Historic Henley

THIS is the second in our monthly series featuring buildings in Henley.

The painting shows one of town’s most familiar buildings, the town hall in Market Place.

The civic life of Henley has been administered from a building on this site since 1796 — but not this one.

The old town hall was deemed to be too small and dilapidated and was dismantled in 1899. It was moved to Crazies Hill, near Wargrave, where it still stands.

The current town hall was opened in 1901 to mark Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee. It was deliberately designed to reflect the self-confidence of the late Victorian age.

It is an imposing building that faces Hart Street and complements the medieval parish church of St Mary’s at the bottom of the hill.

The pride of the town hall is the main hall with its magnificent plastered, barrel-vaulted ceiling and a shallow stage from which Henley MPs including Michael Heseltine and Boris Johnson have addressed their
constituents.

Charmingly, the Mayor’s office is still referred to as the “Mayor’s parlour”. The holy of holies.

The town hall contains the offices of the town council, which meets in full here eight times a year.

With responsibilities ranging from cycle racks to street cleaning, the councillors and staff are ready to assist residents with local issues. The hall is also home to the Information Centre.

It is sobering to imagine that in 1914 the upper floors were used as a military hospital to nurse soldiers wounded in the First World War.

For the Second World War the building was sandbagged and the basement used as a command centre for the town. On the roof was the air raid siren.

Stone tablets, commemorating the lives of servicemen from the town lost in the wars are positioned either side of the main doors.

The painting is by Caversham artist Janina Maher and the infomation supplied by members of the Henley Archaeological and Historical Group.

To see more of Janina’s art, visit
www.janinamaher.artweb.com