Description

TA 3008 NE CLEETHORPES CAMBRIDGE STREET
(north side)

8/8 Council House
17/9/80

GV II

Council Offices. 1903-04 by Herbert C Scaping of Grimsby, architect,
Egbert Rushton, engineer and surveyor, and Henry Marrows, builder, for
Cleethorpes and Thrunscoe Urban District Council. Council chamber
refurbished 1936; general restorations and internal alterations to east
wing in 1987-8. Red brick in English Garden Wall bond with ashlar
dressings. Green slate roof to front, Welsh slate roofs to rear.
Wooden cupola with lead-covered dome. Edwardian Baroque style.
L-shaped on plan: main central block 3 rooms deep with 2-room, central
entrance-hall front, flanked by recessed wing to left and longer wing
set back to rear right. Main block of 2 storeys with basement, 2 : 1 :
2 bays, with recessed lower 2-storey wings, the left wing of two
stepped-back single-bay sections, and the right wing with a single bay
to front and 8 irregular bays to right return. Continuous deep plinth
with moulded ashlar capping, moulded stringcourses and ashlar banding
throughout. Entrance has flight of 7 stone steps to projecting
single-storey enclosed ashlar porch with banded rustication,
round-arched concave-moulded doorway with triple keystone and impost
band, moulded cornice and balustraded parapet. Porch supports a pair of
ashlar Roman Ionic columns, rising full height of first floor, with husk
festoons hanging from capitals, and dosserets with egg-and-dart cornice
carrying a deep modillioned broken pediment with panelled soffit.
Baroque cartouche in tympanum with carved head and fronds, inscribed
"1904". Ground floor: moulded sill stringcourse, 12-pane sashes in
segmental-headed ashlar architraves with double keys and flush lintels
rising to moulded first-floor stringcourse. First floor: similar sashes
in square-headed architraves with tall double keys, linked by 4 flush
ashlar bands. Deep Ionic modillioned eaves cornice flanking central
pediment; blocking course. Coped gables. End stacks with flush ashlar
bands and moulded cornices. Central cupola: tapered square base with
moulded cornice carrying lantern/bell turret with louvred openings,
pilasters with scrolled feet, moulded cornice and ribbed dome with
flagpole finial. Similar decorative details and fenestration to gable
ends of main block and wings, the gable ends wih single windows to each
floor and a flush band across the gable, the wings with first-floor
windows in architraves without keystones, linked by a flush lintel band
with modillioned cornice and balustraded parapet, low-pitched hipped.
roofs and banded stacks. Interior. Porch has ashlar memorial tablet
with egg-and-dart border, draped urns and crest above, and inscription
with names of architect, builder etc, dated 3rd December 1903; internal
entrance with part-glazed panelled double doors in oak surround with
architrave, Ionic pilasters, pulvinated frieze, egg-and-dart cornice and
segmental pediment. Entrance hall: black and white diagonal-patterned
marble floor, tripartite arcade to stairhall with round arches on squat
scagliola Tuscan columns. Imperial staircase of cantilever ashlar steps
with ornate cast-iron balustrade of bold Arts and Crafts foliate design.
Venetian stairwindow with Ionic pilasters and archivolt with
"Gibbs"-type voussoirs, containing stained glass with coats of arms;
moulded cornice to stairhall ceiling with large domed rooflight with
ornate glazing bars. Moulded cornices, round-arched openings to hall
and corridors on both floors with moulded capitals, archivolts and
panelled soffits. Council chamber, to first-floor front, has plaster
modillioned ceiling cornice with pediment, segmental-vaulted plaster
ceiling with moulded ribs bearing fruit and foliage; ornate oak
fittings, (incorporating panelling dated 1936 on brass plaque), include
canopied dias and door surrounds with pulvinated friezes, modillioned
cornices and pediments, panelled dado with dentilled rail.
Commemorative plaque in entrance lobby records the Kingsway improvement
of 1901-6 with arms in relief and engraved plans of seafront.
Undergoing renovation at time of resurvey.

Listing NGR: TA3076008596

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Council House at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q26397518

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

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  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
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  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper