Fitzhugh Library

The former house next door, now the home of the TCR and the Fitzhugh Library consists of a two

storey building dating to the early 19th century with evidence for an earlier building in places. The

varied roof lines and chimneys add historic character to the street view.

Ground Floor

The ground floor windows are 20th century replacements and those which service the ladies’ toilets

are particularly unsympathetic. At first floor level there is one Yorkshire sliding sash window (with

modern frosted glazing) and one 18-pane sash window. Clearly the windows have evolved over time

and represent many decades of window styles. Outside this building is a large ornate traditional lamp

providing light and historic character to this part of Hall Street. The entrance door is a typical Victorian

four panelled door with a pretty letterbox.

Plate 15. The booking office on the right before the

insertion of sash windows and beyond the door the

ladies’ toilets in the late 1970s, early 1980s

Inside the building the internal arrangements are almost

entirely modern. However features of interest do survive.

A substantial stone fireplace can be found inside the

Gent’s toilets at ground floor level, clearly designed to

warm a large room without the many subdivisions of

today. The staircase dates to 1989 and is of no interest.



74


Ladies toilet window, unsympathetic 20th

century insertion with a concrete lintel. MARGINAL

Modern street lamp in a traditional style which adds local character to the narrow lane

CONSIDERABLE

Four panelled door with letterbox in a traditional Victorian style, probably original with attractive letterbox inserted. Four paned over light also a traditional feature.

CONSIDERABLE

Varied roof lines and chimneys add architectural interest, a patina of age and contributes towards historic character generally

CONSIDERABLE



75

Stone fireplace in Gents‟ Toilets, clearly designed for a large room. Internal partitioning is not a sympathetic use of the building.

EXCEPTIONAL

Staircase constructed in 1989 and of no interest. This could not have been the original location of a staircase as it would cut across the area designed to be kept warm by the large fireplace in the Gent‟s toilets

MARGINAL

First Floor

At first floor level there are two rooms, although access has been created through the party wall to a

third which is over the Thrift Shop.

The first office has little of interest except a long 18-pane sash window facing on to Hall Street. A

simple stone (blocked) fireplace is located in the centre of the north wall.

The Fitzhugh Library is spread across two attic rooms, the first with a small 12-pane Yorkshire sliding

sash window overlooking Hall Street. The remaining room is accessed through a doorway cut into the

wall with any evidence for early build obscured by recent modernisation works. In the NE corner is

evidence of an older wall corner. The room is lit by a velux window.



76


Office window overlooking Hall Street - 18 pane sash. This adds local character to the exterior as well as being of historic interest in its own right. Could this have originally been a stair light?

Fireplace in office, small scale for a small room, very much like those in the Conservative Offices and board room in the Witham. Machine cut stone.

CONSIDERABLE

12 pane Yorkshire sliding sash in Fitzhugh library. One of a variety of window types which look out onto Hall Street and provide local character.

CONSIDERABLE



77

Older stonework in NE corner of library; the library having been modernised has very little else visible of historic interest in this room.

SOME

The Thrift Shop (former warehouse)

External Elevation

The Thrift Shop is located next door and has evidence of

having been a warehouse with wide doors for loading at

ground level (now a window) and a first floor door, also for

loading (now blocked). It consists of a wide 20th century

window with timber lintel and a wide traditional half glazed

door, also with a timber lintel. The floor levels suggest that

the ground in Hall Street has risen since the houses were

built. There is also a smaller 20th century window with a

concrete lintel. Next to the thrift shop is a batten door with

worn door step which originally led to a passage providing

access to the caretaker’s house. The passage has now

gone and the blocked door on Hall Street, plus more

ephemeral evidence in the caretaker’s yard is all that is left

of it. Above the Thrift Shop at first floor level is a batten

doorway, now blocked. There is no evidence of an external

staircase and none are shown on historic maps. Therefore

the door must have been for lowering goods onto carts.

Plate 16. The Thrift Shop in the late

1970s, early 1980s. The present day

wide modern window is set into the

double wooden doors below the first

floor door. The wide half glazed door

there today replaces a batten door in

the photograph.



78


Caretaker‟s yard door. This is now blocked but reflects the use of a small lane which cut through the buildings into the Witham‟s back yard and the caretaker‟s cottage. The hearth stone is well worn adding a general a patina of age. Such side doors were a common feature in Barnard Castle and many are now inaccessible or lost. This one too is lost as the corridor has been amalgamated into the shop and only the door remains.

EXCEPTIONAL

Shop Door. A wide half glazed door in a late Victorian style, replacing an earlier batten door. The drop into the shop suggests raised floor levels along the lane. The door adds variety and character to the lane.

SOME

Large shop window; not a particularly good quality mid to late 20

th century window, but not

as offensive as plastic.

MARGINAL

Small shop window in a mid 20th century style,

not especially good quality, but does contribute something towards the general mix of window types.

MARGINAL



79

Blocked doorway to 1st floor suggesting former

uses of the building for loading up carts – possibly a warehouse - therefore considerable evidential value as well as adding to the historic character of the lane.

EXCEPTIONAL

Three windows to first floor level – two sliding sashes (one pictured) and one 12 pane sash – more variety of window styles along the lane. Yorkshire sliding sashes are becoming increasingly rare in this area.

CONSIDERABLE

Ground Floor

There is no evidence internally of historic or architectural interest (apart from the inside of the blocked

doorway) because of the shop fittings. The walls will be worth recording if the fittings are removed

during works. Access to the first floor is via the house next door and is now used by TCR.


Partial evidence of blocked doorway in the corner of the

Thrift Shop. Other features may also survive within the

shop but all the walls are hidden by shop fittings.

SOME

TCR room above

This is a large modernised room which once had a chimney and possibly a fireplace on the north wall.

