An Exploration of Retford - Part 2

 

A detail of Retford War Memorial

 

Continuing my investigation of the historic architecture and building stones in Retford town centre, the next stop on the Retford Heritage Trail was Market Square, where the town hall stands out from the rest of the mainly red brick historic buildings that surround it.

 

Built in 1867 to the design of Bellamy and Hardy of Lincoln, it combines an Italianate façade with roofs of the French mansard style, with Ancaster stone used for the ashlar masonry and Red Mansfield stone for the large columns.

 

The upper levels of Retford Town Hall

Looking closely at the columns to the first floor, it can be seen that these are made from a single block of stone, a characteristic that greatly impressed me when seeing columns of a similar size when visiting Nottingham the year before.

 

A column of Red Mansfield stone

The columns flanking the ground floor entrances, however, have a deep brick red colour and it appears that they have been painted. The Red Mansfield stone columns to the first floor and the large plinth blocks to the doorway show no obvious sign of decay and, although I didn’t examine the columns closely to determine a possible reason for this colour mismatch, this finish is not appropriate for a listed building.

 

An entrance to Retford Town Hall

Immediately outside the town hill is the Broadstone, made of various stones that have weathered quite differently and set on a C19 plinth. Its origin and purpose is uncertain and it has been moved around several times, but local tradition is that it was used for the exchange of money for food during the Great Plague of 1665.

 

The Broadstone

At the centre of Market Square is Retford War Memorial, by Leonard W Barnard of Cheltenham, which is built in Stancliffe stone, a top quality sandstone from the Ashover Grit at Darley Dale, near Matlock in Derbyshire. 

 

Retford War Memorial

Octagonal in plan and resembling an Eleanor Cross, the lower parts are relatively plain and simply moulded but the upper section is very ornate, with elaborate details that are normally associated with mediaeval Gothic cathedrals and churches - including trefoils, grotesques and finials.

 

A grotesque on Retford War Memorial