The building was commissioned to replace the Old Shirehall in Market Square.[1] After deciding in the Old Shirehall was inadequate for their needs, county leaders decided to procure a new building: the site they selected had previously been occupied by a country house known as "Nearwell".[2][a]
The foundation stone for the new building was laid by Sir Offley Wakeman, a former chairman of the county council, on 25 July 1964.[8] It was designed by Ralph Crowe, the County Architect, in the Modernist style, built at a cost of £1.8 million and was completed in April 1966.[9] It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, on 17 March 1967.[10] The design for the six-storey building facing Abbey Foregate involved continuous bands of glazing with concrete panels above and below: it also included an unusual ovoid-shaped council chamber which jutted out to the south-west of the main building.[9]Pevsner described the building as "the major monument to post-war modernism in the county".[9]
A single storey extension, also designed by Crowe, was added to the Shirehall, to accommodate the assizes and the local quarter session hearings, shortly after it opened.[11][12] Following the implementation of the Courts Act 1971, the former assizes courthouse became the venue for hearings of the newly designated Shrewsbury Crown Court.[13] The magistrates' courts moved to a new courthouse in Preston Street in 1994.[14][15]
Originally established as the headquarters of Shropshire County Council, the building became the offices of the new unitary authority, Shropshire Council in April 2009.[16] A scheme to refurbish the building at a cost of £24 million was proposed in December 2018.[17] However, in September 2020, the council indicated that it would rather sell the building and move to the town centre.[18] Then in October 2020, following an application for a certificate of immunity from listing requested by the county council, English Heritage decided not to list County Hall as the building did not meet the criteria for listing post-1945 buildings.[19] In May 2021 the Twentieth Century Society placed the site on its Top 10 Buildings at Risk List.[20]
Works of art in the building include a cast iron mural by Rosalind Alexander, located in the entrance hall, depicting Shropshire industries.[21]
Notes
^The house was commissioned by a local solicitor, William Wybergh How, in 1868[3] and became the home of his son, Walsham How, who went on to be the first Bishop of Wakefield:[4] it subsequently remained in the How family until the mid-1940s[5][6] and then became a hostel for boys studying at Shrewsbury Technical College before being demolished in August 1963.[7]