There are three sets of windows and one blocked door on the east wall overlooking Hall Street; all

with timber lintels. All are of historic interest and should be retained (the windows will require repair

and glass replacement). The window in the SE corner is a 12 pane Yorkshire sliding sash window

with frosted glass. The window in the NE corner is also a 12 pane Yorkshire sliding sash window with

frosted glass. The central window is a much repaired 12 pane sash window with frosted glass. In the



80

centre of the room overlooking Hall Street is a blocked door which must have been used for loading

goods into Hall Street suggesting that the former use of this upstairs room was not domestic. These

openings are important for the contribution they make towards the historic character of Hall Street.

In the SW corner is a blocked doorway into the adjacent building. This door shows signs of having

been narrowed before being blocked. It has a timber lintel. The roof structure appears to be modern.


Window overlooking Hall Street - 12 pane sash; such windows are increasingly threatened by PVC windows in the town. Multi pane sashes are therefore to be cherished. The frosted glass appears to be modern

CONSIDERABLE

Windows overlooking Hall Street - 12 pane Yorkshire sashes (2) Yorkshire sliding sashes are increasingly rare in the town and should be retained. The frosted glass appears to be modern.

Blocked door at 1st floor level facing Hall Street.

This is the reverse of the door overlooking Hall Street which reflects an earlier use of the building for loading goods on to carts in Hall Street. It therefore has considerable evidential value as well as adding local historic character to Hall Street. It no longer has any purpose in the house.

CONSIDERABLE

a



81

Blocked doorway to adjacent building. This is evidence of a blocked doorway with a wooden lintel between two buildings. The door appears to have been narrowed first before being finally blocked. It therefore has some evidential value relating to earlier uses of the building.

SOME

Conclusion

The Witham’s significance can be assessed under a number of different headings. These headings

are taken from English Heritage’s Conservation Principles (2008, 27-32).

Historic Value - Associations

Its association with the famous architects John and Benjamin Green who designed a number of iconic

and nationally important buildings is EXCEPTIONAL. In addition, its association with Henry Witham, a

founder member of the Royal Geological Society adds to its significance. A blue plaque on the front

elevation outlined Witham’s role in the construction of the building. The historic associations of the

Witham Testimonial are therefore EXCEPTIONAL, but this does not extend to the Music Hall and

linking corridor to the rear which have no such associations. There are further historic associations

with Arthur Henderson a prominent politician and Nobel peace prize winner who was elected there in

1903 (presumably this was the Music Hall). The historic associations of the Music Hall and Henderson

is therefore of SOME significance.

Architectural and Aesthetic Value

The Witham Testimonial is little altered and therefore relatively intact. The embellishments reflect the

culture of improvement with plaster busts associated with learning and Frosterley marble fireplaces to

remind users of Witham’s geological expertise. The partial survival of original shelf fittings in the

library and the 1920s dividing doors also add to the building’s significance, while the staircase and

stair light invite users in through an otherwise narrow and stark corridor which has lost much of its

Victorian warmth. Its architectural value is EXCEPTIONAL.

The Music Hall is a good example of a multi-functional community space dating to a period where

such intact buildings are relatively rare. While the exterior is relatively plain, the survival of the

decorated proscenium arch is particularly significant. Its architectural value as a whole is

CONSIDERABLE, but the surviving proscenium arch is EXCEPTIONAL.



82

The Linking Corridor is a poorer quality build and in itself not nationally important. However it does

have some value and interest in its use of scissor trusses and subtle stained glass clerestory, as well

as arched doorways reflecting the design of the Music Hall and the front of the Witham. It has SOME

architectural value.

The position of the original Witham building on the street front presents an authoritative façade

designed to impress with its classical design associated with ancient civilised societies. Its aesthetic

and architectural value in terms of its street front presence is EXCEPTIONAL along Horsemarket.

However the Music Hall is largely out of sight, being located within the burgage plots to the rear. Its

aesthetic value in terms of streetscape presence is SOME.

The jumbled mixture of roof lines, the varied traditional window styles and sizes all contribute towards

the historic character of Hall Street.

The whole group of buildings (Witham Testimonial, linking corridor, Music Hall and Hall Street shops)

sit within an existing medieval street pattern which is intact immediately around the Witham, but has

been punctured nearby at the council car park and was increasingly developed from the 18th century

onwards. The construction of George Street in the 19th century was the first development to cut

across and truncate the existing burgage plots. Its historic value based on the street plan is therefore

CONSIDERABLE.

The survival of the stables and coach house to the rear of the plot is now a rarity in the town, most

now long since gone, but once a common sight along the back lane. Their significance is

CONSIDERABLE.

Evidential Value

The building and its plot have SOME evidential value. The ground beneath the Music Hall may still

contain some archaeological information, but this will be considerably truncated by the works of 1860.

The land beneath and on either side of the linking corridor has some evidential value relating to the

caretaker’s house, recovery room and possibly relating to a pre-Witham use of the burgage plots.

Evidential value relating to the caretaker’s house also exists in the Hall Street shops where the

original access to the yard was through a linking corridor leading from a door on Hall Street. Overall

however, previous archaeological evaluation (Brigantia 2002, unpag) has shown that survival of

evidential data is not good in this area.

Additional information may also be obtained from the buildings themselves. The Hall Street shops

appear to have been through a number of phases of rebuilding and pre-date the Witham. Information

relating to their chronology and former uses may still be obtained from an analysis of their fabric.

Information may also be obtained from the building in relation to the design of the dance floor in the

Music Hall.



83

There is a wealth of documentary evidence regarding the acquisition of land and the various

community organisations which ran the Witham. Their significance is CONSIDERABLE.

Communal Value

The buildings from the outset were designed for the community, built and paid for by the community

and then maintained and managed by the local community. The fact that it is still run by the

community is especially significant. The Witham has had a role to play not just in educating the

community, but caring for its health. It has supported the community through two world wars and has

adapted its ability to entertain through the addition of a music hall in 1860, a dance floor (the best

sprung dance floor in Durham) and the additional of a projection booth to show films. Two plaques

within the Library (Gallery) are memorials to former users, one dating to 1922 and the other to 1993.

