Bridgnorth New Market Hall on Postern Gate

Description

The New Market Hall
Grade II listed building
Listley Street, Bridgnorth, Shropshire WV16 4DW

Built in 1855/56 and designed by a local man, Robert Griffiths of Quatford. He also designed a similar but much larger market hall for Shrewsbury in the 1860’s, which unfortunately has been demolished.

Built by a market company then leased by the local board of health (1860) but never used as a market because local traders won a perpetual injunction disallowing any interference of trade rights of the High Street merchants.

An Italianate style, which is very unusual for this country, with a campanile more reminiscent of Florence than an English market town.

Date Listed: 16 April 1987
Dated 1856 on weathervane, in a polychromatic Venetian-Gothic style. Dark blue brick with yellow, red and blue brick dressings. Slate roofs with lead roof to corner tower. Corner position with facades to north and east and corner tower on projecting pavilion at north-east corner. Two storeys with three more in tower. Arcaded ground-floors with blue and yellow brick banding to pilasters of 6-bay arcade to north and similar arcade of two bays flanking on each side a wide doorway with a mid C20 shop-fascia over. Pavilion corner carrying tower articulated by horizontal rustication in yellow brick
with single yellow and black brick arches to north and east. Moulded impost-band carries through along full north and east sides as imposts to arches. Moulded dentilled cornice-band over ground-floor. Similar arcades to first floor although arches in pavilion below tower are not set in horizontal rustication but are entirely similar to other arches, though set between wide pilaster-quoins which demarcate the projections of the pavilion.

Round-windows with yellow brick dressings and cogged intradoses. Heavy overhanging cornice with dentilled frieze carried on arcaded corbel-table. Low pitched hipped roofs with various stacks. Tower on north-east corner with triple-arcaded openings to north and east on first stage separated from round windows above by dentilled cornice-bands and top-stage with five arched openings surrounded by raised arcades on brackets to form corbel-table to heavy dentilled cornice; low-pitched pyramidal roof & weather-vane dated 1856. 5-bay addition in similar style to west with first floor set back. Interior: ground-floor contains former Market Hall of 7 bays with cast-iron columns and angle brackets carrying flitch beams. Assembly room on first floor with coved ceiling, moulded
door and window surrounds and two fire-places on the flank wall.