County Hall, Newport, Isle of Wight

County building in Newport, Isle of Wight, England

County Hall

The original building

County Hall

Location within Isle of Wight

General information
Architectural style| Neo-Georgian style
Location| High Street, Newport, Isle of Wight, England
Coordinates| 50°42′02″N 1°17′29″W﻿ / ﻿50.7006°N 1.2914°W﻿ / 50.7006; -1.2914
Completed| 1938
Design and construction
Architect(s)| Gutteridge and Gutteridge

County Hall is a municipal building in High Street, Newport, Isle of Wight, England. It is the headquarters of the Isle of Wight Council.

## History

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The modern extension built to the east of County Hall in 1969

Following the implementation of the Local Government Act 1888, which established county councils in every county, it became necessary to find offices for the Isle of Wight County Council.[1] The "Swan Hotel" in the High Street, Newport was acquired for this purpose in 1898.[2][3][4]

After deciding that this arrangement was inadequate for their needs in the context of the increasing responsibilities of county councils, county leaders chose to demolish the existing premises, acquire some adjoining properties and procure a purpose-built county headquarters on the same site. The new building, which was designed by Gutteridge and Gutteridge of Southampton in the Neo-Georgian style, was officially opened by the former Treasurer of the Household, Lord Bayford, on 19 October 1938.[5][6]

The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of nine bays facing the High Street; the central section featured a doorway with a rectangular fanlight on the ground floor; there was a tall window spanning the first and second floors above.[2] The left and right sections were faced with stone on the ground floor and featured balconies on the first floor.[2] The county coat of arms, flanked by figures depicting Public service and Knowledge, which had been designed by John Hammond Harwood of the Sheffield College of Arts, were erected above the doorway.[2] Pevsner described the design as "moderately civic-monumental".[5]

An 18th century residential property known as "Hazards" was demolished[7][8] to make way for a modern extension with a blue and white chequer pattern which was built to the east of the main building in 1969.[5] Following a change of name of the former County Council to Isle of Wight Council in 1995,[9] County Hall became the home of the new unitary authority.[10]

After Citizens Advice established a new advice centre in the building in November 2018,[11] the Princess Royal visited the centre and received a demonstration of the centre's new video conferencing system in October 2020.[12][13][14]

## References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to County Hall, Newport, Isle of Wight.

1. ^ "Local Government Act 1888". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
2. ^ a b c d "County Hall history". Retrieved 27 September 2019.
3. ^ "International Brewers' Journal". Sheppard and St. John. 15 October 1898. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
4. ^ "Victorian Town Trading on the Isle of Wight". Isle of Wight History Centre. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
5. ^ a b c Lloyd, David Wharton; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2006). The Isle of Wight. Yale University Press. pp. 177–178. ISBN 978-0300107333.
6. ^ "Descriptive Brochure and Order of Proceedings at the Official Opening of the New County Hall, Newport". Isle of Wight County Council. 19 October 1938. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
7. ^ Burdett, David (1 May 2018). "Regeneration – the way forward for the Island?" (PDF). Isle of Wight Society. p. 6. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
8. ^ Page, William (1912). "'Parishes: Newport', in A History of the County of Hampshire". London: British History Online. pp. 253–265. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
9. ^ "The Isle of Wight (Structural Change) Order 1994". Legislation.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
10. ^ "IWC to introduce 'agile working' to County Hall. 640 staff … but only 480 desks". On the Wight. 30 January 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
11. ^ "Citizens Advice moving to County Hall in Newport". Isle of Wight Observer. 13 November 2018. Archived from the original on 27 September 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
12. ^ "HRH The Princess Royal visits the Isle of Wight". Island Echo. 9 October 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
13. ^ "Princess Anne makes Royal visit to Isle of Wight". Isle of Wight Radio. 9 October 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
14. ^ "Court Circular". The Times. 9 October 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.