Its Communal Value is therefore EXCEPTIONAL.



84

Conclusion

Bibliography

Archaeo-Environment (2008) Barnard Castle Conservation Area Appraisal

Blacker, J.G and Mitchell, M., (1999) ‘The Use of Egglestone Marble in Durham Cathedral’ in DAJ

14-15, 119-130

Brigantia Archaeological Practice (2002) Archaeological Evaluation in Connection with the Proposed

Witham Hall Development, Barnard Castle

Dobson, H.G. (2006) Men of Merit

Earl, J (2005) British Theatres and Music Halls

Earl, J and Sell, M (2000) The Theatres Trust Guide to British Theatres, 1750-1950

English Heritage (2007) Culture and Entertainment Buildings Selection Guide. Heritage Protection

Department

English Heritage (2008) Conservation Principles Policies and Guidance

Grunwell, P (2006) The Witham: a brief historical guide (unpub)

Hastings, R.P., (1972) ‘The Stockton Dispensary: medical aid for the poor in the nineteenth century’ in

Durham County Local History Society Bulletin, vol 15. (DRO ref H6/2)

Milburn, D (undated) The Life of Monsignor Thomas Edward Witham 1806-1897

Lewthwaite, C (1978) ‘Music Hall in the North-East’ in Durham County Local History Society Bulletin,

vol 21 (DRO ref H6/3)

Rackham, R.A (1975) Barnard Castle by E. Yeoman

Rackham, R.A (1986) Lartington Hall. A Brief History

Reid and Jones Partnership (2007) Structural Inspection of the Witham

Tranter, R (2010) The Witham Land Titles (unpub. draft)

Wilkinson, A (1998) Barnard Castle Historic Market Town

Web Sites

History of Mechanics Institutes available at www.londonpubliclibrary.ca/node/3437 [accessed 10.3.10]

http://www.londonpubliclibrary.ca/node/3437



85

Images of England Music Hall search. Available from:

http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/QuickResults/Default.aspx?qs=MUSIC%20HALL [accessed

26.2.10]

Music Hall available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_hall#Surviving_music_halls [accessed

26.2.10]

Sitelines (Historic Environment Record for Tyne and Wear. Available from:

http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/core.nsf/a/msl_home [accessed 26.2.10]

Northumberland and Durham Historic Environment Record. Available from: www.keystothepast.info

[accessed 26.2.10]

Witham Hall Opening Ceremony 1981 available at:

http:/www.communigate.co.uk/ne/withamhall/page1.phtml [accessed 28.2.10]

List of Mechanics’ Institutes available at: http://www.r-alston.co.uk/mi.htm [accessed 10.3.10]

Durham Records Office

Ref No. RD/BC 93

Posters for Barnard Castle horticultural show at Witham

Hall, 16 August 1952

(2 papers)

Ref No. UD/BC/201

Proposed market hall at Witham Hall (file no. 183), 9 August 1934 - 23 January 1940

(1 file)

Box 18

Local Committee minutes, 1948 - 1953

Hospital report book, 1954 - 1956

Account book, 1946 - 1950


Witham Hall Caretakers' day book, 1923 - 1929

Hospital report book, 1947 - 1954

List of deeds held, 1923 - 1971


(1 box)

Ref No. DC/Env 1272 /Box 3

Photographs of old people's homes and community buildings, 1970s - 1980s:

Stanhope, Newtown House and Washington Aged Person's Hostel (A.P.H.); Shildon, Chestnut Close Housing;

Willington A.P.H.; Blackhall A.P.H. and Stanfield A.P.H.

http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/QuickResults/Default.aspx?qs=MUSIC%20HALL

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_hall#Surviving_music_halls

http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/core.nsf/a/msl_home

http://www.keystothepast.info/

http://www.r-alston.co.uk/mi.htm



86

Aycliffe School, Howden-le-Wear, Fir Tree Grange; and Seaham, Greystones Community Home; Annfield Plain;

Chester-le-Street, Kendip; Peterlee, Grampian House A.P.H.; Chester-le-Street Youth Centre; Durham, Fowlers Yard

Youth Project; Stanley Community Centre; Barnard Castle, Witham Hall Community Centre, Seaton Holme; Esh

Winning Education Joint Use Complex, and Shildon, Sunnydale Comprehensive Joint Use Complex; Adult Training

Centres - Newton Aycliffe A.T.C., Newton Aycliffe, Newton Hall, Easington, Spennymoor

and one volume (spine missing) Easington Adult Training Centre, July 1974

Ref. No: D/DLI

Catalogue Title: Durham Light Infantry Records

Category: Antiquarian and Composite Records

Size (kB): 789

Type: Catalogue

Catalogue Description: Individual Servicemen (H-Mos

Sergeant Henry Lee

68th Light Infantry

Born Rugby, Warwickshire, 1820; joined 68th Light Infantry, June 1854; served in Crimean War, 1854 – 1857,

slightly wounded on several occasions; New Zealand War, 1864 – 1866; India, 1872 – 1875; returned home,

1875, on completion of his second term of engagement; caretaker of the Witham Hall, Barnard Castle for 19

years; died 1913, aged 95 [sic]; tombstone erected by 1st Battalion in Barnard Castle Church of England

cemetery to his honour and memory. His wife, Mrs. Frances Lee, accompanied her husband to India in 1872.

While there, she was housemaid to General Sir Evelyn Wood, and to Colonel Kirby, commanding 68th Light

Infantry. Medals in D.L.I. Museum.

Ref No. D/HH 3/2/291

14 January 1880

(1) Francis Winpenny of Barnard Castle, woolen draper

(2) George Brownless of Broomielaw, Esquire

Deed of further charge of £400 upon a dwellinghouse in Horse Market on the north of the Witham Hall and a parcel

of land on the north side of Hall Street (adjoining the above premises and the Witham Hall)

Consideration: £400

Receipt for £400 in redemption of this mortgage endorsed, 3 June 1885

(1 paper)

Appendix A

Listed Building Description

BARNARD CASTLE

NZ0516SW HORSE MARKET 770-1/6/81 (East side) 22/02/73 No.3 Witham Hall (Formerly Listed as:

HORSE MARKET (East side) Nos.1 AND 3 Public Library (3))

GV II



87

Public hall, library, dispensary, surgery and mechanics institute; now used for many community activities.

