File:Shire Hall Gallery - Market Street, Stafford (33307384125).jpg

From one corner of the Market Square, along Market Street towards Eastgate Street in Stafford.

Side view of the <a href="https://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/leisure/museumandgalleries/shirehallgalleries/home.aspx" rel="noreferrer nofollow">Shire Hall Gallery</a>.

The Shire Hall Gallery is housed in the Grade 2* listed building which is situated in the heart of Stafford's town centre. The Gallery is located in the Great Hall and consists of a large, temporary exhibition space, a Crafts Council selected Craft Shop and an historic Courtroom.

Shire Hall is a Grade II* listed building

<a href="http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-384014-shire-hall-and-attached-railings-gates-a#.WL6XLX9FaGw" rel="noreferrer nofollow">Shire Hall and Attached Railings, Gates and Lamp Standards, Stafford</a>

   STAFFORD

   SJ9223SW MARKET SQUARE
   590-1/10/68 (East side)
   16/01/51 Shire Hall and attached railings,
   gates and lamp standards
   (Formerly Listed as:
   MARKET SQUARE
   Shire Hall)
   (Formerly Listed as:
   MARKET SQUARE
   Railings, gates and lamp standards
   of Shire Hall)

   GV II*

   County court house. 1795-8, extended 1854. By John Harvey, a
   pupil of Samuel Wyatt, who may have contributed to the design.
   Neo-classical style.
   MATERIALS: ashlar with hipped slate roof; brick rear wings.
   PLAN: double-depth.
   EXTERIOR: 2 storeys; symmetrical 9-window range; ground floor
   breaks forward under 3-window centre with applied tetrastyle
   Doric portico with Ionic entablature. Ground floor is
   rusticated; 1st floor sill band; top frieze, cornice and
   blocking course. Round-headed entrance in recess with similar
   flanking recesses has C20 paired doors. 1st floor has windows
   with 6/9-pane sashes, those flanking centre with wrought-iron
   window box supports, and alternately rectangular and round
   panels above. Pediment has clock with flanking relief figures.
   Right return has similar details; a 3-window range; ground
   floor has 3 round-headed blind windows, 2 with fanlights, one
   to right end with inserted entrance with studded paired doors;
   1st floor has blind window with panel over flanked by
   tripartite windows in round-headed recesses with 12:24:12-pane
   sashes, cornices and round panels to tympana.
   Left return similar, 4-window range; with 3rd tripartite sash
   to left end; 2 windows have 2:4:2-pane horned tripartite
   sashes. Rear wing to left has ashlar dressings; windows have
   wedge lintels over varied sashes; short elliptical arcade and
   left end carriage entrance.
   INTERIOR: double-height Shire Hall is full width of facade;
   top entablature with bucrania and festoons, and segmental
   barrel vault; side has segmental-headed entrance with similar
   flanking recesses with cast-iron railings and central gate.
   Canted recess above has Ionic colonnade with 2 pairs of
   columns and single columns to ends and balustrade, paired
   doors with large fanlight to rear; similar end recesses with
   tetrastyle colonnades. Ceiling has guilloche bands and 3
   rosettes, formerly with chandeliers. Stair to rear is probably
   C19, with turned balusters and C19 screen with stained glass
   panels.
   Court No.1 to left has canted ends and entablature with swags
   and coved ceiling with large rose; contemporary panelling and
   fittings including jury box, public gallery, and prisoner's
   box with spiked railings; end wall has hipped canopy with
   central bowed projection over judge's chair, with Royal arms
   above; right wall has memorial to Sir TN Talfourd, d 1854
   while addressing grand jury, in form of pedimented panel with
   bust in niche. Court No.2 has mostly C18 fittings with flush
   panels; C20 suspended ceiling; fluted elliptical canopy above
   judge's seat. Some original cells remain to basement.
   SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: centre of building has cast-iron
   railings, with spear finials and 4 wreathed panels with lamp
   standards, and gates; railings originally extended along the
   whole facade.
   One of the finest public buildings in Stafford.
   The railings, gates and lamp standards were listed on
   17.12.71.
   (Buildings of England: Pevsner N and Nairn J: Staffordshire:
   London: 1974-: 243; Victoria County History of Staffordshire:
   Greenslade MW: A History of Stafford: London: 1979-: 202).

   Listing NGR: SJ9223123306

This text is a legacy record and has not been updated since the building was originally listed. Details of the building may have changed in the intervening time. You should not rely on this listing as an accurate description of the building.

Source: English Heritage