MDE20970 - Lynton Town Hall (Building)

The cornerstone for the building was laid in 1898 and it was opened by the donor, Sir George Newnes, on 15 August 1900. The architects were Read and Macdonald of London and it was built by the contractor Bob Jones.

Town Hall, Lee Road. 1898-1900 partly neo-Tudor with mock-timber and wood mullion transom casement at upper floor including central and flank gables. Also "art nouveau" treatment at stone ground floor and 2-storey oriels with battlemented parapets, wide central arch to recessed porch, and oval sun-dial in gable. Architects- Read and Macdonald listed grade II. [1] Cornerstone laid 1898. See doe list for full details. [3] Town Hall. 1898-1900 by Read and Macdonald. Small, but certainly an attempt at municipal architecture in a holiday spirit. Rough and dressed stone, wooden balconies, two short castellated turrets and gaily half-timbered gables. Utterly un-Devonian. [4] However, one man more than any other had a major influence on Lynton. This was George Newnes, the publisher, a pioneer of popular journalism who established the Strand Magazine which first published, in instalments, many of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. He was responsible for financing several public buildings, for example, the Congregational Church and the Town Hall, the latter opened in August 1900. Elevated above Lee Road is The Town Hall, regarded as “one of the finest Domestic Revival examples of its type in the country”, with no expense spared. It was built a well known local contractor, Bob Jones, between 1898 and 1900 and designed by London architects Read & Macdonald. It was opened by the donor Sir George Newnes. Pevsner describes it as “an attempt at municipal architecture in a holiday spirit.” The listing details state that it is a neo-Tudor design with Art Nouveau details and close-spaced timberframing with decorative bracing in the Cheshire tradition. It has especially rich interior detail, including fine panelling, doors, fireplaces etc. [5] The building was visited in April 2012 as part of the rapid condition survey of Exmoor's Listed Buildings 2012-13. It received a BAR score of 6. [6] The building is mentioned in the 2019 Conservation Area Appraisal for Lynton. [8]