Designations Listed Grade II* Phone +44 1865 252195 Architect Henry Hare | Completed 1897 Opened 1897 Construction started 1893 | |
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Type Town hall, museum, former library and police station Similar Museum of Oxford, Sheldonian Theatre, Carfax - Oxford, Oxford University Museum, Modern Art Oxford | ||
Oxford town hall
Oxford Town Hall is in St Aldate's Street in the centre of Oxford, England. It is a centre of local government in the city and also houses the Museum of Oxford. Oxford is a city with its own charter, but the building is always called the "town hall". Parts of the building can be hired for events.
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Oxford town hall cafe
History
Oxford's Guildhall was built on the site in 1292. It was replaced by the first Town Hall in 1752, designed by Isaac Ware. In 1891, an architectural design competition was held for a new building on the same site. The local architect Henry Hare won with a Jacobethan design. The 1752 building was demolished in 1893 and the current building was completed in 1897.
The new building originally housed the public library and police station as well as the city council. During the First World War, the building was converted into the Town Hall section of the 3rd Southern General Hospital. From 1916, it specialised in treating soldiers suffering from malaria. In 1936 Oxford City Police moved to a new police station further down St Aldate's. The central public library is now in the Westgate Centre in Queen Street.