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Alcester War Memorial Town Hall

Alcester's Town Hall is its war memorial. It is located at the junction of Henley Street and Butter Street in Alcester, Warwickshire north of the parish church. The ground floor  is constructed in a regular coursed lias with yellow limestone columns and 6 round arches with keystones and Tuscan columns with pronounced entais. The upper storey comprises a single 5 bay hall with boarded floor and open to the roof with hammer beam roof trusses. The building is listed at Grade II.

In 2013 War Memorials Trust offered a grant of £2,500 towards essential repair works to the fabric of the building. The aim of this project was to arrest the decay and damage to the original stonework in order to enable the continued use of the Town Hall and to keep the building watertight. The intention was to repair parts of the stonework that have become eroded by weather and the environment. As the building is so close to the road the stonework becomes vulnerable to road traffic pollution and to water from the road being splashed onto the buildling by cars. Over time this leads to erosion of the most exposed sections, which become brittle and crumbly. Following consultation with a stonework specialist and architect, it was agreed that the area most damaged and requiring attention was the north east roadside corner of the building.

The works involved like-for-like replacement of a selective number of the quoins, which had badly deteriorated and were now beyond repair. The stones were artificially rusticated to give them a “tooled” appearance, as is the case with the existing stones. The proposal also included the like-for-like replacement of three cills with a local limestone. The square sections and roll moulding at the top of 3 capitals were also removed and replaced on a like-for-like basis. Three different types of stone were identified as matching the originals of the cills, capitals and quoins; all sourced from local quarries. Whilst the stones are currently standing slightly proud, they will soon weather and blend naturally with the historic elements of the building. This form of repair ensures that a maximum amount of original fabric is retained, thus protecting the integrity of the building.

In 2015 a further grant of £1,500 was awarded through War Memorials Trust Grants Scheme towards a detailed condition survey and report with recommendations to inform necessary conservation and repair works which was undertaken by a conservation-accredited Architect. This sought to provide a wider picture of the issues and identify if more works than those done in 2013 were needed.

Following that report a further grant of £32,640 was awarded through War Memorials Trust Grants Scheme as further stone repairs were necessary. This was undertaken in-line with the recommendations in the report demonstrating the value of preparing a clear project plan, tendering for agreed works to ensure all quotes were comparable and then completing the works. As part of the project the metal inscription plaque was protected as part of In Memoriam 2014 with SmartWater. When works were completed costs were lower than original anticipated so a grant of £28,000 was paid.

The war memorial hall was originally constructed circa 1618 as a covered Market Hall, with the upper storey being added in 1641. Originally the ground floor arcades were open to allow the building to function as a covered market but the arches were filled in with stone blocks in 1873. During this time the Town Hall was used as a Magistrates Court and as a venue for local events until it was bought by the people of Alcester from the Lord of the Manor, the Marquess of Hertford, for £640 in September 1919 as a war memorial to those who gave their lives in the First World War. A ceremony was held on 23rd January 1938 for the unveiling of a plaque which officially dedicated the hall as a war memorial.

The plaque on the front of the memorial hall reads:

Alcester war memorial
Town Hall
This ancient hall, rebuilt in
1641, was purchased by public
subscription from the Lord of the
Manor, the most honourable
the Marquis of Hertford, as a
permanent memorial to the
brave men of Alcester and
Oversley who gave their lives in
the Great War of 1914 – 1918

1919
George Thomas, High Bailiff
R H Spencer, Low bailiff

Further information

War Memorials Trust reference WM6762
UK National Inventory of War Memorials: 3153

If you have a concern about this memorial please contact the Trust on conservation@warmemorials.org

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