1854-6. By Green of Newcastle. Ashlar; roof not visible. Classical style. EXTERIOR: 2 storeys; symmetrical

3-window range. Ground floor has channelled rustication; central bay breaks forward under pediment. Step

up to double 4-panel door and overlight in stone doorcase of slender Ionic attached columns with

pedimented entablature. Flanking plain round-headed sashes under rusticated voussoirs. Wide corniced

band continues around projection and supports first floor columns and pilasters. First floor has central Ionic

attached columns flanking tripartite window with pilaster stone mullions; outer bays have end pilasters and

tall windows; all first-floor windows have sashes with glazing bars. Top entablature has dentilled frieze, with

pedimented central projection. High roof parapet behind pediment has flat coping. WITHAM in relief letters

on central frieze. INTERIOR: wide first-floor room with stucco cornice and ceiling decoration, and niches

with busts. HISTORY: plaque on front of building records that it was raised by public subscription as a

testimony to HTM Witham Esq of Lartington, who died in 1844. A geologist and Fellow of the Royal

Geological Society, he had wanted to make provision for the medical and educational needs of the people

of Barnard Castle and area.

Listing NGR: NZ0504516489



88

Appendix B

Table of listed buildings in England designed by Greens the Architects

LBS

Uid NGR Building Name Street Name Grade Parish County

59514 NZ4438918552 CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY YARM LANE II* STOCKTON ON

TEES DURHAM

77759 NY4677454662 STATION MASTER'S HOUSE AND OFFICES, WITH

STONE PLATFORM TO FRONT II WETHERAL CUMBRIA

110555 NZ2702312598 BLACKWELL BRIDGE BRIDGE ROAD II DARLINGTON DURHAM

111133 NZ1066714571 WHORLTON BRIDGE II* WHORLTON DURHAM

117856 TL5540605040 CHURCH OF ST PETER CHURCH LANE II ONGAR ESSEX

129859 SU0984296520

THIRTEEN MONUMENTS, INCLUDING KIMBER

AND GREEN, ABOUT 5 TO 15 METRES SOUTH

EAST OF SOUTH EAST CORNER OF SOUTH

TRANSEPT IN CHURCHYARD OF CHURCH OF ALL

SAINTS

II DOWN AMPNEY GLOUCESTERSHIRE

147915 SO8766159819

GREEN FAMILY MEMORIAL ABOUT 3 YARDS

WEST OF THE CHURCH OF ST MICHAEL AND ALL

ANGELS

II MARTIN

HUSSINGTREE WORCESTERSHIRE



89

194254 TF1130129272 GROUP OF 6 TABLE TOMBS TO WEST OF

CHURCH TOWER BOURNE ROAD II DOWSBY LINCOLNSHIRE

235604 NU1851413632 ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF ST MARY BAILIFFGATE II ALNWICK NORTHUMBERLAND

235965 NZ2951375059 CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY A190 II CRAMLINGTON NORTHUMBERLAND

236210 NU0662811945 CHURCH OF ST BARTHOLOMEW ROAD TO

ESLINGTON I WHITTINGHAM NORTHUMBERLAND

236680 NU2218801498 ACKLINGTON STATION B6345 II ACKLINGTON NORTHUMBERLAND

236681 NU2217301524 FORMER GOODS SHED TO WEST OF

ACKLINGTON STATION B6345 II ACKLINGTON NORTHUMBERLAND

236948 NU2133223099 FORMER GOODS SHED ON EAST OF RAILWAY

IMMEDIATELY NORTH OF B 1340 II EMBLETON NORTHUMBERLAND

237244 NU2332906701 WARKWORTH STATION II WARKWORTH NORTHUMBERLAND

238709 NZ2035185364 MORPETH STATION COOPIES LANE II MORPETH NORTHUMBERLAND

238859 NZ1118171981 CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY II STAMFORDHAM NORTHUMBERLAND

239126 NY9338663862 ST MARY'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH BATTLEHILL II* HEXHAM NORTHUMBERLAND

239386 NY8339983230 BELLINGHAM BRIDGE B6320 II BELLINGHAM NORTHUMBERLAND

239387 NY8339383189 BRIDGEND B6320 II BELLINGHAM NORTHUMBERLAND



90

239389 NY8338283379 CHURCH OF ST OSWALD B6320 II BELLINGHAM NORTHUMBERLAND

239725 NY8415697210 CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY A 68 II ROCHESTER NORTHUMBERLAND

239857 NY9890963524 OLD STATION BUILDING A68 II CORBRIDGE NORTHUMBERLAND

240440 NZ0189461568 STATIONMASTER'S HOUSE AT RIDING MILL

STATION RIDING MILL II

BROOMHAUGH

AND RIDING NORTHUMBERLAND

240712 NY6872163639 RAILWAY BRIDGE 50 METRES SOUTH OF THE

SPITTAL A 69(T) II GREENHEAD NORTHUMBERLAND

240725 NY6592865490 STATION HOUSE B 6318 II GREENHEAD NORTHUMBERLAND

240734 NY6898563664 ACCOMODATION BRIDGE 60 METRES SOUTH OF

EAST LODGE TO BLENKINSOPP HALL A69(T) II HALTWHISTLE NORTHUMBERLAND

240763 NY7047063821 STATION HOUSE STATION ROAD II HALTWHISTLE NORTHUMBERLAND

