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{{short description|County building in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England}}{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}{{Use British English|date=April 2022}}

factoids

| completion_date = 1969| former_names = | architect = Douglas ChalkBrutalist architecture>Brutalist style}}Borough Hall, formerly County Hall, is a municipal building in Cauldwell Street, Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. It is the headquarters of Bedford Borough Council.

History

For much of the 20th century the Shire Hall in Bedford was the local facility for dispensing justice and the meeting place of Bedfordshire County Council.{{NHLE|desc=Shire Hall, Bedford|num=1114519|accessdate=31 August 2019}} After deciding the old shire hall was inadequate for their needs, county leaders chose to procure a new county headquarters: the site selected on the south bank of the River Great Ouse had previously been used as a recreation ground.WEB,weblink Ordnance Survey Map, 1960, 30 September 2020, Construction of the new building, which was undertaken by Arthur Sanders Limited of Rushden, started in 1965.WEB,weblink Bedfordshire Historic Buildings and Monuments, 14, Bedford Borough Council, 30 September 2020, The new building was designed by the Deputy County Architect, Douglas Chalk,BOOK, Bedfordshire County Council: Our County Past, Present and Future – Official Commemorative Book 120 Years 1889-2009, Bedfordshire County Council, Creative Services, Bedfordshire County Council, 2009, Bedford, 23, in the brutalist style and the design work was overseen by County Architect, John Barker. The design involved a reinforced concrete-framed structure with an asymmetrical main frontage facing Cauldwell Street which curved round on the left side down to the river; there was a canopied main entrance on the ground floor and there were exposed concrete beams above and below a continuous band of glazing on each of the six floors.WEB,weblink View of Borough Hall / County Hall, Bedford, UK. An example of 1970s Brutalist Architecture, Alamy, 30 September 2020, Construction challenges with the reinforced concreteWEB,weblink Bedford: Yesterdays News, 1966, Bedford Borough & Central Bedfordshire Virtual Library, 31 August 2019, meant that the building was not completed until November 1969.WEB,weblink Borough Hall should be historically listed, says councillor, Bedford Today, 7 April 2016,weblink 31 August 2019, 31 August 2019, WEB,weblink Bedfordshire County Council, Bedfordshire Archives, 30 September 2020, It was officially opened as "County Hall" by the Duchess of Kent on 12 October 1970.BOOK,weblink A Bedfordshire Bibliography, Bedfordshire Historical Record Society, 10, Q.R., Threadgill, 1978, 0-851550398, Internally, the principal rooms were the council chamber and the committee rooms.WEB,weblink Normal rules suspended as coronavirus crisis forces Bedford planning decisions to be made behind closed doors, 24 March 2020, Bedford Today, 14 November 2020, Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, visited County Hall, before departing to open new facilities at Bedford Modern School, on 11 May 1976.WEB,weblink Bedford: Yesterdays News, 1976, Bedford Borough & Central Bedfordshire Virtual Library, 31 August 2019, WEB,weblink The Royal Visit, Bedford School, 30 September 2020, After Bedfordshire County Council was abolished in April 2009,WEB,weblink News from the Archives and Records Service, 22 June 2019, Bedfordshire Archives, 30 September 2020, the building became known as "Borough Hall" and formed the headquarters of Bedford Borough Council.WEB,weblink County council to be abolished in shake-up, 6 March 2008, Bedford Today,weblink 31 August 2019, 31 August 2019,

References

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