The foundation stone was laid October, 1902, by Sir C. M. Palmer, Bart. , M.P and the contract, was placed in the hands of Mr. James C. Nichol, Builder, South Shields. Extract from the Supplement to the Jarrow Express, Friday, June, 17th, 1904)
The building is of classic renaissance design with the external work being carried out in red terracotta and red brickwork. The principal entrance in Grange Road has an oak panelled vestibule. The staircase is of marble with oak panelling. The flooring of the corridors is terrazzo and the walls have enamelled tiled dados. The council chamber is on the first floor and the fittings are of fumed oak and red morocco. Over the public gallery there is a picture in ‘Opus sectilus’, which was a gift from Drewett 0. Drewett Esq. The stained glass windows have been gifted by Lord Northbourne, Sir Charles Palmer and Mr. W. S. Daglish, the Town Clerk.
The County Court is situated on the first floor and is reached by a separate entrance and staircase from Wylam Street. The municipal officials are all housed on the ground floor in lofty, roomy, well-lighted offices. The second storey of the Wylam Street wing is utilised for the caretaker and the school attendance officer’s room. The building is heated throughout with low pressure hot water, but fireplaces are provided in all rooms. The offices are all connected by a system of telephones so complete that it is possible to speak from one to any other room in the building without any exchange operation. Electric light is installed throughout and the Council Chamber and County Court are ventilated by electric fans.
The final cost of the build was £12,000, the clock was added in 1953 to commemorate the coronation.
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Jarrow’s first purpose fire station also resides here. . Well, the tenders where kept here, the joke in the town was that they would send one fireman for to get the horses that where kept at the co-op store about mile down the road, whilst they sent another fireman for a bucket of paraffin to keep the fire going. Look at the building that still stands although the arches that the tender would exit from has been made into windows |
Ironically the County court was only built into the Town Hall after the previous one burnt down.
In order to get the next coordinates find the 17th century lintel stone (=16AB) that came from Grange farm from which the road takes its name.There is another way to find this, if you can make a link without moving from your seat and if you look hard enough. The stone is now part of Christ Church buildings calculate the following 54 58.(877+((AB/2)+B)) N 001 29.((480-AB)-1)W. The gps may go off a little but should correct itself