Details
NOTTINGHAM
SK5740SW BURTON STREET
646-1/14/65 (North side)
12/07/72 Guildhall and associated caves
(Formerly Listed as:
BURTON STREET
Guildhall)
GV II
City guildhall, now housing city offices and magistrates'
courts, and associated caves. 1887-88. By Verity & Hunt of
London. Altered mid C20. Darley Dale ashlar and brick, with
Westmorland slate roofs and corniced ridge stacks. French
Renaissance Revival style.
EXTERIOR: rusticated ground floor, dentillated main cornice,
eaves cornice and parapet with pedestals. Windows are plain
sashes and casements, mainly with stone mullions. 2 storeys
plus basement and attics; 5 x 5 bays. Corner site with main
entrance and return fronts.
Entrance front has a projecting centre, and projecting end
pavilions with pyramidal roofs. Portico, 3 bays, with Doric
columns, rusticated piers, and balustrade with pedestals.
Above, 3 tripartite windows with Ionic columns in antis, and
above again, 3 smaller tripartite windows. Central dormer with
round window, and pediment with sculpture. Side bays have 2
windows, the first floor round-arched and divided by
pilasters. Area wall with cast-iron bollards and chains.
Pavilions have tripartite windows on each floor, and
pedimented single dormers.
Left return front, similar design, has pedimented centre with
first floor Ionic portico, and 3 windows in the side bays. At
the rear, a square tower, 5 stages, with round-arched bell
openings and balustrade.
INTERIOR: largely original, has foyer with Doric columns,
segment-arched openings, and enriched cross-beam ceiling.
Central doorway flanked by double columns, with pedimented
doorcase and bust. At each end, a colonnade and steps up to a
stairwell with enriched cornices and stone cantilevered open
well stair. On the first floor, 2 courts, largely original,
with inserted ceilings. Original wall panelling and fittings
including balustraded wooden gallery for grand jury. Court 6,
much altered, has plaster wall panels and pilasters, and a
panelled round-arched recess containing the dock.
Office ranges have moulded cornices, fielded panelled doors
and corniced doorcases.
Cave system, reached by a stone open well stair, is on 2
levels. Brick lined passages and cells. Extensively modified
during World War II for use as emergency headquarters and air
raid shelters.
(The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Nottinghamshire: London:
1979-: 238; Reprint from The Mercian Geologist, Vol. 13, Sept.
1992: Waltham AC: The sandstone caves of Nottingham:
Nottingham: 1992-: 21).
Listing NGR: SK5715440230
