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You are in [Places] [High Street Properties] [Town Hall & Corn Exchange] |
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 "P2250866w")
 "high_st_upr_92 c1902bw")
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Timeline 1501 (NH) William Warnewell, clerk, gave this property to the church c1501.
From that time 1663/4 (NH) Hearth Tax: John Hudden. 3 hearths (E179/243/25) 1699 (NH) [D/P71/6/1] 8 April 1699 Assignment of lease for 7 years @ £6 p.a. rent for a consideration of £34 1754 (NH) [D/P71/6/2] 6 August 1754: Lease for 21 years @ £8.10.o p.a. rent 1774 (NH) In 1774 the property is ascribed to the Churchwardens, so presumably any earlier Popham lease had by then expired. (In fact, Edward Popham died 1772). 1777 (NH) (CL) Fullbrook and Bance. 1781 (NH) (CL) Watts and Fullbrook [entries 101 & 102 on the CL together with Matthew Bance deleted] at the Town Hall site. 1786 (NH) A Royal Exchange Insurance policy of April 1786 was taken by the Churchwardens on 2 tenements in one building, brick and tiled, tenanted by William Watts and Richard Fullbrook. 1861 (CL) Churchwardens of Hungerford (own); Thomas Jelfs(occ) (Auctioneer) 1870 Corn Exchange and Town Hall built From Norman Hidden Papers: The Town Hall at Hungerford – Part II By the 1860's Hungerford felt in need of a larger Corn Exchange and a new Town Hall. Times had changed and Berkshire now had a County Police Force. Hungerford had a police station with cells in Hungerford, so this feature of the preceding halls could be omitted. The population of the Berkshire portion of the Hungerford Parish had dropped, no doubt due to the loss of much business associated with the coaching trade. The railway was bringing other people and trade into Hungerford and an enlarged Corn Exchange was fast becoming a necessity and the subject of much speculation and planning, whilst the whole of the old building was, naturally enough after 100 years, in constant need of considerable repairs. In February 1861 a Mr. Hall offered to provide half the cost of a new Town Hall, in place of repairing the old one, but his offer was not accepted. However, an offer from the same gentleman five years later to provide a clock for the old Hall was accepted. Messrs. Wooldridge were instructed to build a suitable tower to house the clock and the Feoffees borrowed £150 at 5% interest to pay for the work. In October 1866 Mr. Wooldridge was paid £107 5s 0d on account and in June 1867 he was paid £177.17s.4¾d for the complete job. In the same year the insurance cover on the building
was raised from £600 to £1000 with an additional cover of £250 for the clock and bells. From this point all systems worked - it was agreed that the money for the building be raised by donation and on note of hand by the Feoffees at 4%. In May 1870, Mr Money, Architect of Newbury submitted plans which were approved but with an amended specification to bring costs down to £2700, and in June an agreement was arrived at with Mr.Killick, the owner of the northside, to obtain rear and side access. Mr Killick received the unwanted piece of the land at the western end of the acquired plot. Two Hungerford builders, Mr Wooldridge and Mr. Hoskins were asked to put in tenders for the work and that of Mr. Hoskins was accepted. Planning authorities were not then in
existence, absolute reliance being placed upon a qualified architect and a builder of good reputation who employed skilled craftsmen. The Foundation Stone of the building was laid on September 7th 1870 and the Corn Exchange opened for business on October 11th 1871. The first Trustees Meeting was held in the ….. Unhappily, Mr. Hutchins the Constable, who had presided over all the building arrangements, died on 9th October. Mr. Earle was appointed in his place and the planned opening dinner to mark the occasion was postponed. The insurance on the Town Hall was placed at £1800 and that of the Corn Exchange at £1200. In 1872 Mr. Hoskins was instructed to remove the old Town Hall at once, it being agreed that no further payments be made to him until this had been done. The following year he put in a claim for £57 14s 4d. for extra work done, but after the specification had been studied it was decided that he was not entitled to any additional payment, but in view of the good work that had been done it was resolved to offer half the sum without prejudice. The total cost of the entire building had been £4000. In June 1874 it was resolved that note of hand holders be notified that their interest be reduced from four percent to three and one eighth per cent. The last of these notes of hand were paid off early in the 1900's. The new Town Hall and Corn Exchange went into operation, first to act as a meeting place for the Feoffees "of the Town and Manor and later for the Parish Council, recently the Town
Council, as a Court room for the Petty Sessional Court and as a Masonic Temple. The Corn Exchange was to carry out the function indicated by its title until 1923 and over the years as a dance hall, concert hall,
cinema, roller skating rink, lecture hall for public meetings, functions such as weddings and public dinners and of recent years [?1980s – HLP] the Hocktide Lunch. During the 1939 - 45 war it housed the
