Gosforth Council Offices
| Gosforth Council Offices | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) The building in 2024 | |
| Location | High Street, Gosforth |
| Coordinates | 55°00′27″N 1°37′10″W / 55.0076°N 1.6195°W |
| Built | 1895 |
| Architectural style(s) | Neoclassical style |
  Shown in Tyne and Wear | |
Gosforth Council Offices is a former municipal building in the High Street in Gosforth, Tyne and Wear in England. The building, which served as the offices of Gosforth Urban District Council, is now in commercial use.
History
[edit]Following significant population growth, largely associated with its status as a residential suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne,[1] a local board was established in Gosforth in 1872.[2] In anticipation of the local board being succeeded by Gosforth Urban District Council in 1894,[3] civic leaders decided to commission council offices for meetings of the new council. The site they selected was open land on the east side of Gosforth High Street.[4]
Construction of new building started in 1894.[5] The building was designed in the neoclassical style, built in rubble masonry with ashlar stone dressings and was completed in 1895.[6] The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage of four bays facing onto the High Street. The first bay on the left, which was single storey, was fenestrated with a pair of sash windows, while the second bay contained two sash windows on the ground floor, a prominent oriel window on the first floor, and a lancet window in the gable above. The third bay featured a doorway flanked by pilasters and brackets supporting an entablature and a segmental pediment containing a date stone. The fourth bay was fenestrated by pairs of sash windows on both floors. Internally, the principal room was the council chamber.[7]
In the early 20th century, a single storey fire station was erected behind the council offices. The fire brigade was equipped with a horse-drawn fire engine from 1905 and with a motorised fire engine from 1912.[8] The fire station was later augmented by a second storey, and an arched carriageway entrance was built between the council offices and the properties to the south, so as to maintain vehicle access for fire engines to their garaging behind.[9][10] A memorial, in the form of a brass plaque intended to commemorate the lives of former employees of the council who had died in the First World War, was unveiled by the chairman of the council, Councillor Thomas Nixon Arkle, in October 1921.[11][12]
The building continued to serve as the offices of Gosforth Urban District Council for much of the 20th century,[13] but ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged Newcastle City Council was formed in 1974.[14] It continued to serve as the local offices of the housing department of the city council until 2015,[15] when, with the fire station, it was deemed surpus to requirements and was sold for commercial use.[16][17]
References
[edit]- ^ "Gosforth Conservation Area Character Statement". Newcastle City Council. 26 April 2002. p. 12. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
- ^ "Gosforth History". Gosforth Life. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
- ^ "Gosforth UD". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
- ^ "Ordnance Survey Map". 1900. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
- ^ Date stone above the main doorway.
- ^ "High Street Gosforth". Newcastle Libraries. 1895. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
The Gosforth UDC offices which are under construction
- ^ The Sanitary Record: A Weekly Journal of Public Health. Vol. 19. Sanitary Publishing Company. 26 February 1897. p. 185. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
- ^ "Gosforth Fire Brigade". Picture Stockton Archive. 1908. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
- ^ "Old Gosforth Fire Station". Discovering Heritage. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
- ^ "Gosforth Council Offices, Gosforth". Newcastle Libraries. 1 September 1965. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
- ^ "Gosforth Urban District Council Staff – World War 1". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
- ^ "Plaque 1914–1918 Urban District Council". North East War Memorials Project. Archived from the original on 19 March 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
- ^ "No. 45971". The London Gazette. 8 May 1973. p. 5740.
- ^ Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c.70. The Stationery Office Ltd. 1997. ISBN 0-10-547072-4.
- ^ "Gosforth High Street". Gosforth Life. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
- ^ "Gosforth fire station to go under the hammer as Newcastle City Council sell off assets". Chronicle Live. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
- ^ "Old Fire Station in Gosforth to be transformed into new charity café". Chronicle Live. 16 August 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2024.