Town Hall

Wadebridge Town Hall stands in The Platt, a wide street in the heart of Wadebridge, a market town beside the River Camel in Cornwall. The building was commissioned by Sir Paul Molesworth, the local lord of the manor, to provide a place for events in the town. Designed by War Office architect C. E. Collins in the Gothic Revival style, it was built of slate stone and opened in May 1888 as the Molesworth Hall and Exchange. The frontage is asymmetrical, with a central section projecting forward and a three-stage clock tower at one end. Inside, the main assembly room was the principal space. The hall has played a part in the town’s civic life since it was built. In 1898 Wadebridge became an urban district, but local councils preferred separate offices. A Roll of Honour for the First World War was installed in the early 1920s. Thomas Agar-Robartes, 6th Viscount Clifden, donated a large stained glass window before his death in 1930. By 1945 the building had passed to the Wadebridge Town Trust and was in poor condition. In the early 1960s the parish council paid for a major refurbishment and the hall reopened in August 1962. Today the town hall serves as the meeting place of Wadebridge Town Council. A mural by Victor Martin Harvey, showing the old bridge across the River Camel, hangs on the walls after being moved from a closed branch. The clock tower still shows the time, and the assembly room remains the largest interior space. The Platt outside is a broad street lined with other buildings, giving the town hall a prominent position in Wadebridge’s centre.