Kidwelly Town Hall

Cadw's description

Location

Situated in centre of Kidwelly on corner of Lady Street and Causeway Street.

History

Town Hall of 1877-8, designed by T.W.A. Evans (1841-97) architect and Mayor of Kidwelly, who gave his services free. The lower floor was a covered market, the upper floor the Guildhall, and the building also contained police cells and a reading room.

Exterior

Squared rock-faced rubble stone with Bath stone dressings and slate roof. Gothic, in heavy plate-traceried style. Two-storey, four-window main range, gable-fronted to Lady Street with three-storey entrance tower to left. Coped shouldered N gable with very large first floor Gothic feature, a triplet of long 2-light timber windows with pointed ashlar-panelled heads, under a big ashlar flush arch with plate-traceried roundel and two double flush bands set in rock-faced stonework. Between floors is a double band with plaque between, and ground floor has three large pointed windows with linked hoodmoulds and C20 glazing. Deeply splayed sills. Double flush ashlar bands at sill and impost levels. Bands carried around Causeway Street side which has 4 large square upper windows (boarded over 1996) and 4 ground floor openings one pointed to left, then to right grouped round arch, pointed arch, round arch. Chamfered surrounds and hoodmoulds, C20 window glazing, but second pointed arch was a door. Tower to NE is set back and canted back from line of main gable. Severe square block with double band over ground floor, sill band to second floor and ashlar Gothic-panelled parapet. Ground floor pointed arched doorway with hoodmould, first floor triple window, and second floor paired window, all with pointed ashlar-panelled heads with roundels. Some flush ashlar banding. Plaque in double band 'Anno Domini 1877'. Plain S end wall with red brick stack. E side is obscured behind tower, outshut roof. On E roof slope are two haf-hipped vents with timber quatrefoil tracery.

Interior

Interior not inspected.

Reason for designation

Listed as the central feature of the modern town of Kidwelly.