History

Designed by Henry Harris of Cardiff in a Queen Anne style and built in 1881 to provide a covered market and assembly rooms for the growing community of Maesteg. The front, which was originally bowed and approach by a wide flight of steps, was remodelled by S J Harper in an austere classical style in 1913-4.

Exterior

The original building was built of stone with red Ruabon brick detail, and was elevated to provide a covered market under, and to compensate for being at the low end of the 'square'. The 1914 frontage is of similar materials, rock-faced rubble, with the plinth dressed with channel rusticated limestone. Slate roofs. Four storeys, symmetrical, 5 window bays, the centre three set forward of the 2 narrower end bays, and side wings sloping sharply back to follow the line of Talbot Street and Church Street either side. The main front has a central wide arched entrance leading down steps to the sunken covered market. Above, the elevation is articulated by red brick pilasters rising to a plain entablature above the second floor, and an attic (4th) floor above, the centre with a further entablature inscribed NEUADD Y DREF. Round-headed windows flank the market entrance, tall 12-pane corniced sash windows to the piano nobile above, the centre with a triangular pediment, and architraved windows to the 2nd floor. The steeply pitched roof between coped gables carries a central clock tower of 3 stages which provides a notable landmark in the valley. This has a classical clock stage with corner columns, a small attic stage and arched belfry, terminating in a lead dome and finial. To the left of the market hall entrance a foundation stone laid by C R M Talbot, MP, Lord Lieutenant for Glamorganshire on October 31st 1881. At the rear of the side wings, twin segmentally pedimented doors at the head of a flight of 27 steps each side provide access through a flat roofed structure to the main assembly hall. The side elevations, remaining from 1881, have four very tall pedimented windows with shaped aprons each side, the glazing pattern now altered. A wider block at the rear is of 2 storeys, stone with harsh red brick quoins, bands and dentilled cornice, and a red terracotta cross window to the upper floor, designed in with a door with 4-light overlight. This structure extends across the rear of the building.

Interior

The interior consists of offices in the front block, and a large assembly hall with a proscenium arch; an entablature on twin columns, and a curved balcony at the rear.

Reasons for Listing

Included as a well designed and imposing civic building which provides a focal point for the Llynfi valley; one of a group of listed buildings at the centre of Maesteg.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Town Hall at Wikipedia
• Town Hall official website
• Wikidata Q29495984

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

• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)