2-323-934 - www.picturethepast.org.uk/Nottingham City Council /Heritage Images

Council House, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, 1929. West aspect of the Council House from Beast Market Hill. The idea of a new complex to replace The Exchange which stood on the eastern side of the Market Square was approved by the Council on 1st December 1924 and the contract was let in May 1925. To ensure complete safety for the new structure, some 170 large blocks of re-enforced concrete were set over 45 feet into the ground and, on these, was set a girder frame; the large blocks of concrete varied in size bearing in mind the need to have some which, ultimately, would carry 1000 tons of weight. The stone for the Council House, Exchange Building and the 'Market Square' (except for the paving stones which are silex stone) is Portland stone. The method adopted for dealing with the delivery of the stone was to have sufficient for two stories moulded and carved and then brought to Nottingham where it was stored and, to offset difficulties, each block was numbered and later assembled like a Jigsaw puzzle; if a block was broken it was easy to replace. A steel casket, containing details of the scheme approved by the Council, a copy of the report of the Estates Committee, a copy of the minutes of the Nottingham City Council dealing with the scheme, the Nottingham Journal and the Nottingham Guardian, along with coins of legal tender ranging from one farthing to one pound, was placed beneath the new foundation stone laid by Alderman Herbert Bowles, JP, on 17th May 1927. The Council House itself was the largest stone building which had been built in Britain since the First World War. On its completion it was opened by the Prince of Wales, later Duke of Windsor, on 22nd May 1929.