Description

POOLE

SZ0190NW MARKET STREET
958-1/16/115 (North East side)
14/06/54 The Guildhall

GV II*

Formerly known as: Old Guildhall MARKET PLACE.
Guildhall, with partly open market on ground floor. Dated
1761. For John Gultson and Col. Thomas Calcraft, MPs for
Poole, their names inscribed on tablets on the returns;
restored 1994. Brick with limestone and stucco dressings and a
hipped slate roof with flat leaded top and cupola. Mid
Georgian style. Rectangular plan.
2 storeys and attic; 7-window range. 3-window front has
rusticated quoins, plat band and flat cornice, with a pediment
raised at the corners to form side parapets. A projecting
Tuscan portico with front balustrade, antae and pediment,
above a rusticated base with a blocked, keyed round arch, with
fine curved steps and iron railings rising each side to the
portico; first-floor keyed segmental-arched windows with
6/6-pane sashes, a clock in the pediment with a keyed
architrave, and a sundial with a gnomon and number XII at the
apex of the pediment. The sides have a formerly open
ground-floor arcade connected by impost blocks, and
first-floor keyed windows as the front.
Rear Orchard Street elevation has 2 windows and 2 arches.
Domed ridge cupola with concave corners, wide modillion eaves
cornice and round-arched windows with rusticated architraves.
INTERIOR: the Guildhall includes a first-floor council chamber
with a rear platform and doorway with architrave and console
pediment, beneath a coat of arms of Queen Victoria, a central
right-hand fireplace, masked externally by a blind window,
with enriched surround and an overmantel with broken pediment
over an eared panel containing pre-1603 Royal Arms. Ceiling
divided by moulded bands, central lantern and enriched coved
cornice. The ground floor has cast-iron columns along the
centre.
A very fine example of a Georgian guildhall (manifesting the
C18 wealth of Poole), after which the Custom House (qv) was
modelled, and elegantly closing off the important view up
Market Street. The ground-floor formerly contained an open
market.
(RCHME: County of Dorset (South East): London: 1970-: 202;
Buildings of England: Pevsner N & Newman J: Dorset: London:
1972-: 219).

Listing NGR: SZ0095690487

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• The Guildhall at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17533696

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  ENGLAND GUIDE TO POST WAR LISTED: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2