240764 NY7045963816 TICKET OFFICE AND WAITING ROOM WEST OF

STATION HOUSE STATION ROAD II HALTWHISTLE NORTHUMBERLAND

240776 NY7788464526 THE STATION HOUSE STATION ROAD II HENSHAW NORTHUMBERLAND

240841 NY6343966244 RAILWAY BRIDGE ACROSS THE POLTROSS BURN

NORTH OF MILECASTLE 48 HADRIANS WALL B 6318 II THIRLWALL NORTHUMBERLAND

240844 NY6355266337 THE STATION HOUSE RAILWAY

TERRACE II THIRLWALL NORTHUMBERLAND



91

303203 NZ3340054386 EARL OF DURHAM'S MONUMENT HILL LANE I HOUGHTON LE

SPRING TYNE AND WEAR

303229 NZ3108056592 CHURCH OF HOLY TRINITY THE AVENUE II WASHINGTON TYNE AND WEAR

303240 NZ2969258524 CHURCH OF HOLY TRINITY PEARETH HALL

ROAD II WASHINGTON TYNE AND WEAR

303270 NZ3202072518 CHURCH OF ST ALBAN FRONT STREET II WALLSEND TYNE AND WEAR

303289 NZ3564367933 11 NEW QUAY II TYNEMOUTH TYNE AND WEAR

303298 NZ3647369612 CHURCH OF HOLY SAVIOUR CROSS WAY II TYNEMOUTH TYNE AND WEAR

303351 NZ3676669170 MAIN PASSENGER BUILDING OF TYNEMOUTH

OLD RAILWAY STATION 5 AND 6 OXFORD STREET II TYNEMOUTH TYNE AND WEAR

303391 NZ3178166718 WILLINGTON VIADUCT A 187 II WALLSEND TYNE AND WEAR

303416 NZ2854268456 FARM BUILDINGS TO EAST OF EAST BENTON

FARMHOUSE STATION ROAD II WALLSEND TYNE AND WEAR

303664 NZ4056661631 THE RED COTTAGE CHURCH LANE II BOLDON TYNE AND WEAR

303794 NZ1720963991 CHURCH OF ST MARY AND ST THOMAS

AQUINAS AND PREBYTERY ADJOINING STELLA ROAD II BLAYDON TYNE AND WEAR

304361 NZ1883064471 CHURCH OF HOLY SAVIOUR SCOTSWOOD

ROAD II THROCKLEY TYNE AND WEAR



92

304362 NZ1884764498 PARISH HALL OF CHURCH OF HOLY SAVIOUR SCOTSWOOD

ROAD II THROCKLEY TYNE AND WEAR

304378 NZ1923167963 WHORLTON GRANGE B6324 II NEWCASTLE

UPON TYNE TYNE AND WEAR

304473 NZ2489263801

FORMER PREBYTERIAN CHAPEL (NOW

OCCUPIED BY BRITISH ELECTRICAL

MANUFACTURING COMPANY)

CLAVERING

PLACE II

NEWCASTLE


304589 NZ2486164425 EARL GREY MONUMENT GREY STREET I NEWCASTLE


304613 NZ2494264306 THEATRE 1-9 SHAKESPEARE

STREET I

NEWCASTLE


304697 NZ2497064333 1 AND 3 MARKET STREET II* NEWCASTLE


304698 NZ2495464327 BARCLAY'S BANK 5 AND 7 MARKET STREET II NEWCASTLE


304699 NZ2492464319 THEATRE ROYAL LOUNGE AND RESTAURANT;

THE ROYAL PUBLIC HOUSE 9-17 MARKET STREET I

NEWCASTLE


304825 NZ2497964041 NEWCASTLE AND GATESHEAD BUILDING

SOCIETY

ST NICHOLAS'

SQUARE II

NEWCASTLE


304864 NZ2497864313 11 AND 13 SHAKESPEARE II* NEWCASTLE TYNE AND WEAR



93

STREET UPON TYNE

304882 NZ2614664720 OUSEBURN VIADUCT WITH ACCOMMODATION

ARCH STEPNEY ROAD II*

NEWCASTLE


304943 NZ2481363925 LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY WESTGATE

ROAD II*

NEWCASTLE


304958 NZ2370064206 GATE PIERS , WALLS AND PIERS TO WESTGATE

HILL CEMETERY

WESTGATE

ROAD II

NEWCASTLE


322698 NZ2702512597 BLACKWELL BRIDGE A66 II STAPLETON NORTH YORKSHIRE

381941 SY6865773548

TWO MONUMENTS APPROXIMATELY 5 METRES

NORTH EAST FROM WEST TOWER OF CHURCH

OF ST JOHN

FORTUNESWELL II PORTLAND DORSET

409360 NU1254933641 BELFORD STATION B 1342 II EASINGTON NORTHUMBERLAND

409371 NU1861627020 CHATHILL STATION AND DOWN PLATFORM II ELLINGHAM NORTHUMBERLAND

409372 NU1863427034 WAITING SHED AND UP PLATFORM AT CHATHILL

STATION II ELLINGHAM NORTHUMBERLAND

424981 SE3870212573 GREEN MONUMENT 12 METRES SOUTH OF

SOUTH CHAPEL OF CHURCH OF ST PETER CHURCH LANE II SOUTH HIENDLEY WEST YORKSHIRE

429929 SO7688418205 GREEN MONUMENT IN CHURCHYARD ABOUT 14

METRES EAST OF EAST END OF CHURCH OF ST CHURCH LANE II CHURCHAM GLOUCESTERSHIRE



94

ANDREW

431877 SK6447739201 A GROUP OF 99 HEADSTONES TO THE SOUTH

WEST OF ST MARY'S CHURCH MAIN ROAD II

RADCLIFFE ON

TRENT NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

435878 NZ3186603774 FORMER COWTON RAILWAY STATION II EAST COWTON NORTH YORKSHIRE

467163 SD8478431814 CHURCH OF ST STEPHEN OXFORD ROAD II BURNLEY LANCASHIRE

468599 TG5236807517 10-14 REGENT STREET II GREAT

YARMOUTH NORFOLK



95

Appendix C

Listed Mechanics’ Institutes in England (see below for listed Music Halls)

LBS

Uid Building Name Street Name Grade Parish County

Comparative data

39026 NO 33 (FORMER EVERYMAN

THEATRE) 33 LONDON STREET II READING BERKSHIRE

1843, became a

chapel then a theatre

63872

MINERS AND MECHANICS

INSTITUTE, INCLUDING

BOUNDARY WALLS, GATE-PIERS

AND RAILINGS

VICARAGE ROAD II ST AGNES CORNWALL

1893.

