Beeston Town Hall was completed in 1938 for the then Beeston and Stapleford Urban District Council, one of a significant number of new local authorities which resulted from municipal reform in 1894. The subsequent proliferation of new municipal buildings included some exceptional inter-war examples such as Hornsey Town Hall (1933-1935, listed Grade II*). Beeston Town Hall is a more modest example of inter-war municipal ambition, with utility and economy as significant factors in determining its form and architectural character. Externally, its entrance bay makes the strongest architectural statement, whilst internally, the main staircase and the original council chamber are its most notable features. However, whilst the building was clearly a significant and prominent addition to Beeston's town centre, and remains an important and well maintained local presence to the present day, it is of modest architectural quality for a building of its type and date and lacks the special interest of examples of inter-war municipal architecture, such as those cited above.
Beeston Town Hall, completed in 1938 to the designs of architects Evans, Clarke and Wollatt for the then Beeston and Stapleford Urban District Council, is not recommended for listing. The design of the building is of modest compositional quality, its exterior form largely reliant upon well-established neo-Georgian detailing, with only minimal referencing of contemporary architectural influences. With the exception of the principal staircase and the original council chamber, the building's interior lacks the high-quality detailing and level of internal decoration and embellishment expressive of civic pride and achievement, which distinguish the best examples of the building type.
The building forms part of a group of inter-war buildings which form the civic core of Beeston, and has been incrementally alterred inernally as a consequence of the ongoing use of the building as a local authority facility.
Materials: Red brick with painted stone dressings and a hipped roof with a slate roof covering.
Plan: The original building is square on plan but has been extended to the rear, resulting in its present rectangular footprint.
Exterior: The building is aligned north-east to south-west, with its principal north-east elevation facing Foster Avenue. The front elevation is a symmetrical seven-bay composition, of two storeys, with a central entrance bay, the double doorway of which is set below a wide balcony carried on giant consoles. The balcony parapet is decorated with shallow Art Deco-style zig-zag patterning. To the rear of the balcony is a full-height arch-headed glazed opening, the arch head extending into a deep cornice. Above the cornice is a shallow open pediment. There is a squat tiered metal-clad bell tower to the centre of the roof above the entrace bay. Each side of the entrace at ground level are three, eight over twelve pane sash windows, the heads of the openings enclosed within a deep storey band. At first floor level, there are two sash windows to each side of the balcony, set within shallow recessed panels. Between each pair of windows is a representation of the Borough Council's coat of arms, executed in moulded brick.
Interior: The entrance foyer opens on to a Dec-influenced imperial staircase with a half landing, to the rear of which is a tall, stilted arch-headed window incorporating the Borough Council coat of arms executed in stained glass. The staircase gives access to an upper floor balcony passage leading to offices and the original council chamber (referred to as 'the old council chamber'). The chamber has wall panelling and entrance vestibules each with two sets of double doors, the doors each with three raised octagonal panels. The ceiling to the council chamber is made up of deeply-coffered and stepped panels. Other parts of the building are more plainly detailed. (1)

Data Held (Document). SNT2647.

Parish File

<1> Historic England, 2018, Beeston Town Hall Designation Advice Report (Published document). SNT4845.