News Round Up

At Christmas we will submit our stage 2 bid to convince the HLF that they can safely release the money to carry out the plan and we will hear the result in March.  If the plan is accepted, work will start on site by the beginning of June. The building will be closed down on Maundy Thursday 2007.  The work could go on for at least two years.

The shell of the building will be restored and conserved to sustain the life of the building.  A lift will be installed and a small glass loggia will be installed on the front of the building. The building will be smartened up and the facilities available will be extended and improved.

How Shire Hall will be used

We will attract visitors to the building by concentrating on promoting the Chartist history of Shire Hall and how the story of John Frost’s trial influenced our right to vote.  A lively audio experience telling the story will be available for visitors, complete with actors playing the roles of the characters involved, and there will be artefacts and guided tours.

We won’t forget the rest of the rich history of the building: information about Charles Rolls, Henry V and the history of Monmouth will be available and these elements might be brought into the tour at a later date.

As well as attracting visitors, we will be working on making the building flexible: the town council and the Tourist Office will continue to hold meetings and have an office space in the building.  All of the other rooms will be rented out for a variety of uses: from community groups to prestigious business seminars and private parties. 

The building will continue to be the civic heart of the town and the County Council may use it for committee meetings etc.  They, of course will have to book and rent rooms like all other users.

Following the success of the masked ball we hope to incorporate a temporary canopy to come out over the square so that this area too can become a space we can let.

The dais and the tapestry

You may have seen in the local press that the dais from the Council Chamber has to go.  This is because of the need to keep all the spaces as flexible as possible for a variety of uses. The dais furniture is too bulky to move about and storage space in the building is limited.

It has been planned to move Henry V to a commanding position over the staircase so that even if all the rooms are being rented out, visitors will still be able to see this magnificent piece of fine art.