75212 MARKET HOUSE 17 MARKET STREET II KIRKBY LONSDALE CUMBRIA

1854. Market hall

runs behind. Interior

much altered and

subdivided. Also built

to house library,

county court and

market house

104515 PUBLIC LIBRARY EAST STREET II* BRIDPORT DORSET 1835. No hall

110119 69 CLAYPATH II DURHAM DURHAM

1841. Now a

salesroom. Main first

floor hall moulded

cases to ceiling



96

beams, egg and dart

cornice, pilasters,

small gallery at street

end

110715 THE MECHANICS' INSTITUTE SKINNERGATE II DARLINGTON DURHAM

1845. Earlier building

within structure, now

a bar

115932 2 YORK ROAD II EARLS COLNE ESSEX 1854. Hall present.

116074 COOPERATIVE STORES 37 AND

39 CHURCH STREET II* COGGESHALL ESSEX

Claim to be place

where MIs founded

in 1800?

165144 MANOR COURT HOUSE MARKET PLACE II EPWORTH LINCOLNSHIRE

1837 within an

earlier building. Hall

on 1st floor with

library

183843 MECHANICS INSTITUTION ST JAMES' STREET II ACCRINGTON LANCASHIRE 1878.

185634 MECHANICS HALL ST JAMES'S STREET II BACUP LANCASHIRE 1846. now library, no

hall mentioned

195031 READING ROOM AND LIBRARY

12 UPGATE II* LOUTH LINCOLNSHIRE

late 18th or early 19th

c building. Large

room with musician’s

gallery on posts.



97

235814 4 AND 5 PERCY STREET II* ALNWICK NORTHUMBERLAND 1831

239499 TOWN HALL THE GREEN II WARK NORTHUMBERLAND 1873.

289025 FORMER ROYAL ARMS

TEMPERANCE HOTEL WARD STREET II GUILDFORD SURREY

1892. within earlier

building

303331

BOROUGH TREASURER'S

DEPARTMENT AND

MAGISTATES COURT

SAVILLE STREET II TYNEMOUTH TYNE AND WEAR

1844-5, became

Town Hall in 1849.

318752 THE MECHANICS INSTITUTE EMLYN SQUARE II* SWINDON WILTSHIRE

1853-5, enlarged

1892-3. Raised

central hall/theatre.

Ground floor library

and reading room,

coffee room, mess

room and baths. Rear

Market Hall 1855,

now replaced.

Central theatre fly

tower of 1930.

Assembly hall/

theatre has moulded

plaster decorative

frieze and vaulted

ceiling. Stage with

proscenium arch a

replacement of 1930.



98

Balcony.

335598 MECHANICS INSTITUTE MAIN STREET II WENTWORTH SOUTH YORKSHIRE 1844-5, now a house

335686

TOWN HALL INCLUDING

COUNTY JUVENILE COURT

TOWN HALL ASSEMBLY ROOMS

AND NO 33 EFFINGHAM STREET

HOWARD STREET II ROTHERHAM SOUTH YORKSHIRE

1896-97, housing MI

founded in 1853.

Includes assembly

rooms, courthouse,

shop. Extensively

refronted when it

became the Town

Hall.

335710 THE FACTORY SHOP 15 VICARAGE LANE II ROTHERHAM SOUTH YORKSHIRE 1851, much altered

337050 CLAYTON VILLAGE HALL REVA SYKE ROAD BD14 II BRADFORD WEST YORKSHIRE now Clayton Village

Hall

337144 MECHANICS INSTITUTE STONE HALL ROAD BD2 II BRADFORD WEST YORKSHIRE 1868. No hall.

337976 MECHANICS INSTITUTE MAIN STREET II BINGLEY WEST YORKSHIRE

1837. Had a lecture

room, now a ball

room. MI now a

restaurant.

340941 TOWN HALL MARKET PLACE II BATLEY AND

LIVERSEDGE WEST YORKSHIRE

1854. no hall

341424 THE MECHANICS INSTITUTE 4-8 CROSS GREEN II OTLEY WEST YORKSHIRE 1870



99

358718 FORMER SUNDAY SCHOOL TRINITY STREET II STALYBRIDGE GREATER

MANCHESTER

1904-5 former

Sunday school and

library. 1st floor hall,

classrooms below,

meeting rooms. Plan

intact.

378541 43A QUEEN STREET II WOLVERHAMPTON WEST MIDLANDS 1869 also a free

library. Now offices.

384773 TIPSY TOAD WINE BAR MARKET PLACE II THETFORD NORFOLK 1887. Now a wine

bar.

388711 WITHAM HALL 3 HORSE MARKET II BARNARD CASTLE DURHAM

391876 HARRIS INSTITUTE AVENHAM LANE II* PRESTON LANCASHIRE

1846-9. now art

school additions to

rear 1883 to service

the technical college.

Lecture room in rear

block with raked

seating, former

exhibition room at

first floor

401309 MECHANICS INSTITUTE MELTHAM ROAD II HUDDERSFIELD WEST YORKSHIRE mid 19th c.

404112 FRIENDLY AND TRADES CLUB 9 NORTHUMBERLAND II HUDDERSFIELD WEST YORKSHIRE 1859.



100

STREET

407671 SOUTH SHIELDS MUSEUM AND

ART GALLERY OCEAN ROAD II SOUTH SHIELDS TYNE AND WEAR

1858-60. Became a

library in 1873.

