Description

HERTFORD

TL3212SW PEG'S LANE
817-1/19/164 (West side)
Record Office, Library and Register
Office

GV II

Former Motor Tax Office and County Library Headquarters, now
Record Office, Library and Register Office. 1936-39.
Architects James and Bywaters with Rowland Pierce. Buff-brown
brick, laid to English garden wall and one third stretcher
bonds, Portland stone dressings, handmade tile roof behind
parapet.
STYLE: stripped Georgian.
PLAN: L-plan with main block, with basement, facing south.
Return east flank of library faces east to Peg's Lane.
EXTERIOR: 2 storeys. First floor; 12 bays with squat 12-pane
sash windows recessed beneath brick rubbed flat arches. Ground
floor with tall 20-pane sashes. The entrance fourth bay from
right (east), has tall semicircular headed brick soldier arch
within which is recessed a reeded Portland stone architrave
surround to twin leaf panelled hardwood doors with circular
bolection surrounded inner panels, fanlight with stylised
'HCC' initials, and hardwood panelled tympanum above. Flank
end single bay faces east, with set back library block of 9
bays, with tall 24-pane sash windows, recessed with rubbed
brick arches and Portland stone keyblocks carved with animals
and birds; syncopated relationship with ground-floor windows
to coincide with every fourth squat 12-pane window. Entrance
at left has twin leaf panelled hardwood doors with Portland
stone architrave surround, a panel above with raised
inscription 'County Library' flanked by porches, and outer
Tuscan pilasters with block frieze and coved cornice. Doorway
raised 6 steps with flanking plinths and iron railings. A
plinth band runs across elevation against niche containing
sculpture of boy with cricket bat, with plain surround with
date '1939' above head, coved cornice and moulded banded sill.
The entrance is aligned with 2 flights of steps from Peg's
Lane set between walls with Portland stone plinths and caps,
with simple iron gates. Garages and screen walls to rear
within service yard.
HISTORICAL NOTE: the Motor Tax block, with the County Library
was a modification to the 1935 competition winning design for
County Hall itself. The revisions formed part of the overall
tender of March 1937, and the buildings were completed in
Summer 1939 with the main County Hall block (qv).

(Architects' Journal: The Hertford Competition: London: 1935-:
621-628; James and Bywaters with Rowland Pierce: Plans of
County Hall Main Building, Motor Tax and Library Block:
1935-1940: OFFACC556NOS30A-F,6J; Building: Architecture at the
Royal Academy: 1937-: 191; Hertfordshire Countryside: Walne P:
County Hall - a home that keeps on growing: Letchworth:
1946-1973: 43-44; Pevsner N: Buildings of England:
Hertfordshire: Harmondsworth: 1977-: 186; Sheldrick G: The
Hart Reguardant: Hertford: 1989-: 46-54; Walne P: A Guide to
County Hall: Hertford: 1980-).

Listing NGR: TL3248612048

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies at Wikipedia
• Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies official website
• Wikidata Q23305526

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

• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)