Over the past couple of weeks the careful task of excavating the ground floor has been underway.  When finished the Town Hall will have level access from Bucky Doo square but in order to achieve this, the current floor level needs to be lowered by about 1 meter.  Alongside the need to remove the old Read More »

With construction work now a few weeks in, the fittings of the ground floor toilets have been removed and the painstaking task of uncovering the original structures of the building has begun.  As a Grade 1 listed building, all demolishion work has to be undertaken with the utmost care to ensure that no original features Read More »

Building works on the Town Hall Heritage and Conservation Project has now started. Bridport Town Council’s project is funded by the Town Council itself, a £600,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) together with support from West Dorset District Council and Dorset County Council.  The project will open up the Grade 1 Listed Town Hall for Read More »

Last week, Bridport Mayor, Cllr Geoff Ackerman, meet local artist Sarah Butterworth in Bucky Doo Square to view the fantastic 9 meter long mural she has created with the help of local schools.  The mural is positioned on the southern side of the hoardings which surround the restoration work being undertaken on the Town Hall.  Read More »

A grant of £3000 has been awarded to Bridport Town Council by the Charles Hayward Foundation, for the restoration of a number of paintings in Bridport Town Hall.  The application for this funding was made on behalf of the Town Council by the Bridport Area Development Trust.  The paintings are the work of Francis H Read More »

The arms of the Borough, granted in 1623, are “Gules, a castellated post or gateway with flanking turrets, masoned and battlemented arg; in the open port three spinning cogs or hooks in pale, in chief a lion passant guardant crowned, between two fleurs-de-lys or, in case barry wavy arg. and azure.  (“Heraldic terms: Gulers:  Red Read More »

Fra Newbery was a leading figure in British art and design in the twenty years around 1900. Born in Membury, Devon in 1855, Newbery grew up in Bridport.  Here he trained to be a teacher at Bridport Boys’ General School.  From about 1871 he attended the Bridport School of Art, on the first floor of Read More »

Local artist Sarah Butterworth has been working with over 60 children from Bridport Primary, St Catherine’s and St Mary’s Schools in a series of workshops to paint a 9 meter long mural.  The year 5 and year 6 children researched local buildings and street scenes and designed the mural. The finished artwork will be fixed Read More »

When will the work start? Planning is already underway with architects and other specialist services.  It is anticipated that the building contractor will begin preparatory works at the end of this year.  Exterior work will commence in January 2011. When will the building be finished? We are aiming for the project to be completed and Read More »

What will the project do? Restore and renovate the building.  The project will address a number of structural issues with the building; restore details such as the windows and repair and redecorate the interior of the building. The Newbery paintings will also be given a bit of tlc by a qualified conservator to preserve them Read More »