British Restaurant and the Food Office. The now defunct Labour Exchange was housed there and all Hungerford elections, both local and national, have been held there. History repeated itself in that as the building neared its centenary it produced a considerable repair problem and acute financial difficulties in carrying out the necessary repairs. A "chicken and egg" problem arose in that the Corn Exchange was losing bookings for want of being in decent repair and repairs could not be carried out for want of bookings. As with the great majority, if not all, of the Town Halls, it could not be made to be self supporting, but unlike all the others the deficit was not made up from the local rates. In the years immediately prior to 1970 the Trustees and the Constable of Hungerford in particular had a real struggle to keep the buildings going. For many years the Hungerford Fishery and the Port Down had contributed substantially to the building, but around 1970 consideration was being given to application to the Charity Commissioners for permission to demolish the building and to seek a method of fund raising to erect a new building on the site. However by the action of two townsmen, Clive Norman and Dick Wallis, the first Hocktide Ball was organised which raised a considerable amount of money. This pointed the way and under the auspices of Mr.Hugh Hassall' the Ball has been made into an annual feature and has been successfully …..[text missing here – HLP] … review the U.S. troops before "Overlord" in 1944, and by the crowd at the "Great Bare Knuckle Fight" on the Common in 1821, so vividly described by essayist William Hazlitt. Be that as it may, the result of these devoted and selfless efforts has been a modernised Town Hall and Corn Exchange. Although much remains to be done, the lettings today are such that the Town Hall Committee have every encouragement to press on with further work, knowing that they have before them a viable proposition for local people to put to good use for recreational and commercial purposes. More from Norman Hidden's papers: HIGH STREET West No 21: CHURCH HOUSE/TOWN HALL D/P71/6/1 8 April 1699 Assignment of lease for 7 years @ £6 p.a. rent for a consideration of £34 (i) John Hamblen and Edward Harson, church wardens (ii) Thomas Butler, Constable of Hungerford, messuage called Church House on West side of High Street [ previously] leased 2 November 1698 to John Hudden of Hungerford mercer, by (i) above. D/P71/6/2 6 August 1754 lease for 21 years @ £8.10.0 p.a. rent (i) Edward Lovelocke, gent, and Thomas Woodroffe, plumber, church wardens to (ii) Edward Lucas of Hungerford, mercer, property as in D/P71/6/1 above, now occupied by (ii); lease determinable at end of 7 or 14 years on 6 months notice. D/P71/6"5 1 February 1859 lease for 14 years @ £12 p.a. rent (i) George Willes of Hungerford Park esq. and Rev. Thomas Penruddock Michell of Standen House, Hungerford, clerk, church wardens to (ii) Thomas Jelfs of Hungerford, auctioneers, property as in D/P71/6/1 above. ===================================== 1588 DL1/147 E. Passia v. John Curr: The site of the burgage: - between tenement of Sir E. Hungerford on north and burgage of Thomas Horsell(?) on south. The lease expires c.1587, and in 1588 was demised to E. Passion for 21 years. Curteys v. Passion complete transcript copy exists in BVM Chantry Folio. Also Passion v. Curr. See also Monce(?) and Phillips 9 Jas I DL 12/22 which seems to be about the same property. See Town and Church lands file Nicholas Passion file. ===================================== 21 – Town Hall 1663/4 Hearth Tax: John Hudden. 3 hearths (E179/243/25) 1664 Hearth Tax: John Hudden. 3 hearths (E179/343/20) 1676/7 John Hudden died (buried Jan 1676/7) 1676 QR widow Hudden (Berks RO H/FR1) "for ye Church house" 6d. 1677 Curchwardens Accounts: 12 April - £3.00 received from widow Hudden as ½ year's rent. 1680,81 CL: Widow Hudden. This widow Hudden is Dorothy nee Mills (married Nov. 1669) A son John was baptised Nov. 1664, and therefore came of age 1685. Dorothy Hudden widow was buried 23 May 1703. On 2 Nov. 1698 a lease of Church House was made by the Churchwardens to Joh Hudden junior (Berks RO D/P71/6/1) of "a messuage called Church House on the est side of High Street was leased to John Hudden of Hungerford mercer, for 7 years @ £6 p.a.. In addition a consideration of £34 was paid for the lease. The lease is signed by John Hudden and was assigned to him on 8 April 1699 (Berks RO D/P71/6/1). The rent is the same as that paid by the lessor's mother in 1677 and as she pays quit rent for the Church House in 1676 immediately after her husband's death it is a reasonable assumption that they had previously lived at Church House. The apparent discrepancy in dated between John Hudden's death and his widow's name appearing on the quit rent roll may be explained if, for example, the quit rent roll meant to refer from Michelmas 1676 to Michelmas 1677. John Hudden died in 1720, and his widow and family may have moved from the town at some date thereafter. When the quit rent rolls resume in 1753 the quit rent was listed as payable by Edward Popham esq of Littlecote. This Edward Popham became M.P. for Wiltshire. He married John Hudden's daughter Rebecca at St. Paul's Cathedral in 1730, so presumably he acquired lease of the property as a result of his marriage to Rebecca. A portrait of Rebecca is said to remain at Littlecote House, ancestral home of the Popham family. In 1774 the property is ascribed to the Churchwardens, so presumably any earlier Popham lease had by then expired. (In fact, Edward Popham died 1772). For further details re John Hudden I and II, see my notes on the Wiltshire Family of Hudden in Hungerford. D/P71/6/2 dated 2 August 1754, however, is a 21 year lease by the Churchwardens to Edward Lucas of Hungerford mercer of the property then occupied by Lucas, determinable at the end of 7 or 14 years on 6 months' notice. A Royal Exchange Insurance policy of April 1786 was taken by the Churchwardens on 2 tenements in one building, brick and tiled, tenanted by William Watts and Richard Fullbrook. These homes, Watts and Fullbrook, appear on the 1781 CL (items 101 and 102) (together with Matthew Bance deleted) at the Town Hall site. 1777 CL has Fullbrook and Bance. NB The history of the lettings of this property may best be obtained from entries in the Church Vestry Book and/or Constables Accounts. See also: Updated: 23.8.2011 |