Museum added

1876, now an art

gallery

413880 MECHANICS INSTITUTE PEEL STREET II SLAITHWAITE AND

MARSDEN WEST YORKSHIRE

1860

422645 LONGWOOD BAPTIST SUNDAY

SCHOOL AND MEETING ROOMS LONGWOOD GATE II HUDDERSFIELD WEST YORKSHIRE

MI used earlier

building from 1845

427222 EASTGATE (PART OF NO 2) HIGH STREET I TOTNES DEVON

1850. Built in a castle

gatehouse. Now an

estate office.

427223 EASTGATE HOUSE 2 HIGH STREET II* TOTNES DEVON

As above – same

building, but to rear

is former ballroom of

1824. Interiors of

moulded plaster

cornice and ceiling

rose and chimney

piece.

432347 ATHENAEUM LYNN STREET II HARTLEPOOL DURHAM 1851. now a club on

1st floor and shops



101

below, all windows

altered.

438100 MECHANICS INSTITUTION TOWN STREET II HORSFORTH WEST YORKSHIRE 1881. now a library

438150 MASONIC HALL SOUTH STREET II MANNINGTREE ESSEX 1850-60 Hall to rear,

now a masonic hall.

447302 PUBLIC LIBRARY VERNON ROAD II SCARBOROUGH NORTH YORKSHIRE 1830, now public

library

456840 103 PRINCESS STREET II* MANCHESTER GREATER

MANCHESTER

1854. now a

museum, altered and

internally remodelled

464450

POST OFFICE, HALL TO REAR

AND ATTACHED LANTERN AND

BRACKET

HIGH STREET II MALDON ESSEX

1860. incorps corn

hall now a post

office. 20th cent

loading bay added.

464648 MASONIC HALL ST SAVIOURGATE II YORK NORTH YORKSHIRE

1845-6. Became a

Masonic Lodge in

1883, altered 1910,

rebuilt and extended

1869.

467128 BURNLEY MECHANICS MANCHESTER ROAD II* BURNLEY LANCASHIRE 1854-5, now a

theatre, enlarged

1888. Interior altered



102

but still merits II*

473336 DEVONPORT LIBRARY 18 AND

20 DUKE STREET II PLYMOUTH DEVON

1843-4, part of

library, galleried 2nd

floor. Interior of

library has large hall

with gallery, round

arched niches to end

walls, coved ceiling

with cornices

485917 GREYFRIARS' MUSEUM BROADGATE I LINCOLN LINCOLNSHIRE

1883 within much

earlier buildings

including Friary, now

a museum.

Scheduled Ancient

Monument

486588

THE ASSEMBLY ROOMS AND

CURTIS MUSEUM AND

INWOOD COURT

HIGH STREET II ALTON HAMPSHIRE

1880 extended and

altered. The hall is

the Assembly Rooms.

The MI remodelled as

a museum

504565

FORMER MECHANICS

INSTITUTE AND MUNICIPAL

TECHNICAL SCHOOL

MARLBOROUGH ROAD II BANBURY OXFORDSHIRE

1884. No library. 2

lecture rooms.

Extended



103

Appendix C continued -Listed Music Halls in England

LBS

Uid NGR Building Name Street Name Grade Parish County

76062 NX9709818141 ROYAL STANDARD

HOTEL 13 WEST STRAND II WHITEHAVEN CUMBRIA

99450 SX7023349109 MUSIC ROOM AT THE

CHANTRY II AVETON GIFFORD DEVON

156461 SO8316776547

PUBLIC ROOMS

INCLUDING THE CORN

EXCHANGE

VICAR STREET II KIDDERMINSTER WORCESTERSHIRE

199014 TQ2530187415 GOLDERS GREEN

HIPPODROME

NORTH END

ROAD II HENDON GREATER LONDON

205796 TQ3389382075

FORMER STABLES AT

TRUMAN'S BREWERY

152

BRICK LANE E1 II BETHNAL GREEN GREATER LONDON

206024 TQ3424180851 WILTON'S MUSIC HALL GRACE'S ALLEY

E1 II* STEPNEY GREATER LONDON

304501 NZ2494864078 BALMBRA'S MUSIC

HALL 6 AND 8 CLOTH MARKET II

NEWCASTLE


304726 NZ2478964381 10 AND 12 NELSON STREET II NEWCASTLE


314004 ST8557758053 61 FORE STREET II TROWBRIDGE WILTSHIRE

359733 SJ3645091364 OLYMPIA SOCIAL

CLUB

WEST DERBY

ROAD II* LIVERPOOL MERSEYSIDE

368492 TQ3164783990 ALMEIDA THEATRE ALMEIDA

STREET II ISLINGTON GREATER LONDON

383129 SD4788061680 PALATINE HALL DALTON SQUARE II LANCASTER LANCASHIRE



104

383318 SD4794061857 GRAND THEATRE ST LEONARDS

GATE II LANCASTER LANCASHIRE

424232 TQ3328283186 HOXTON HALL 128A HOXTON STREET

N1 II* HACKNEY GREATER LONDON

427554 TQ8908685097 THE KURSAAL SOUTHCHURCH

AVENUE II

SOUTHEND ON

SEA ESSEX

458371 SJ4907712402

THE HALL OF THE

FORMER VAUGHAN'S

MANSION (PART OF

THE MUSIC HALL)

