Town Hall (Alexander Memorial Hall)

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A two storey ashlar sandstone faced pedimented neo classical building three bays wide with asymmetrically placed entrance door. It is a piece of facade architecture with smooth rendered side and rear walls. The building’s depth is very much greater than its width to main street. The main facade maintains the building line of Main Street and is essential to the integrity of the street frontage.

The pedimented front is lofty and though only two storeys to Main Street is as high as adjoining three storey buildings. The ground floor to the street consists of three round headed openings, two windows and one door. The centre portion breaks forward slightly and has short flanking pilasters with large scrolled corbels above supporting a semi-circular projecting balcony with open balustrading thus making an imposing feature of the ground floor central window. The ground floor masonry begins with a plain grey granite plinth with smooth sandstone ashlar to horizontal moulded string cum cill course. Above this line the ashlar becomes rusticated with deep cut horizontal joints which follow the joints in the voissoirs of the arched openings. Above the rustication there is a band or frieze of vertical fluting interspersed with circular motifs with horizontal mouldings top and bottom. The ashlar of the first floor is all smooth with moulded string course at cill level.

The three tall windows expressing the main hall behind are decorated with moulding architraves and thin cornices while the centre one has the addition of two small scrolls. Below the pediment a frieze of motifs with moulded panels. The pediment is crisply defined with neat cornice and in the tympanum a moulded oculus which in the past had louvres to ventilate the roof space. Above the central window a canted clock with two faces most likely added at a later date.

The sandstone facade is returned approximately a metre on each side and treated similarly to it. The top is finished with a segmental flourish. The remainder of the building is finished in smooth unpainted cement rendering with doors inserted here and there. On the southern side there is an arcade of three semi-circular headed windows which light the main hall. At the rear of the building work of renovation has been carried out in the past with modern windows inserted. A pitched slated roof covers the area of the main hall and beyond is a flat roof over the three storey portion.

Historical information

The building works began in 1863 and were completed in 1865.Architects were Turner and Williamson. The builder was Samuel Mercer for a tender figure of £1,800 which rose to £2,000. After later modifications the structure was renamed the Alexander Memorial Hall.

Reference:Primary Sources:
OS Map ' Town of Limavady' (1895) PRONI:Val 2D/5/4 & 293/4/261
OS Map ' Town of Limavady' (1907) PRONI:058/120/2/3

Secondary Sources
TH Mullan, 'Limavady and the Roe Valley' Limavady Council 1983

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

The elevation to Main Street is of streetscape importance but the remainder of the building is of little architectural merit. The rear (North) end is an addition built in the 1960s. Interior is plain and much altered.

Structural problems identified in the roof and first floor necessitating their replacement resulted in Listed Building Consent for demolition being given in early 1998.

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