Town Hall

Beaumaris Town Hall is a Grade II listed civic building in the centre of Beaumaris, the small seaside town on the Isle of Anglesey in north Wales. It stands on the west side of the Bulkeley Hotel, at the point where the street meets Wall Street, close to the Menai Strait waterfront.

Where is Beaumaris Town Hall?

The building sits in the heart of the old town, right beside the Bulkeley Hotel. Its position on the corner with Wall Street makes it easy to spot when you walk from the seafront into the streets behind it. Beaumaris itself is compact, so the Town Hall can be reached on foot from almost anywhere in the centre, including the nearby castle and the pier.

How old is the Town Hall?

Sources do not fully agree on the exact year of construction. Wikipedia places it around 1785 and describes it as Neoclassical in style, while the Welsh heritage record Coflein gives 1808. Either way, it is a product of the late Georgian era. According to Coflein, it replaced an earlier Elizabethan building. The town's first municipal hall, completed in 1563, stood in Castle Street, which shows how long Beaumaris has had its own civic life.

What does the building look like?

The Town Hall is built on an arcaded ground floor, with an upper storey above. The listing description mentions a row of arches at street level. The right-hand arch is a through passage leading to Wall Street, so you can walk straight through the building. The three middle arches were infilled in the twentieth century with shop fronts. Coflein records that these shop fronts were created in 1975 by Colwyn Foulkes and Partners, architects from Colwyn Bay.

What was it used for?

An account from 1833 describes the lower floor as a public office, shambles and market house, so it served the everyday trade of the town. The upper room was far more grand: the same account calls it the most splendid ballroom in North Wales. The building therefore combined administration, market activity and social life under one roof, a typical arrangement for a small market and port town of its day.

Listed status

Cadw, the Welsh historic environment service, listed the Town Hall at Grade II on 23 September 1950 (listing reference 5589). The entry was last amended in 2005. Grade II is the most common listing grade and covers buildings of special interest. The neighbouring forecourt wall of the Bulkeley Hotel is also listed Grade II, and its entry stresses the importance of that setting to the historical character of the Beaumaris sea front.

Frequently asked questions

Is Beaumaris Town Hall open to visitors? It is mainly a building to see from the outside as part of a walk through the town. The ground floor now includes shop fronts, and the through passage to Wall Street can be used on foot.

Is it a listed building? Yes. It is Grade II listed, designated in 1950 and amended in 2005.

Where exactly is it? On the west side of the Bulkeley Hotel, at the junction with Wall Street, in Beaumaris, Anglesey.

What else is nearby? The Bulkeley Hotel, the Menai Strait seafront and the pier are all a short walk away, and the town's historic streets are best explored on foot. A visit to the Town Hall fits naturally into a stroll around the centre of Beaumaris.