Chipping Sodbury Town Hall

The original building on the site was a guildhall which dated back to the 15th century.^[2][3] Following the dissolution of the chantries in 1547 and a brief subsequent period of private ownership, the site was acquired by the town and restored.^[4] It was then re-fronted in 1738^[5] and re-modelled with a new façade, designed in the Perpendicular Gothic style and built in rubble masonry with ashlar stone dressings, in 1858.^[4]

The design of the new façade involved a symmetrical main frontage with three bays facing onto Broad Street; it featured an arched doorway with a hood mould flanked by two-light mullioned windows on the ground floor, a six-light mullioned window on the first floor and a gable above. The gable contained an ogee-shaped panel with a crest and was surmounted by a pinnacle.^[1] Internally, the principal room was the main hall which was the meeting place of the bailiff and the burgesses.^[6] The building contained a large chest, made of oak with iron straps, which was known as the parish coffer and was used for storage of valuable documents: it also dated back to the 15th century.^[7][8]

The borough council, which had not met for many years, was formally abolished under the Municipal Corporations Act 1883.^[9] In 1894, on the formation of Chipping Sodbury Rural District Council,^[10] the bailiff and burgesses resisted transfer of the town hall to the new council and it passed instead, on the instructions of the Charity Commissioners, to the Town Lands Charity.^[11] Following local government re-organisation in 1974, the building became the meeting place of the newly formed Sodbury Town Council.^[12] After an extensive programme of refurbishment works, which included a new stage in the main hall and new catering facilities, the building re-opened in 1981.^[4]

The building continued to be used as an events venue and performers in the 21st century included the singer, Jacqui Dankworth, who gave a concert in the town hall in October 2016,^[13] the Chipping Sodbury Music Society who performed a 70th anniversary concert in December 2017^[14] and the boxer, Frank Bruno, who gave a talk there in January 2018.^[15]