Description

TQ 1096 NE WATFORD RICKMANSWORTH ROAD
(west side)

7/10003 Watford Town Hall

GV II

Town Hall. Designed 1935, built 1937-39 by Charles Cowles-Voysey, assisted by John Brandon-
Jones and Robert Ashton. Cowles-Voysey was the master planner, and John Brandon-Jones did
much of the detailed design work. Reinforced concrete frame clad in hand-made bricks, tiled
roofs. Radial plan on comer site, with main entrance in central concave facade, originally fronting
roundabout, from which stretch wings to either side (the longer, to Rickmansworth Road, with
assembly hall at end reached via separate entrance) and council chamber in angle to rear. First floor
committee rooms, principal offices and mayoral suite over the entrance. Three storeys. Principal
concave elevation of seven bays with central double doors reached up steps under lantern
clocktower. All windows casements, those to first floor of full height opening on to balcony. 17-
bay recessed side return to pedestrian precinct, 13-bay range to Rickmansworth Road culminates
in projecting three-bay assembly room with its own entrance comprising three pairs of glazed
double doors under canopy. Cut-brick panels over first floor full-length casements in moulded
brick surrounds. The principal rooms of the interior are highly decorative, inventive, and survive
remarkably completely. Staircase hall panelled in stone, with Imperial stair rising between square
column. Bronze balustrade incorporating stylised female figures. At top of stairs a curved corridor
reflects the form of the facade, and double doors lead to three curved committee rooms, with
folding screens so they can be thrown into one. These rooms fully panelled in contrasting veneers,
with Soanic plaster cornices, original light fittings and clocks. Members room and mayor's parlour
to either side finished in the same manner, with raised and fielded panelling over curved wooden
fireplaces and simpler cornices. To rear of this suite is the double-height council chamber, with
original fixed seating arranged on steps in three main circles. The council chamber is remarkable
for the survival of its original woven acoustic panels, set between bands of hardwood veneer, and
with deeply trabeated ceiling also as an acoustic aid. To rear of raised mayoral bench a tapestry
panel bearing the borough arms by Anne Brandon-Jones. Original light fittings and eight panelled
doors. The assembly hall has its own foyer, with coved ceiling. Assembly hall likewise in more
streamlined style with full working stage behind proscenium arch, flat sprung floor and balcony,
this last with curved front under which original light fittings remain. Coved ceiling. Buffet to left
with columns and more traditional mouldings.
Included as an unusually rich and complete surviving town hall of the later 1930s, showing that
the classical style could still be inventive in the service of civic dignity. The building compares well
with other town halls by this distinguished practice, who specialised in the genre.
Sources: Architects' Journal, 30 November 1939.

Listing NGR: TQ1054096796

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Watford Town Hall at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q26543004

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

• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)