Papers relating to the building of the nineteenth-century Guildhall extensions
Reference Number
BC/6/9/1/2
Level of Description
Sub-section
Title
Papers relating to the building of the nineteenth-century Guildhall extensions
Date
1859-1923
Extent
Extent: 3 boxes
Description
A large collection of reports, plans, proposals, letters, sketches, contracts, and leases relating to the building and furnishing of the 1893 Guildhall extension. The collection includes a number of documents, plans and leases relating to the compulsory purchase of properties in Bridge Street and Orange Grove and the stopping up of Boatstall Lane. Reports by the Mayor Jerom Murch, the Architect William Young and the Municipal Buildings Committee provide a detailed overview of the building of the Guildhall extension and outline the competition to find an architect as well as recording the amendments to, and costs of, the building of the extension. The collection includes John McKean Brydon's winning entry to find an architect for the extension, and the entry by Bath Architect, Thomas Ball Silcock, which was placed third. The contracts for the builders Hayward & Wooster, the plumber Henry Charles Stock and the furniture designer Thomas Knight and Sons are included, together with a number of sketches and designs by Knight. Enquiries about the job of Quantity Surveyor and Surveyor of Works from Alfred Amor, Franklin & Andrews and Frederick Feltham are also included. There are also a number of documents relating to the financing of the building, including memorials and posters. There are also letters from Brydon to Jerom Murch and the Town Clerk, John Stone. Other papers relate to proposals for a new cooking apparatus in the Guildhall kitchen, property bequeathed to the Guildhall, the purchase of Turkish carpets from Cardinal and Harford's for various rooms in the Guildhall, a signed request from Charles Earle Kempe for payment for the stained glass work, and charges for the hiring out of rooms in the Guildhall.
