County hall
A county hall or shire hall is a common name given to a building that houses the seat of local government for a county.
The location of the county hall has usually denoted the county town.
In the case of Surrey, England, when county boundaries changed the county hall remained in Kingston upon Thames.[1] County halls usually contain a council chamber, committee rooms and offices.[2]
List of county and shire halls[]
United Kingdom[]
England[]
County halls in England, with the ceremonial county they served, include:[a]
Name | Town or city | County | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
Avon House | Bristol | Avon | [3] |
County Hall | Bedford | Bedfordshire | [4] |
Shire Hall | Reading | Berkshire | [5] |
County Hall | Aylesbury | Buckinghamshire | [6] |
Shire Hall | Cambridge | Cambridgeshire | [7] |
County Hall | Chester | Cheshire | [8] |
Municipal Buildings | Middlesbrough | Cleveland | [9] |
County Hall | Truro | Cornwall | [10] |
Cumbria House | Carlisle | Cumbria | [11] |
County Hall | Matlock | Derbyshire | [12] |
County Hall | Exeter | Devon | [13] |
County Hall | Dorchester | Dorset | [14] |
County Hall | Durham | County Durham | [15] |
County Hall | Lewes | East Sussex | [16] |
County Hall | Beverley | East Riding of Yorkshire | [17] |
County Hall | Chelmsford | Essex | [18] |
Shire Hall | Gloucester | Gloucestershire | [19] |
City Hall | London | Greater London | [20] |
County Hall | Manchester | Greater Manchester | [21] |
Castle Hill | Winchester | Hampshire | [22] |
Shirehall | Hereford | Herefordshire | [23] |
County Hall | Hertford | Hertfordshire | [24] |
County Hall | Newport | Isle of Wight | [25] |
County Hall | Maidstone | Kent | [26] |
County Hall | Preston | Lancashire | [27] |
County Hall | Glenfield | Leicestershire | [28] |
County Offices | Lincoln | Lincolnshire | [29] |
The Guildhall | Westminster | Middlesex | [30] |
Metropolitan House | Liverpool | Merseyside | [31] |
County Hall | Norwich | Norfolk | [32] |
County Hall | Northampton | Northamptonshire | [33] |
County Hall | Morpeth | Northumberland | [34] |
County Hall | Northallerton | North Yorkshire | [35] |
County Hall | Nottingham | Nottinghamshire | [36] |
County Hall | Oxford | Oxfordshire | [37] |
Catmose House | Oakham | Rutland | [38] |
Shirehall | Shrewsbury | Shropshire | [39] |
County Hall | Taunton | Somerset | [40] |
County Hall | Barnsley | South Yorkshire | [41] |
County Buildings | Stafford | Staffordshire | [42] |
Endeavour House | Ipswich | Suffolk | [43] |
County Hall | Kingston upon Thames | Surrey | [44] |
Sandyford House | Newcastle upon Tyne | Tyne and Wear | [45] |
Shire Hall | Warwick | Warwickshire | [46] |
County Hall | Birmingham | West Midlands | [47] |
County Hall | Chichester | West Sussex | [48] |
County Hall | Wakefield | West Yorkshire | [49] |
County Hall | Trowbridge | Wiltshire | [50] |
County Hall | Worcester | Worcestershire | [51] |
Scotland[]
County halls ceased to have a role in Scotland in 1975, when a system of large regional councils was introduced.[52] Former county halls in Scotland, with the county they served, include:[b]
Name | Town or city | County | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
22 Union Terrace | Aberdeen | Aberdeenshire | [53] |
County Buildings | Forfar | Angus | [54] |
County Clerk's Offices | Lochgilphead | Argyll | [55] |
County Buildings | Ayr | Ayrshire | [56] |
Sheriff Court and County Hall | Banff | Banffshire | [57] |
County Offices | Duns | Berwickshire | [58] |
County Buildings | Rothesay | Buteshire | [59] |
County Offices | Wick | Caithness | [60] |
County and Police Buildings | Alloa | Clackmannanshire | [61] |
County Buildings | Dumfries | Dumfriesshire | [62] |
County Buildings | Dumbarton | Dunbartonshire | [63] |
County Buildings | Haddington | East Lothian | [64] |
County Buildings | Cupar | Fife | [65] |
County Buildings | Inverness | Inverness-shire | [66] |
Kinnear House | Stonehaven | Kincardineshire | [67] |
County Buildings | Kinross | Kinross-shire | [68] |
County Buildings | Kirkcudbright | Kirkcudbrightshire | [69] |
191 Ingram Street | Glasgow | Lanarkshire | [70] |
County Buildings | Edinburgh | Midlothian | [71] |
County Buildings | Elgin | Morayshire | [72] |
Combined with Morayshire 1930 | Nairn | Nairnshire | [73] |
County Offices | Kirkwall | Orkney | [74] |
County Buildings | Peebles | Peeblesshire | [75] |
County Offices | Perth | Perthshire | [76] |
County Building | Paisley | Renfrewshire | [77] |
County Buildings | Dingwall | Ross and Cromarty | [78] |
County Offices | Newtown St Boswells | Roxburghshire | [79] |
Bank of Scotland Buildings | Selkirk | Selkirkshire | [80] |
County Buildings | Stirling | Stirlingshire | [81] |
Drummuie | Golspie | Sutherland | [82] |
County Buildings | Linlithgow | West Lothian | [83] |
County Offices | Stranraer | Wigtownshire | [84] |
County Offices | Lerwick | Zetland | [85] |
Northern Ireland[]
County halls ceased to have a role in Northern Ireland in 1973, when a system of local government districts was introduced.[86] Former county halls in Northern Ireland, with the county they served, include:[c]
Name | Town or city | County | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
County Hall | Ballymena | County Antrim | [87] |
Charlemont Place | Armagh | County Armagh | [88] |
Downpatrick Courthouse | Downpatrick | County Down | [89] |
County Buildings | Enniskillen | County Fermanagh | [90] |
County Hall | Coleraine | County Londonderry | [91] |
County Hall | Omagh | County Tyrone | [92] |
Wales[]
County halls in Wales, with the preserved county they served, include:[d]
Name | Town or city | County | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
County Hall | Mold | Clwyd | [93] |
County Hall | Carmarthen | Dyfed | [94] |
County Hall | Cwmbran | Gwent | [95] |
Council Offices | Caernarfon | Gwynedd | [96] |
County Hall | Cardiff (Cathays Park) | Mid Glamorgan | [97] |
County Hall | Llandrindod Wells | Powys | [98] |
County Hall | Cardiff (Butetown) | South Glamorgan | [99] |
County Hall | Swansea | West Glamorgan | [100] |
Republic of Ireland[]
County halls in the Republic of Ireland, with the county they serve, include:
See also[]
- Seat of local government
- Old County Hall, Truro
- Old Shirehall, Shrewsbury
- Old Shire Hall, Durham
Notes[]
- ^ Some of the English county councils have been abolished to make way for unitary authorities and the respective county halls have either been transferred to successor authorities or have been the subject of change of use
- ^ All of the Scottish county councils have been abolished to make way for regional authorities and subsequently unitary authorities and the respective county halls have either been transferred to successor authorities or have been the subject of change of use
- ^ All of the Northern Irish county councils have been abolished to make way for local government districts and the respective county halls have either been transferred to successor authorities or have been the subject of change of use
- ^ Some of the Welsh county councils have been abolished to make way for unitary authorities and the respective county halls have either been transferred to successor authorities or have been the subject of change of use
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