Description

RIPLEY MAIN STREET
SE 2860-2960 (east side)

8/88 Town Hall and Post Office
(formerly listed separately as
15.3.66 Hotel de Ville and Post Office)

GV II

Town Hall and Post Office, 1854 for Louisa, the widow of Sir William
Amcotts Ingilby as the final building in the estate village. Coursed
squared gritstone and ashlar, grey slate roof. A tall single-storey hall 1
bay wide and 5 bays long with recessed flanking bays. In an ornate Gothic
style. Moulded plinth. The main entrance is on the north side: 5 steps up
to the central double-board doors in an elaborate battlemented porch with
angle buttresses, crocketted finials and squirrel and boar's head motifs-.
The flanking and first-floor windows are of 2 cusped lights under deep
square hoodmoulds,a narrow door into the hall-far right. Continuous first-
floor and eaves string course. Battlemented parapet, small chimney stack
far right. Rear: 5 steps up to a board door in a moulded Tudor arch; 3-
light window left; 3 windows, of 2, 1 and 2 lights above. Left return: the
stonework is rock-faced ashlar; a massive 5-light Perpendicular window is
flanked by corner turrets. Right return (to street): central gabled bay
with a 2-tier canted bay window, centre, which has cusped lights in 2 tiers
and an inscription below the crenellated parapet: 'HOTEL / DE VILLE / 1854'.
Flanking octagonal battlemented turrets and crow-stepped gable with chimney
at apex and inscription in moulded architrave with hoodmould, below an angel
holding a shield, which reads: 'THIS / TOWN HALL / was commenced by / Sir Wm
Amcotts Ingilby Bar / For the use and benefit / of the inhabitants. It was
/ completed by his widow / in Honour of his Memory'. The French name for
the town hall reflects Sir William's long association with and interest in
France and Switzerland. The building unites the architectural features of
the Castle and the Church, although the latter was not restored until 1862.
The crenellations and octagonal buttresses imitate the roofline of the
earliest parts of the Castle, while the decorated windows and the finials
are very similar to those in the church. The squirrel and boar's head above
the entrance are also on the parapet of the Orangery (qv). The interior not
inspected at resurvey.

Listing NGR: SE2848060603

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Post Office Town Hall at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q26468735

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

• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets