17-781: The Civic Centre is a municipal building located in the Cultural Quarter area within the city of Southampton , England. It comprises offices occupied by Southampton City Council , the SeaCity Museum , the Guildhall , the Southampton City Art Gallery , and the city library . It was designed by the English architect Ernest Berry Webber in the Classical style in 1929 and constructed over
34-491: A modern pavilion extension. Seat of local government The seat of government is (as defined by Brewer's Politics ) "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority ". In most countries, the nation's capital is also seat of its government, thus that city is appropriately referred to as the national seat of government. The terms are not however, completely synonymous, as some countries ' seat of government differs from
51-441: A ten-year period. It was completed in 1939. Pevsner's Hampshire: South describes it as "the most ambitious civic building erected in the provinces in the interwar years". It was designated as a Grade II* listed building in 1980. Since the 1870s, there has been debate in the council over the housing of the borough offices: departments were scattered around the town, making co-ordination and timely response fairly difficult, with
68-585: The Lord Chief Justice , Lord Lane , in February 1987. The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage of eight bays facing London Road. On the first floor, the left hand section of two bays, was connected by a canted section, to the right hand section of five bays, which was projected forward and cantilevered out over the pavement. The main frontage was fenestrated on the first floor by pairs of casement windows split by brick columns supporting
85-673: The Westminster quarters , and striking the hour on the largest bell (which weighed 68 cwt ), the mechanism was designed to play the hymn tune Our God, Our Help in Ages Past ; this initially took place at noon, during the opening ceremony, and was then repeated every four hours thereafter. The third block, known as the east wing , contained Southampton Guildhall . Work on the Guildhall (the east wing) began in March 1934. The Guildhall
102-704: The assizes , were heard in the Bargate in the High Street. Such cases were then transferred to the west wing of Southampton Civic Centre when it opened in November 1933. However, as the number of court cases in Southampton grew, it became necessary to commission a more modern courthouse for criminal matters: the site selected by the Lord Chancellor's Department on London Road had been occupied by
119-517: The south wing , contained the municipal offices. Some of the material dug out during the construction of the south wing was used to fill in an old reservoir on Southampton Common as part of the process of converting it into a paddling pool. It was opened by the Duke of York, and his wife, the Duchess of York , on 8 November 1932. The second block, known as the west wing , contained the law courts and
136-565: The Civic Centre with a 500 lb (230 kg) high explosive. The bomb (which hit around 14:30) penetrated to the lower floors of the art gallery killing 35 people, including 15 children, who were having an art lesson in the basement. Following the implementation of the Courts Act 1971 , the former assizes courthouse in the west wing became the venue for hearings of the newly designated Southampton Crown Court. The crown court moved to
153-649: The capital. The Netherlands , for example, has Amsterdam as its capital but The Hague is the seat of government; and the Philippines , with Manila as its capital but the metropolitan area of the same name (Metro Manila; also known as National Capital Region (NCR)), is the seat of government. Local and regional authorities usually have a seat, called an administrative centre , as well. Terms for seats of local government of various levels and in various countries include: Examples of seats of government include: There are several countries where, for various reasons,
170-544: The first floor structure. A short flight of steps led up to the entrance, which was in the right-hand section, and a Royal coat of arms was mounted on the wall to the right of the steps. Internally, the building was laid out to accommodate ten courtrooms. Notable cases include the trial and acquittal, in January 1992, of the former football coach, Bob Higgins, on sex abuse charges. Nearly 30 years later, in June 2019, Higgins
187-695: The headquarters of the Ordnance Survey which had been heavily bombed as part of the Southampton Blitz on 30 November and 1 December 1940 during Second World War . Construction of the new building started in May 1984. It was designed by Broadway Malyan in the Modernist style , built in yellow brick at a cost of £7 million, and was completed in December 1986. It was officially opened by
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#1732786700218204-604: The new Courts of Justice in London Road in 1986. At the end of the 1980s the fountain from the city's rose garden was moved to a position outside the entrance to the art gallery. The magistrates' courts moved to a larger complex in The Avenue in 1999, while the police moved out of the west wing to new facilities in Southern Road in 2011. In 2012 the SeaCity Museum moved into the refurbished west wing complete with
221-434: The official capital and de facto seat of government are separated: Southampton Courts of Justice The Southampton Courts of Justice , also known as Southampton Combined Court Centre , is a Crown Court venue, which deals with criminal cases, as well as a County Court venue, which deals with civil cases, in London Road, Southampton , England. Until the early 1930s, criminal court hearings in Southampton, known as
238-524: The old Audit House opposite Holyrood Church being totally inadequate. After extensive discussions about the proposed civic centre, Herbert Austin-Hall was appointed to assess a design competition for the new building. Following the competition, Ernest Berry Webber was chosen to design the centre in the Classical style with a budget of just under £400,000. The foundation stone was laid by the Duke of York on 1 July 1930. The first block to be opened, known as
255-465: The police headquarters. It also contained "Kimber's Tower", which is 157 feet (48 m) high and named after Sir Sidney Kimber, who had chaired the civic centre development committee. The block was opened by Viscount Sankey , the Lord Chancellor, on 3 November 1933. The tower contained a clock and nine bells, manufactured and installed by Gillett & Johnston of Croydon. As well as chiming
272-457: The project, but the budget increase was approved by Parliament. This was opened in 1939. During the Southampton Blitz , Hermann Göring , head of the Luftwaffe , targeted the Civic Centre. He remarked that the building appeared like a "piece of cake" from the air, and that he was going to "cut himself a slice". During a raid in November 1940 twelve bombs were dropped, including a direct hit on
289-460: Was intended as a social location for municipal functions. The Guildhall was opened by Earl of Derby on 13 February 1937. The fourth block, known as the north wing , contained Southampton City Art Gallery and Southampton Central Library. This began later than the others, and late alterations to the designs were required to incorporate a public library , that was not originally planned for. The expansion of this wing led to an increase in costs for
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