THE SQUARE II* SHREWSBURY SHROPSHIRE

458552 SK5703639857 14, 14A AND 16 ST JAMES'

STREET II NOTTINGHAM NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

461980 TM4441264266 THE GUESTEN HALL

AT ABBEY FARM ABBEY ROAD II LEISTON SUFFOLK

462017 TQ2953389973 ALEXANDRA PALACE MUSWELL HILL

N22 II HORNSEY GREATER LONDON

462463 SK3516035987 WALKERS BINGO CLUB GREEN LANE II DERBY DERBYSHIRE

463076 SE6034051616 CLIFFORD CHAMBERS

(NUMBER 4) 2-10

CLIFFORD

STREET II YORK NORTH YORKSHIRE

463303 SE6031151625 GRAND OPERA HOUSE CUMBERLAND

STREET II YORK NORTH YORKSHIRE

465414 SE3020933721 CITY VARIETIES SWAN STREET II* LEEDS WEST YORKSHIRE

467207 SD8386932585

CORAL BINGO

(FORMER EMPIRE

THEATRE) 124

ST JAMES STREET II BURNLEY LANCASHIRE

469073 TA0411488536 THE OLD ALEXANDRA

MUSIC HALL 2A AND 4

ABERDEEN

WALK II SCARBOROUGH NORTH YORKSHIRE

470345 SJ4054766388 NUMBERS 32 AND 34

STREET THE OLD

NORTHGATE

STREET AND II CHESTER CHESHIRE



105

MUSIC HALL 32 AND 34 ROW

473870 SX4694554396

FORMER PALACE

THEATRE AND GREAT

WESTERN HOTEL

UNION STREET II* PLYMOUTH DEVON

479272 TA2765310111 THE CORPORATION

ARMS 88

FREEMAN

STREET II GRIMSBY LINCOLNSHIRE

481501 SP3197065283 THE PARTHENON 50, 52

AND 54 BATH STREET II

ROYAL

LEAMINGTON

SPA

WARWICKSHIRE

485488 TM1677144617 THE IPSWICH REGENT

THEATRE 3

ST HELENS

STREET II IPSWICH SUFFOLK

505211 TQ3600282285 THE FORMER NEW

PEOPLES PALACE MILE END ROAD II BOW GREATER LONDON



106

Appendix D Unlisted comparators

Bishop Auckland 1880 BISHOP AUCKLAND dur Mechanics' Institution 1828

Refounded in 1847. Defunct after 1857? From:

http://www.r-alston.co.uk/mi.htm [accessed 10.3.10]

In 1880 the impressive building in Victoria Avenue

was constructed. It housed billiards, reading and

amusement rooms, the manager's quarters and a

splendid library of four thousand books collected by

their librarian, Matthew Richley.

No information on interiors.

Cotherstone Village Hall 1883 Built as a Temperance Hall, now a village hall

much altered internally and with plastic windows.

Similar simple design with arched windows, plain

interiors

http://www.r-alston.co.uk/mi.htm



107

Appendix E annotated plans of the Witham as existing – ground floor



108

First Floor



109

Appendix F

Statement of Significance – our approach.

The significance of any historic site or building needs to be assessed under a number of headings. A widely adopted methodology for doing this was developed in

1982 by James Semple Kerr, adopted in the Burra Charter and found widespread acceptance in the UK in the concept of Informed Conservation11 and Conservation

Management Planning12. This has since been added to by English Heritage’s Conservation Principles (2008) which recommends assessing significance under

historical value, aesthetic value, communal value and evidential value.

Historical Value This derives from ways in which people, events and aspects of life can be connected through a place to the present. It tends to be

illustrative or associative, for example it might be an association with an architect or illustrate through visible connections with the past

how communities used a place

Evidential Value The potential of a place to yield evidence about past human activity

Aesthetic Value This derives from ways in which people draw sensory and intellectual stimulation from a place. It can relate to the design of a place, or the patina

of age which adds to local distinctiveness and character

Communal value This derives from the meanings of a place for the people who relate to it, or for whom it figures in their collective experience or memory.

11

Clark, K. 2001.

12 Historic Scotland, 2000



110

With regard to the Witham, significance is also broken down into individual elements and it is these combined which give the building its overall significance or value

as described by English Heritage. The significance rating is considered under four headings and for each specific statement made a grading is assigned as follows.

Exceptional Significance. Aspects of the site considered as seminal to the historical, architectural, or aesthetic character or development of the site, the

unsympathetic or ill-informed alteration or loss of which would destroy or significantly compromise the integrity of place. This category may be determined by

the date, rarity, completeness, duration, setting or the representative quality of the element discussed.

Considerable Significance. Aspects that help to define the historical, architectural, or aesthetic character of the site, without which the character and

understanding of place would be diminished but not destroyed.

Some Significance. Aspects which may contribute to, or complement, the historical, architectural, ecological or aesthetic character of the site but are not

intrinsic to it, and in some circumstances may be intrusive, and the removal or alteration of which may have a degree of impact on the understanding and

interpretation of the place.

Marginal Significance. Those aspects which have only a minor connection with the historic, architectural and aesthetic character of the site and could be

considered intrusive, the removal or alteration of which could have a limited or even beneficial affect on the understanding of place.



111

The reader should note that significance should not be confused with importance. The buildings have already been assessed according to national criteria

and judged to be of sufficient importance to be given status as a Listed Building Grade II. The statement of significance accepts this level of importance and

seeks to identify in detail the elements which define the buildings’ special character and grades each element’s contribution to this.

Definitions for determining magnitude of impact on heritage significance

Magnitude of Impact Definition

High Beneficial The development considerably enhances the understanding and appreciation of heritage assets by virtue of its scale, position

in a view or in its setting, or its design.

Medium Beneficial The development enhances the understanding and appreciation of heritage assets to a clearly discernible extent by virtue of

its scale, position in a view or in its setting, or its design.

Low Beneficial The development enhances the understanding and appreciation of heritage assets to a minor extent by virtue of its scale,

position in a view or its setting, or its design.

Imperceptible/ None The development does not affect the understanding and appreciation of heritage assets

Low Adverse The development erodes the understanding and appreciation of heritage assets to a minor extent by virtue of its scale,

position in a view or in the setting, or its design.

Medium Adverse The development erodes the understanding and appreciation of heritage assets to a clearly discernible extent by virtue of its

scale, position in a view or in the setting, or its design.

High Adverse The development severely erodes the understanding and appreciation of heritage assets by virtue of its scale, position in a

view or in the setting, or its design.

WITHAM HALL STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE March 2010 …€¦ · The whole group of buildings (Witham Testimonial, linking corridor and Music Hall) sit within ... Thank you also to Martin

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